Speaker 1 0:08

This is the Ultimate Advisor Podcast, the podcast for financial advisors who want to create a thriving, successful and scalable practice. Each week we’ll uncover the ways that you can improve your referrals, your team, your marketing, and your business operations, helping you to level up your advising practice, bring in more assets and create the advising practice that you’ve dreamed of. You’ll be joined by our hosts Bryan sweet, who is moving fast towards a billion dollars in assets under management, Brittany Anderson, the driving force for advisors looking to improve their operations and company culture, and Draye Redfern who can help you systematize and automate your practices marketing to effortlessly attract new clients. So what do you say? Let’s jump in to another amazing episode of The Ultimate advisor podcast.

Brittany Anderson 1:07

Welcome back to your Ultimate Advisor Podcast. This is Brittany Anderson here with Bryan Sweet and Draye Redfern. And we are going to dive into how to make your business stand out. Now the things that we’re going to talk about, it’s really a holistic approach, and how to make your business stick out to your ideal prospect. And I have a feeling it’s going to be a few things over the next handful of weeks that you maybe haven’t thought about before, or put enough energy into. So you’re definitely going to want to tune in over the course of the next four weeks or so as we dive into how to make your business stand out. So the first topic which of course I had to start with is on hiring only the best to put it really, really simple your people make or break your business. Now, this is something that if you’re listening in and you have a handful of employees, you have 10 employees, you have 20 employees, I mean, this is going to be great for you to really help hone and sharpen their skills. But also, if you’re at the point where you maybe only have one other person supporting you or two other people supporting you, you’re going to be able to put these practices in place and adopt this mindset, it’s going to give you an ultimate advantage as you continue to build your team. So I will tell you that the number one comment we get at Sweet Financial, when we ask our clients because because we do this on occasion, when we ask how we’re different, how we stand out to them, I would bet you nine times out of 10, it comes back in relation to the team, and in how the team actually treats them and the service that they’re delivered. If you would think that maybe it’s Oh, the you know, the processing is quick or, you know, gosh, the responses are great, we hear all of that stuff. But what we hear more often than not, is they’re just amazing people, you know, they treat us like family, we feel like we’re walking in and we’re hanging out with some of our best friends or, you know, our best family members, those are the comments that we get. And that’s a really unique skill set. So when you look at and having your business stand out, let’s just kind of go to the opposite end of the spectrum for a minute. So I can think of an example of a vendor that we had contracted with. And I’m not going to name names, because we’ll just respect some privacy here. But there was one in particular vendor where we had called in, we had some questions on our contract. And we were told that we were out of contract, no problem, go ahead and cancel, no big deal. So we had this conversation three to four different times with different service people just making sure everything was buttoned up, we got to cancel, a manager gets involved and says wait a second, you were told the wrong thing. We actually don’t really care what you were told you’re under contract, and we’re not going to budge on this, you could tell that customer service was literally the lowest thing on the totem pole, you can actually feel that you can feel that when you walk into a business, and they don’t really care about service, you’re not going to get eye contact, you’re not going to get that feeling that they even care that you’re there. Same thing on the phone. You know, we’ve talked about smiling when you answer the phone, because people can actually feel a smile, you can feel the opposite end of the spectrum too. So I just wanted to give that little example there because it is so important. If you really want to stand out in a positive way. Your people are an opportunity for you to really shine and stand out in this industry. So Bryan you know, we’ve implemented something at Sweet Financial, this whole concept of tagging. And I would love for you to jump in because I know you’ve had a chance to do it. And it’s so powerful. It’s so impactful. So I would love for you to give that example.

Bryan Sweet 4:34

Tagging is a really interesting concept and literally all it does is it allows you to say something very positive about somebody else in your office and setting them up to look really, really great. So a couple of ways that we utilize it would be if you’re introducing your client service person to a client or process you You’d say something to the effect of, hey, I wanted to introduce you to Jessica, she is just amazing, she’s got an attention for detail, you know, gets back to everybody in time, every one of our clients think she’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, etc, etc. So now when the client is, you know, meeting this person, they’ve already got this really great opinion. And they’re dealing with somebody that you’ve already said, You look up to, they do a great job. And they don’t have to worry about being given to somebody that may not do the things that they expect. And also, if you have multiple advisors in the office, and you’re trying to maybe pass on a client, that you don’t want to work with yourself, tagging another rep by saying, you know, this is Amber and Amber does a great job. She’s our CFP, she works extremely well with all of our financial planning software, and she does all my planning for me. And it really is just a great way of setting things up. So clients don’t feel like, Oh, you’re just trying to get rid of me and give me to somebody else, there’s actually value add that there, you know, not only are they getting to work with you, but they get somebody else over and above that. So it’s really important to show that there’s a difference in your team. And each member of your team has a set of skills that you would use and inform the client or the prospect of that. And then also on just take off a little bit on what Brittany said earlier, from time to time, we like to check in with our clients and see how we’re doing and level of communication and we’re dropping the ball any particular place. And one of the questions we ask almost every time is what are the things that you value most about sweet financial, and literally, as Brittany alluded to, nine out of 10 times, it’s something about one of the team members and how they go above and beyond. And they get back to him and you know the time period that we’ve established that we would. And so your team is so valuable. And as Brittany is always alluding to, you know, you want to be slow to hire and quick to fire. And this is just so important. Because if you get the right people behind you, that is such a huge key to success. And Draye I think you’ve got some interesting things on utilizing creative bios for your staff that I think you’d be really fun for you to share.

Brittany Anderson 7:39

Hey, Brittany here, stopping and pausing for a moment to talk about something that we’ve had so many of you inquire about, and that is our ultimate advisor, mastermind. Now, I’m going to start by saying if you are not a growth minded individual, if you are not somebody who’s focused on taking your business to the next level, if you’re not focused on engaging your team, and helping them to help you in turn, level up the business, the service model, how you provide that wow experience to clients. If those things are not your focus, just fast forward right now, because the ultimate adviser mastermind would not then be for you. However, if you are looking to take your business to the next level, if you want to experience exponential growth and feel supported along the way, if you want to start working smarter and not harder, if you want to help your team members to work within the God given talents that they were provided, and use those skill sets in a way they haven’t yet to help support you in your business, to help them realize their biggest goals, their biggest dreams. If you want creative approaches to marketing, I know that can be an intimidating word. But we’re not talking here about the fancy Facebook stuff, or you know, the latest and greatest, but rather looking at how you can market what you do, how you can express how you’re different, and how you can truly differentiate yourself in a crowded market space. If those are problems you’re looking to solve, then you absolutely want to go check out ultimate advisor mastermind.com To learn more about how we can help you on your path and and journey to growth.

Draye Redfern 9:38

Yeah, this is fun. I think it’s just a fun way to also get buy in from individuals early on. So obviously we have the brackets that people would fit into it’s in it’s an admin position or it’s in, you know, a specialist role, or it’s an all the different roles we sort of have in the company. So that’s super cool, but those are all very boring. And like customer service representative, you sound like a robot, or you sound like someone who has zero personality and nobody wants to talk to you. And that’s true, what we tried to sort of stay away from. So we actually, like people fit in these little buckets as far as like the roles in which they operate inside of the company, but we let them choose their title. And the number one rule is, it’s got to fit what you do. And it’s got to be creative. And so we’ve got people on the team who are like the organizers of random and erratic activity. You know, there’s someone who is the leader of light bulb moments, there’s another one in person who’s marketing and positivity master. So things that they, they they get behind, and they like actually being a part of every time they send an email, because it represents who they are their personality. And it’s a few other things there also. But really, it’s something that sort of take ownership in, and is just a fun way to really we do a brainstorming exercise in my office on their first or second day to figure this out. So it gives them something like, you know, that is unique to them inside the organization from day one, that obviously fits their sort of their role and sort of what they do. And that’s a fun way, like I said, to give them ownership. But we also give them a little bit additional, you know, leeway or additional options that if someone needs something like just like the suite team, they have full rein to basically go above and beyond. So if that means a phone call at eight or nine o’clock at night, or if that means that they’re going to get an extra video center or tutorial center, someone needs something, they’re there, and they’re willing to step up, and they have the free rein and autonomy to do that. And that really goes a long way to circle back to what Brian was saying earlier and Brittany, to the customer service standpoint, is that really at the end of the day, the customer or the client, whatever you choose to name them, is really the first and the foremost priority when it comes to the business because if you don’t have them, the business is going to be around. In fact, there’s I believe it was an old McDonald’s quote or something like that, that, that on the on the checks when they used to pay their client or pay their employees. It says this check is brought to you by your clients or your customers on every single check. And I think that’s a great way to you know, maybe they don’t do that anymore. But it’s a great way to really showcase that the clients are the number one responsibility. And so what can you do to to consistently try and elevate that maybe maybe do some fun and personality along the way. So maybe there’s a couple of things they have ready to unpack or dive deeper on. But I’ll hand it over to you.

Brittany Anderson 12:24

Yeah, you know, I was thinking of something actually, as you’re both talking, when you are looking at bringing on team members, when you’re looking at adding to your team, when you’re looking at how you can better serve your clients a great mentality to have when you walk into the hiring process is how can I hire somebody that’s actually better than me at this given task? Right? How can I find somebody who has such a unique skill set, that they are going to make me look bad, whatever it is I’m hiring for. And I think that helps you kind of reframe your mindset. So rather trying rather than trying to find somebody, you know, a, but to fill a seat or somebody just fill a role or fill a job or, you know, fill a hole in the company, or whatever that is, you’re actually looking for somebody that’s going to help you up your game. And naturally, what happens is when you constantly have that mindset, with every hire you bring on, you are consistently helping everybody else on your team to level up. Because they are seeing that person who came in, they’ve got that energy, they’ve got that fire, they’ve got that excitement and starting something new. And that energy can be contagious for your team. But the other thing that I wanted to comment on is that anytime you are trying this, again, this depends on the business that you’re trying to build or the model you’re trying to follow. But if you’re trying to set up a company that doesn’t rely solely on you as the primary as the advisor as the owner, and you want to have a collaborative team approach that your client appreciates and abides by, this is a great tip for you. So anytime you’re interacting, so Bryan went through that whole tagging methodology. But I wanted to give a little bit more background on that is you want your client to feel like that you’re literally doing them a disservice if you didn’t have that other person service them. And think think about too, is that you’re in meetings all day, you’re busy, you’ve got clients, you’ve got, you know, team meetings, you’ve got whatever else going on, you’re trying to build the business, you’re probably the rainmaker, you’ve got all these roles and responsibilities. The bottom line is, is that when you are introducing a client or a prospect to a team member, that’s actually going to serve them, I would flat out say that if you want exceptional service, this is your person, right? Because that’s who’s gonna get back to them timely, that’s who’s going to have the time and the capacity to be able to do that, and to make you look really, really darn good. So I think that’s a huge opportunity for you to take advantage of and implement in your business immediately is even if you only have one other person is talking them up. And one cool thing to do, which I think everybody should do at least once is to do it in front of that person. Write make that team member feel like a million bucks. So the things that you recognize within them, see that in front of a client, say it in front of a prospect, because all of a sudden their confidence is going to go through the roof. And that’s really powerful. You do that for your team, they’re going to turn around, and they’re going to do it for your clients. And that’s where you start to make an impact. It’s this waterfall effect in a really, really positive way. So Bryan, Draye, that being said, Is there anything else that you have to share?

Bryan Sweet 15:29

Brittany, I’m so happy you expanded on that tagging and included the saying it in front of the team member. It’s amazing the effect, we’ve been doing this for maybe six months or a year or something like that. And it is so noticeable. The effect on the team member, when you do say that in front of people, I can literally tell you that I can look at each team member that we have. And when I’ve said things like that in front of them, their level of performance has actually gone up to whatever I said and exceeded it. And until you said that, I really didn’t think about that. But it it’s absolutely amazing. Because if you think that, then they think that of themselves. And they’re going to act and do the things that create whatever it is you’re saying about them. And so unbelievable effects. So thank you for sharing that because that was one of the side benefits that I had forgot to mention.

Brittany Anderson 16:31

To round out today’s podcast episode, I want to give you three big takeaways. And I think these are really simple things to implement, but really incredibly impactful. Number one, I think this is an obvious one at this point, but tag your team members, make them seem like and truly believe this right? Don’t just say it just as word of word smithing or, you know, whatever trying to make it up. But really believe in the fact that your team is incredible, and tag them and talk about them and brag them up and show their skill set and where they’re going to make an impact for your clients and your prospects. So that is your first takeaway. The second is check in with your clients. Right, this is a great opportunity for you to deepen the relationship by asking some of those simple questions that Bryan mentioned, you know, really get to the core of what what is it that they appreciate? Because if you’re trying to emphasize something that they don’t really care about, well, you’re probably doing it wrong. So let’s do it. Right, let’s appeal to what they want. You know, it goes back to the old adage, I’ve said this before in previous episodes, but don’t treat people the way you want to be treated, treat them the way they want to be treated. It applies here as well. And the final one is to make your team members feel like a 14-, right? I think this is so important. I think this is so impactful. But make them feel important and make it a genuine, intentional effort, you are going to notice a difference in the way that they serve your clients and that they show up every day in the business. So it’s huge. It’s impactful and gosh darn it, they’re dedicating their life to helping you grow your business. They deserve it. So that wraps up today’s episode of The Ultimate Advisor Podcast. Don’t miss us back here next week as we continue talking about how you can make your business standout.