How to Build Value: A Checklist for Financial Advisors

As a financial advisor, you don’t only want to be a one-stop shop for financial services; you also want your services to be highly sought after. The keys to enticing your clients to purchase not just one, but multiple services can be found right here in our checklist for financial advisors.

Key Takeaways:

• Benchmark your clients’ current retirement plans.
• Educate your clients on plan rules and updates.
• Ethically promote your other financial services.
• Stay in contact with your clients and their plan participants.
• Maintain solid industry connections.

Review your clients’ retirement plan documents:

Employers are busy growing their businesses. They don’t always have time to thoroughly review their retirement plan documents. Because your clients trust you, they know you have their best interests in mind. You can deepen their trust in you by taking the time to review their plan documents periodically, taking the burden off their shoulders, and ensuring they get all the features they need and expect. Benchmarking their plans will also determine if you can present them with plan options that potentially offer more features for their money.

Provide plan education:

Are your clients’ current retirement plan types the right ones for their businesses? Whether they are sole proprietors with no employees or employers with employees, there’s an ideal plan for them. Explaining what each plan type offers, as well as their eligibility requirements, would help your clients make a choice they’ll feel confident in.

There may even be upcoming changes to their current plans that they aren’t aware of. Staying up to date on the latest retirement plan information can help you to better educate your clients. You can also guide them toward helpful educational resources. For instance, if your clients sponsor a plan provided by ePlan Services, you can point them to the employee dashboard, which allows participants to easily control their contribution amounts and calculate how much money they may need for their retirement.

If for some reason your clients do not currently sponsor a retirement plan, you can use the ePlan Services Tax Credit Estimator to show them how much they could potentially save by sponsoring a new plan. Simply enter their plan details into the estimator and click calculate.

Ethically promote your services:

When assisting your clients with their retirement setup and management, don’t miss out on opportunities to mention your other service offerings. Now that their retirement plans are up and running, perhaps they or their personal networks will be in need of your wealth management services. Conversations like this could lead to an increased reputation of excellence and even more prospects.

Follow up with clients after retirement planning:

Don’t just consult your clients on retirement planning and then disappear. Keep in touch with them and their employees after their retirement planning is done. Staying connected to your clients and their company’s plan participants will show that you care about their well-being, and you’ll be around if they have any additional questions or concerns. You can stay in contact with them using methods such as follow-up emails, phone calls, mailings, or a combination of all three.

Connect with industry professionals:

Having solid relationships with your clients is a start, but it isn’t enough. Being able to guide them to a network of professionals like the ePlan Services Sales Team will help to position you as a leader in your industry. Plus, collaborating with ePlan Services can give your own book of business a boost. For over 20 years, we’ve helped financial advisors like you sharpen their skillsets with educational tools, webinars, and more.

Conclusion:

You’ve got your list, now it’s time to check it twice! Promoting your financial services doesn’t have to be a complex process. You’ve simply got to tell the truth. Let your clients know you have what they need, along with valuable services they may want. Employers and plan participants alike may become interested in your additional financial services because you’ve demonstrated that you care about their needs.