Between Now and Success

9 months of job interviews. 27 "No's" from top advisory firms. 33,000 cold calls. That's all it took for Erin Scannell to open up his independent office and land his first client back in 1999. Few people would have powered through that long, but as Erin Scannell explains on today's podcast, he learned some hard lessons in perseverance and resilience growing up that continue to motivate him to this day. Erin is the founder and CEO of Heritage Wealth Advisors in the Seattle area, where he directs 50 team members, 18 advisors, and about $2 billion in assets under management. Erin is also a regular on Barron's list of the top advisors and an inspiration to anyone who thinks the next hurdle in your business' growth is insurmountable – even if that hurdle is a global pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced financial advisors to shift the way you market your services. In person marketing and networking is severely restricted for the near future and if you want to succeed in this new world, you have to adapt to the new virtual reality. Even before the pandemic, our industry was already making a shift towards digital marketing combined with digital events. Things like pay-per-click advertising, newsletters, podcasts, video, and virtual events like webinars, panels, and summits have been gaining steam for years. But now, the pandemic has accelerated that trend to light speed. The most successful firms have jumped all over the virtual marketing trend and are crushing those firms who haven't. To help you succeed in virtual marketing, I hosted a virtual panel with two experts. Bill Keen is the founder and CEO of Keen Wealth Advisors, which is an RIA in the greater Kansas City area with half a billion dollars in assets under management. Lisa Salvi is Vice President, Business Consulting and Field Experience at Charles Schwab, where she oversees the advisor consulting group and produces the industry's gold standard annual benchmarking report.

In a Nutshell: There's no "silver bullet" marketing strategy that's going to turn your blogs and tweets into clients. But if you identify a niche and develop a consistent media presence that's appealing and engaging, you can reach your ideal clients where they're more likely to see and hear you. Guest: Wes Moss, the chief investment strategist of Capital Investment Advisors, which is a multibillion-dollar RIA in Atlanta. Wes has been ranked as a top 100 independent advisor by Barron's. He's also the host of Money Matters, which is Atlanta's longest running live call-in radio show on investment and personal finance, a regular contributor to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the author of three books. My Key Takeaway: To build your media presence: Get writing. Wes and I both believe that writing is the key to finding your voice and starting to create stellar content. Re-purpose. Break down a good newsletter into a week's worth of social media posts. Turn audio from your webinar into a podcast. Use the intro from your last blog as a script for a 2-3 minute YouTube video. Automate and delegate. If you can use AI or a team of assistants to handle basic communication tasks you'll have more time to write, record, and get personal with clients. Also Learn: Why the ability to self-publish media gives independent advisors an advantage over larger firms when trying to reach people. What advisors should know about trying to break into radio versus trying to start a podcast. How Wes answers the question, "I'm your client. What is the value that you provide to me?" What Wes' experience as a contestant on "The Apprentice" (back when President Trump was the host) taught him about succeeding in marketing and media.

In a Nutshell: It's human nature to want to be part of a community. Hosting and participating in live events is essential to maintaining a connection with your client and prospect base and to furthering your own personal development -- even during quarantine. Guest: Alison Rooney, Global Managing Director, Wealth Management, Barron's Group. Alison's team oversees the underwriting, membership, and content development for all of Barron's live events, including over 20 conferences geared towards elite practitioners. My Key Takeaway: To create memorable events that will benefit and grow your community: Delegate responsibility. A Barron's-sized event requires a team of pros focused on specific details, but even your next webinar will have many moving parts to coordinate. Diversify your content. The broader your range of perspectives, topics, and speakers, the more likely you are to surprise, engage, and delight your audience. Never run out of coffee. Your attendees are going to remember whom they saw and what they learned, but it's the little hospitality touches that will determine how they feel about your event. For virtual events, "coffee" might be a friendly thank you email or an exclusive offer. Also Learn: How Alison moves from "ideas by committee" to one lone decision maker when designing consistent and cohesive conferences. What the big three reasons are that attendees go to conferences and how to appeal to each. How the content that's most interesting to advisors, clients, and prospects has evolved in recent years. Why Alison always zeroes in on three or four people she wants to meet ahead of any conference she's attending.

In a Nutshell: Growing your business -- especially during a crisis -- depends less on your ability to manage money that it does on your ability to become an important part of your client's story. Guests: Arthur Ambarik CFP® is the CEO of Perigon Wealth Management, which currently has $1.8 billion in AUM. Rachel Elson has recently transitioned from a career as a personal finance journalist to working as a Financial Planning Associate at Perigon. My Key Takeaway: In order to make you and your services major players in your client's financial narrative: Do what other advisors don't. Find those pain points like helping family members or advising on a potential career change that fall through the cracks of old-fashioned advisory. Be your client's friend. And remember: friends do things for each other because they genuinely want to help, not because they expect something in return. Look outside the box when you're searching for talent. Money managers are a dime a dozen. Caring, curious, motivated people who are excited to learn the ropes are gold. Also Learn: 1. Why Arthur and Rachel replaced traditional discovery summary letters with personalized financial narratives. 2. How your quality of service trumps your asset management when it comes to getting referrals and winning new business. 3. What Arthur has learned about balancing CEO-level responsibilities with client service responsibilities.

Recently I was a guest on the Better Conversations, Better Outcomes podcast presented by BMO Global Asset Management. Host Ben Jones and I discussed my 5-point framework for effective communication with clients during a crisis. I developed this framework based on the mistakes I saw some advisors make back in the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). These advisors got hit with a double whammy of market declines and lost clients as they failed to effectively communicate with their clients as the GFC unfolded.

In a Nutshell: Silicon Valley unicorns make the billion-dollar headlines, but the true measure of an entrepreneur's success is how you align your business with your goals, your lifestyle, your values, and the impact you make in people's lives. Guest: Author, journalist, and speaker David Sax. His new book, The Soul of an Entrepreneur: Work and Life Beyond the Startup Myth, approaches entrepreneurship from a broader, more personal, and more realistic perspective. My Key Takeaway: To define success for yourself as an entrepreneur: Accept that your business isn't Amazon or Facebook. You don't have to become a billionaire to be successful. Be yourself. The misfit eccentric who dropped out of high school and skateboards to the boardroom in a hoodie is the exception. Successful bakeries, salons, restaurants, and, yes, financial advisory firms are run by hardworking people like you who have a dream and put a plan in place to achieve it. Set purposeful but personal business targets. Don't try to grow like everyone else is. Build the business that you want to run. Also Learn: How to "get over the hump" of not seeing yourself as a real entrepreneur. Why taking on loans or third-party investments to accelerate your growth might hurt your business more than it helps. What seeing Heidi Klum on the cover of Maxim taught David about the unrealistic expectations our country sets for entrepreneurs. The process David uses to write his books.

Seth Streeter is the CEO and founder of Mission Wealth, a leading wealth management company with more than $2.5 billion in assets under management. Seth was an early proponent of our industry's shift into Life-Centered Planning, and I could listen to him talk all day about how advisors can help folks redefine what wealth and happiness really mean. Recently I heard an episode of the Wellness Revolutionaries podcast in which Mindbody co-founder Blake Beltram talked with Seth about this concept of redefining wealth. Their discussion was so insightful that I reached out to Blake, and he's been kind enough to let me share this episode here. Some of the topics Blake and Seth cover include: Why Seth believes money counts for only 10% of a person's wealth. Seth's 10 Dimensions of Wealth and 7 Dimensions of Wellness. How the values of a new generation of workers are reshaping the classic American Dream. How to help retirees develop a "Life 3.0 Vision" based around the freedom to pursue passions, strengthen relationships, and build their legacies. Preparing your business for the paradigm shift Seth sees in how our culture views money and defines wealth. Thank you Blake and Seth for letting me post this episode.

In a Nutshell: Hard work, a deep love for his clients, and a niche working with retirees of a particular company led this advisor to the pinnacle of the profession. Guest: Barron's Hall of Famer Scott Tiras, President of Tiras Wealth Management, which is a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services. Scott has more than 30 years of experience as an advisor. Currently he manages around 700 family relationships and more than $1.5 billion in assets. My Key Takeaway: To create an experience that makes clients feel like they're your only client: Identify your "bread and butter client," meaning the people to whom you can bring the most value over time. Focus your pitch and your value proposition on what Scott calls "the soft side of retirement" — the things clients and prospects will be retiring to, not just their raw numbers. Challenge yourself and your team to excel. Scott channels his competitive energy into running a world-class business. You need to find a similar motivation and drive to deliver "hall of fame" service and keep growing. Also Learn: 1. How Scott targets a local company niche with on-site workshops that demonstrate his expertise and lay the foundations for strong relationships. 2. How Scott leverages his team of 16 to support him and personalize the relationship building touches that keep his clients connected to the business. 3. What Scott does to build his brand and play an active role in his community so that he has a noticeable, positive presence.

In a Nutshell: A "wow" customer service experience meets clients needs, engages customers on terms that gel with their lifestyle, and creates genuine human connection. Hitting those check marks is what separates Ritz-Carlton, Starbucks, Zappos, and the best financial advisory firms from the rest of the pack. Guest: Joseph Michelli, a bestselling author, an international speaker, an organizational consultant, and one of the world's leading authorities on how to develop joyful and productive workplaces with a focus on the customer experience. My Key Takeaway: To give your clients a "Ritz-Carlton" advisory experience they'll be sure to tell their friends about: 1. Don't strive for excellent customer service. Seek perfection. The companies that try to deliver better service tomorrow than they did today are the ones that build the priceless brand loyalty that sets them apart from their competition. 2. Focus your client experience around addressing "peaks and pains." Find small ways to celebrate big wins with clients that your planning helped them achieve. Use your financial expertise and your human empathy to mitigate painful moments -- like, say, a sudden market downturn after a global virus outbreak. 3. Make the most out of every face-to-face interaction you have with a client. Your most effective marketing doesn't happen in Facebook ads or on a billboard. It happens when a client is in your office getting five-star treatment from the moment they walk in the door. You won't have to ask your clients for referrals -- you'll be earning them. Also Learn: 1. Why you wouldn't take a first date to McDonald's and what that says about good service vs. great hospitality. 2. How to integrate your tech stack with your advisory team to create elevated customer experiences on a consistent basis. 3. What Joseph Michelli learned about world-class customer service and team leadership from Howard Schultz, Airbnb, and Mercedes-Benz.