Tag Archives: Practice Management

Achieving Professional Scarcity and Professional Contrast with Steve Phillips (Ep. 38)

Advisor, Business, Coaching, Consulting, Education, Finance, Financial, Financial Advisor, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

Creating professional contrast and scarcity, improving referability, alleviating loyalty fatigue…These are all key pieces of the bigger puzzle: How to grow your practice to the next level?

In this episode, Duncan MacPherson speaks with Steve Phillips, chief practice management officer at USA Financial and a business consultant at Pareto Systems. They share best practices and timeless principles to help advisors build profound client relationships that lead to advocacy.

They discuss:

  • The importance of combining technological aids with the “human touch”
  • Shoot Your Trailer: an effective strategy to articulate your value to prospective clients
  • How to improve the quality of your referrals (in other words, duplicate your best clients)
  • How to deepen your client relationships amidst volatile markets
  • Why small gestures can go a long way in improving your overall client experience
  • And more

Resources:

Connect With Duncan:

Connect With Steve:

Promotions:

About Our Guest:

Steve Phillips is the Chief Practice Management Officer at USA Financial. He is a longtime friend and partner of Duncan MacPherson and the entire Pareto Systems team, having first engaged with Pareto as a client in 2010. With over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry as a speaker, team leader and passionate educator, Steve was an early adopter of the processes around practice management, business refinement and client acquisition. It was a natural next step for Steve to become a Pareto Certified Practice Management Consultant, and part of the Pareto Coaches Network.

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Enough Coasting. Now’s the Time To Climb! With Chris Jeppesen (Ep. 33)

Enough Coasting. Now’s the Time To Climb! With Chris Jeppesen (Ep. 33)

Advisor, Education, Finance, Financial, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,

The financial services industry has experienced colossal changes over the last decade. Today, advisors are on a collision course with commoditization like never before!

As a result, coasting is not an option moving forward. It’s either climbing or fading to irrelevance.

In this episode, Duncan MacPherson speaks with Chris Jeppesen, chief of advisory practices at First Trust, on why advisors need to shift their mindset and focus more on relationship and practice management to grow their business.

They discuss:

  • Insights into The Blue Square Method (and how it differs from The Advisor Playbook)
  • How to identify and address early symptoms of loyal fatigue in clients
  • How to effectively engage your team in a profound gap analysis
  • Four ways to be “always on” and fulfill your clients’ unmet needs
  • What elite, forward-looking professionals are doing to achieve scalable growth
  • And more

Resources:

Connect With Duncan:

Connect With Chris:

Promotions:

About Our Guest:

Chris Jeppesen is the head of advisory practices at First Trust, a firm known not only for its robust investment product line which includes UITs, ETFs, SMAs, and VAs (to name a few) but also for its commitment to the growth of financial advisors. First Trust has dedicated many years to finding (and investing in) creative ways to help financial advisors grow their practices. Chris’ goal over the last 18 years has been to give financial advisors the tools to develop an efficient business model focused on building long-term client trust and loyalty. Chris is also the co-author of The Advisor Playbook.

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The Art and Science of Practice Management With Kevin Bishopp (Ep. 32)

The Art and Science of Practice Management With Kevin Bishopp (Ep. 32)

Advisor, Business, Coaching, Consulting, Education, Finance, Financial, Financial Advisor, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,

Taking your practice management to the next level, nurturing your organizational culture, and improving client experiences might require switching your mindset from advisor to CEO.

In this episode, Duncan MacPherson speaks with Kevin Bishopp, Vice President and Performance Coach for the Advisor Consulting Group at First Trust, about the art and science of practice management — including several actionable ideas for financial advisors.

They discuss:

  • What stops advisors from dissociating from clients who are not a good fit
  • The impact of professional scarcity on advisor branding
  • The difference between client service and client experience (and how to balance them)
  • The HOW and WHY of nurturing a cohesive organizational culture
  • And more

Resources:

Connect With Duncan:

Connect With Kevin:

Promotions:

About Our Guest:

Kevin Bishopp is a Vice President and Performance Coach for the Advisor Consulting Group at First Trust. His focus is the best practices and mission-critical strategies that propel professionals/firms to be truly unique within the industry. His insights into key metrics, resource allocation, team structure, marketing and client acquisition equip professionals/firms to make high-quality strategic decisions that can generate dynamic results. Prior to joining First Trust, Kevin spent 12 years with Russell Investments, where he held positions as Director of Practice Management, RIA

Channel Head and Business Development Director. In those roles, he focused on coaching, content creation, sales management, national account management, and business development. Before joining Russell Investments, Kevin spent 5 years as a wealth manager for The Bishopp Group LLC, a family-owned wealth management practice. In 1994, he started his career in financial services as an associate for Principal Financial Group. Kevin holds an MBA from the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and a BA in Finance from Eastern Washington University.

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Why You Should Be Podcasting with Matt Halloran (Ep. 3)

Advisor, Business, Coaching, Consulting, Education, Finance, Financial, Financial Advisor, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Podcasting is an incredibly powerful tool for financial services professionals. It has the ability to drown out the noise and make people focus on what you’re saying.

In this episode, Duncan MacPherson is interviewed by Matt Halloran of ProudMouth about the merits of podcasting and why financial service professionals should consider adding it to their marketing and branding efforts. Duncan explains why he chose to start a podcast.

Duncan discusses:

  • Why he chose to bring podcasting to his followers, clients, etc.
  • How podcasting allows you to move people from suspects to prospects (or skeptics to fans)
  • Why intellectual property is so important for a fee for service professional
  • How his clients have used organic growth to improve their practice 
  • And more

Connect With Duncan MacPherson:

Connect With Matt Halloran:

About Our Guest:

Matt got started in the financial services industry 20 years ago as a certified life and business coach.   As he became immersed in his client’s biggest needs, he built his knowledge and expertise as a financial branding and social media expert.  More recently, Matt has added podcasting to that list.

Matt respects how tough it is to be great and effective at marketing while running a practice, living a life, and loving a family. He teaches advisors how to be themselves, let their passions shine through and create strong brands that resonate with ideal prospects and centers of influence.

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What Separates the Best from the Rest with Chris Jeppesen (Ep.1)

Advisor, Business, Coaching, Consulting, Education, Finance, Financial, Financial Advisor, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Over the last 18 months the best advisors have separated themselves from the rest, but how did they do it?

In this episode, Duncan MacPherson is joined by Chris Jeppesen of First Trust. They discuss what they’ve seen in the last 18 months, and what the best advisors and teams have done to separate themselves from their competitors. They also touch on what separates the best wholesalers from the rest.

Chris discusses:

  • What the last 18 months have revealed about the best advisors 
  • What the fastest growing advisors are doing to propel themselves upward in the future
  • The type of adjustments elite teams have made in their approach toward clients
  • What is separating the best wholesalers from the rest
  • And more

Resources: 

Connect With Duncan MacPherson:

Connect With Chris Jeppesen:

About Our Guest:

Since joining First Trust in 1997, I’ve met with thousands of brokers, advisors, and wealth managers learning the vital elements that have the most meaningful impact on delivering a consistent investment experience, scalable growth, and predictable revenue. I coach a select group of advisors and collaborate with business development areas of select firms with long-standing relationships with First Trust. I share what I’ve learned with thousands of advisors each year as a frequent guest speaker at financial advisor conferences across the country.

 

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