This document provides tips and strategies for financial advisors to improve their business and marketing efforts. It discusses the importance of developing a strategic branding plan before creating marketing materials. The key aspects of branding include identifying your unique value proposition and developing a compelling brand story. The document also provides tips for creating a high-performing team through effective hiring, training, leadership, and goal setting. Additional topics covered include marketing automation, team building activities, and assessing your current marketing efforts.

1. Follow us
Tel: 519-576-2262 Fall 2012 Issue
confidence@thepersonalcoach.ca If you would prefer an e-Newsletter
www.thepersonalcoach.ca email kelly@thepersonalcoach.ca
Tips and ideas for your business.
What Comes First, the
Chicken or the Egg?
The Effective Approach with a third party coach
and brand coach. Advisors
The Personal Coach team has had the opportunity
often try to get this client How to Hire
to work with hundreds of advisors. More often
than not, an advisor comes to us for help with information Exceptional
the development of TouchPoints (marketing through online or Employees for
mail out surveys.
materials) that they would like to implement as
Unfortunately, Your Office
part of their practice (e.g. website, brochure,
these types of The Personal Coach team is
newsletter, etc.). A common mistake we see with
communication proud to announce that we
advisors is that they take a tactical approach with are publishing a booklet called
their TouchPoints without developing a strategic methods don’t
capture the information that a brand coach needs The Right Fit Process™ to
plan. help financial advisors hire
to create your best brand. It’s imperative to hire
right the first time. We know
a brand coach who knows the financial services the costs involved if you hire
industry and knows the right questions to ask. If the wrong person for the job.
you are talking to your clients directly, they might This booklet will take you
not be as candid with you about your business through the important steps
personality, so a brand coach is also necessary to you need to follow in order to
capture accurate information. hire someone who fits in with
your team.
The goal with branding is to create an emotional
connection with your clients which you will learn If you would like to be one of the
how to do as you read on in this newsletter. first to receive your copy of The
Once you have a brand that a) reflects the value Right Fit Process™, please email us
you offer to clients, and b) creates an emotional at confidence@thepersonalcoach.ca
connection with prospects, you are now in a for cost and delivery information.
Before a financial advisor recommends a product
position to build some TouchPoints.
to their clients they like to spend time with their Fun Team Building
client to build and plan their strategy. The same TouchPoints that focus on the following are most Ideas
thing should be done with an advisor’s marketing popular amongst financial advisors: The secrets of a great
materials – plan first and create a strategy! You i) Client Acquisition (e.g. website, brochure team
and your brand coach should meet to develop a outlining your process) A recent article in Harvard
brand that reflects your practice and then create a Business Review on “The
strategy to implement your plan. Once this is done ii) Client Relationships (e.g. thank you cards,
Secrets of Great Teams,”
it becomes apparent which TouchPoints will make stationery) highlighted the importance of
the most sense for your business. iii) Client Service (e.g. email signature, voicemail teams socializing together. The
message) study suggested that even the
The key to successful branding is identifying your
simple act of having employees
business personality and what makes you and your You can download our MasterPoint Branding Program™ take their coffee break together
business different from everyone else. What is the document at http://www.thepersonalcoach.ca/documents/ increased productivity by 8%
value you offer to your clients and how can you MasterPoint_2012_web.pdf or email us at confidence@ and up to 20% in some cases!
communicate this value to your prospects? The thepersonalcoach.ca to speak with our branding coach.
best way to do this is through client interviews Continued on page 2

2. I recently attended a
presentation by Million Dollar
Round Table President,
Jennifer Borislow, who has built
a great team of 30 employees.
Employees are offered perks
such as an employee fitness
centre, personal trainer, and
team building activities which
include golf tournaments,
Inspiring Hope BBQ’s, and charity events.
Once you have a compelling
brand story, it will give you ideas
for a slogan, elevator speech, a
logo, images, and much more. But how can you do team
building activities with a small
The Secret Ingredient to a corner to guide you in the right direction and team? There are lots of options
Powerful Brand keep you on course. including: spa days, canoeing,
bowling, laser tag, paint ball,
Many advisors are frustrated because they can’t Once you have a compelling brand story, it will cooking classes, paintable
attract the right type of prospects. What are they give you ideas for a slogan, elevator speech, a ceramics, golf or ski days, rock
doing wrong? In his book “Start with Why,” logo, images, and much more. It will help you climbing, ropes course, zip line
Simon Sinek explains that successful leaders and determine what to put in your print material, etc. Keep your team’s interests
and abilities in mind. Do the
business owners tell clients and prospects why website, thank-you cards, etc. activities during work hours so
they do what they do. That works because the That way, your client will understand why you employees with young families
“Why” speaks to the behaviour and decision- do what you do. can still attend, plan the events
making part of the brain, while explaining the together, include spouses if
“What” speaks to the rational part of the brain, your team is very small, and
and the “How” speaks to the feelings and loyalty take pictures to share with
part of the brain. To create an effective, powerful your clients. Most importantly,
remain consistent and plan
brand it is important to communicate all of these events year round. The most
to your potential clients, but do it in reverse order successful teams do an event
for maximum impact. quarterly or semi-annually.
Look at something you love to do, a milestone Assess your own marketing materials by:
you achieved, or an event that has impacted you. Create Your
Let’s say you run marathons. Determine why you 1. Booking off 20 minutes Marketing Plan
are passionate about running and how it reflects 2. Collecting all of your marketing materials Only 20 Minutes a Day!
how you operate your practice. You might say 3. Spreading your marketing materials out and You have heard it time and
marathon running gives me the patience and scanning what you have created over the time again - if you want to be
determination to succeed. It helps me understand past few years successful you have to plan.
the importance of preparing and planning first. I Without a marketing plan
4. Asking, “Do all my marketing materials you can’t begin to attract the
may run into unexpected obstacles like weather or consistently communicate my compelling right clients and your business
injury. I count on coaches and experts to help me story and help others understand why I do will be stagnant. Creating a
accomplish my goals. what I do?” marketing plan doesn’t have
Then, draw parallels to wealth management. to be a daunting task. It can
If you would like a copy of our Creating Your be done quite easily and when
Clients rely on you to help them plan for financial Why Checklist, email us at confidence@ it’s most convenient for you
independence, but you may run into unexpected thepersonalcoach.ca (This article was originally in your day-to-day schedule.
life changes and you need an expert in your posted in advisor.ca). Market Your Advisory Practice
Continued on page 3
tel: 519-576-2262 confidence@thepersonalcoach.ca www.thepersonalcoach.ca

3. (MYAP) is a program that is
based on 4 key pillars to create
your marketing plan.
i) Growing Relationships:
The majority of your business
is based upon existing clients,
so focus on relationship
building, cross-selling, client
feedback, and providing
outstanding service. Happy
clients will want to introduce
you to others.
ii) Attracting New Clients:
Start by defining your ideal
Create a High Performing Team clients so you can focus your
marketing efforts on people
like them. Create your
introduction talk and once you
Tips for creating a positive work training strengthens the team overall, increases perfect your message, share it
team flexibility, and improves client service and with centres of influence and
environment response time. It’s imperative that each team other referral sources.
An effective support team can make all the member understands the relevance of his/her
difference in an advisory practice. If job and how it impacts the business. Knowing
someone’s in the wrong role, you can have an the big picture promotes collaboration,
unproductive or unpleasant work environment. increases commitment, and improves the
When this happens, you’ll likely find yourself quality of work and client service.
micro-managing, hanging on to tasks you
should be delegating, and feeling like the staff
3. Effective Leadership and
is simply punching the clock.
Common Goals
Provide effective leadership to ensure staff iii) Increasing Name
In a positive work environment, people’s collaborate, grow, and develop as the firm Recognition: Share your
strengths are matched to their roles, and message further through
evolves. A critical aspect of leadership is
everyone works toward common goals. speaking engagements, trade
feedback. It must be received in time to make associations, social media, and
This type of workplace leads to effective corrections; otherwise, it feels like criticism. your community. Branding is
communication and problem solving. To Also, managers should provide feedback also the key to attracting the
develop this type of environment, advisors on both mistakes and successes. Effective right clients.
need to create the right business structure and leadership includes recognizing employees iv) Communication: Have a
hire the right people. Yet, even though advisors for their good performance. Effective teams consistent process where you
have had a lot of financial training, they’ve also have common goals that are simple, are communicating to your
received little to no training on how to hire clients and prospects. Don’t
measurable, and relevant. Each goal must
staff or build a team. let them forget about you.
have key metrics that everyone on the team Use your Client Relationship
We’ve worked with hundreds of advisors and can track. These metrics should be used to Management system to keep
their teams over the years, and found there are determine team effectiveness and where track of when you have
3 steps to creating a high-performance team: improvements need to be made. If you follow connected with clients and
these 3 steps, you’ll see your team transform what the next action is (e.g.
1. A Hiring Process sending a monthly letter to
Define the business need first, then the role. into a high-performing one. You’ll create an clients and prospects to stay
Finally, find the right person to fit that need. environment free from constant supervision, connected).
Align team members’ tasks with their natural fire-fighting, and micromanaging, and be able
To learn more about how you can
strengths in mind. to focus on serving your clients. get the MYAP software, email us at
2. Integration of Hires If you would like to speak to a coach, please email confidence@thepersonalcoach.ca. You
Integrate team members by creating an us at confidence@thepersonalcoach.ca or call us at can also learn more about marketing
to prospects and clients by reading
effective training, development, communication, (519) 576-2262 (This article was originally posted
Kim Poulin’s latest advisor.ca article,
and feedback process. To increase the team in advisor.ca). Market Differently to Prospects and
member’s awareness of how their jobs are Clients.
interdependent, cross-training is critical. Cross-
tel: 519-576-2262 confidence@thepersonalcoach.ca www.thepersonalcoach.ca

4. We’ve Raised TIME FOR AN ASSESSMENT! Productivity Tip
the Bar Looking to increase your
At The Personal Coach we take a one-on-one
productivity without increasing
Higher with a focused approach with our advisors, evaluating your expenses? Create your
11 different areas of an advisor’s business when own “Business Dashboard”
New Coach! we do their assessment. By focusing on these key using Excel.
Our team is pleased to areas we help you identify areas of concern and
welcome Jordan Rosenberg show you how to focus on improving and driving
to The Personal Coach. your business forward.
Jordan joined the Here are 2 areas out of the 11 areas we focus on:
financial services industry in 1991 with a large
Value Proposition
fund company where he provided support to
In this increasingly crowded marketplace, you,
financial advisors. In 2004, he became a full as an advisor, need to be confident in what
time coach assisting advisors in discovering distinguishes you from everyone else. You need
their potential. Jordan is an amateur painter, to be comfortable with answering these questions
motorcycle enthusiast, and is currently Canada’s This Dashboard will help you
(Why should I do business with you? How will I monitor your progress in five
#1 decathlete (10 track & field events) over the benefit from you? What makes you different from key business areas: revenues,
age of 40. other advisors?). Nowadays you can’t distinguish assets, profits, appointments,
yourself through the products you sell but rather, and hours worked. Your
To learn more about Jordan, please visit his profile on the unique process you offer to clients. Always productivity will increase
our website www.thepersonalcoach.ca under “Meet engage your clients in this process and welcome significantly because you will
Our Team”. constructive feedback. have target objectives for each
month to focus on. Simply
Marketing Plan divide each category goal by 12
As an advisor, marketing isn’t your area of to get your monthly goal. Take
expertise so it tends to get put on the back 15 minutes at the end of each
PIECE OF MIND
burner. You can’t get the results you want if you month and plot your actual
results against your target
don’t plan, so a documented plan of action will objectives. Holding yourself
help you to attract new prospects and maintain accountable each month will
better relationships with existing clients. You may motivate you to reach those
feel comfortable waiting for clients to come to goals!
you in order to sustain your business but if you
really want to grow you need to take action. For a free sample of the Business
To get a full assessment of your business before 2013, Dashboard, please email us at
confidence@thepersonalcoach.ca
by Fortunato Restagno
contact us at confidence@thepersonalcoach.ca to schedule
time with a coach!
Personal Phrase of the Day
“So many of our dreams at first seem Follow us
impossible, then they seem improbable,
and then, when we summon the
will, they soon become inevitable.” We just started our TPC blog
to better connect with you!
Christopher Reeves
Jordan Rosenberg, B.A. Sue Johnson, B.A.
Coach - Central Canada Brand Coach Operations Manager
www.thepersonalcoach.ca
Tel: 519-576-2262 Email: confidence@thepersonalcoach.ca