When you are going through a transition in your life—marriage, retirement, the death of a family member, divorce, or a career or lifestyle change—you may find that you need financial advice.
Transitions like this come with a wide variety of emotions, from excitement and celebration, to dread, anxiety, grief, or even fear. Making decisions during these times can impact you and your family’s financial legacy far into the future. That’s why finding a great financial advisor is so important. They can be your advocate as you seek financial advice and assist with your financial goals, dreams, and needs. Finding the best advisor isn’t always straightforward, but he or she will do these four things:
Prioritize the Relationship
While at first glance the financial services industry appears to be built on selling products to clients, it’s really a service and hospitality business. We’ve all had experiences with businesses where we felt like they were honored to serve us. We’ve also all had experiences where businesses made us feel like they were doing us a favor. When you work with a financial advisor, your interactions with them should fall into the first scenario. It is truly an honor to serve clients, and your financial advisor should convey that to you in every interaction.
To determine if this is a priority, ask them questions in your initial interview about how they maintain their quality of service. Their answers should suggest that they view you as a person, not just a number. They should have a client-centric culture, and that culture should resonate with every member of their team and shine through in their interactions with you.
Develop a Network
While it’s vitally important that your financial advisor prioritize their relationship with you, it’s also important that they focus on developing a network of community. When financial advisors have strong relationships with other businesses and charitable organizations, they can provide even more value to their clients.
Many people don’t think about this, but we see the value it adds to clients firsthand in our own practice every day. When your financial advisor is deeply connected to the businesses and organizations in their community, they can act as a node connecting you to people and organizations that can help you achieve your goals.
Serve the Community
Choose a financial advisor who focuses on serving their community. They may serve local charities through financial giving, volunteering their time, or partnering with them to host client events throughout the year. This provides an opportunity for them to meet leaders of the charities they’re passionate about and get involved in other organizations they may not be connected to yet!
Go the Extra Mile
First and foremost, financial advisors help people manage their wealth and reach their financial goals. We believe that many advisors have the basic skills to help people with this planning. However, we advocate that you should EXPECT MORE from your advisor. The best advisor will prioritize your relationship, connect to a meaningful network, and serve the community—investments that pay huge dividends for the clients they serve.
Do you have the right partner?
Drew Richey