Common Mistakes New Financial Advisors Make And How To Avoid Them

We’re all human and bound to make mistakes. But, if you know how to avoid making a mistake, why wouldn’t you? As you’re building your financial advising practice, there are many moving parts, all of which can hinder your growth if not addressed head-on.

Here at Consolidated Planning, our planning philosophy is built on putting people first. Our team-based approach benefits our external customers and our internal customers, you, our financial advisor. Through this team-based approach, you will continually be educated and guided in how to best build your practice, using our planning approach.

Our planning approach includes utilizing tools, resources, and access to your mentor to better provide the best solutions for your clients. You will learn how to avoid common mistakes that financial advisors have made before you. If you’re willing to learn from others and keep open lines of honest communication, Consolidated Planning may prove to be a good fit for you.

 

3 Common Mistakes That New Financial Advisors Make

 

#1 Feeling Like You Have To Know Everything From Day 1

Mark Z. Danielewski once said, “maturity, one discovers, has everything to do with the acceptance of ‘not knowing.” While learning and knowing as much as possible is always a good thing, knowing is not the place to get hung up on here. You can’t let what you don’t know yet be a reason you’re not calling on clients. 

Building your practice starts on day one, even if you know nothing about the industry. A career in the financial industry is a learning curve – you just need to trust the process.

At Consolidated Planning, there are so many incredible resources at your disposal to learn about to help build your practice, including The Advisor Performance Group, The Marketing Administration and Practice Management Solutions, and The New Business Hub, and we promise you will understand your role with them and how they benefit your clients in due time.

These resources will be part of your onboarding and become seamless with your workflow. All you need to do is follow our system which is designed for you to focus on your first client meeting and the protection side of the meeting, while the other details fall into place.

As a financial advisor at Consolidated Planning, you will attend our very own Consolidated Planning University (CPU) to help you overcome the fear of losing control of your clients. 

Losing control, wait, what?

CPU is one of our many educational opportunities where seasoned advisors will walk you through what your clients’ cases will look like. From The Advisor Performance Group to the New Business Hub and the Underwriting team, you will have full confidence and competence in allowing these internal teams to leverage their unique abilities in delivering the very best solutions for your clients, alongside you, their advisor.

 

#2 Not Asking For Help

Repeat after us, asking for help is not a sign of weakness. 

Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. 

As a financial advisor, you have to be able to put your ego and pride aside and ask for help whenever necessary.

By not asking for help, you’re actually doing yourself, your clients, and your practice a disservice. 

Not even the most senior financial advisor knows everything about everything. This is one of the reasons we are excited for you to find a firm that best suits you. From onboarding support, to paperwork fulfillment, servicing your clients, and even ways to best market yourself, our internal teams are available to answer your questions and help you build a successful practice.

Let our resources go to work for you.

 

#3 Not Using The Ideal Work Week

An ideal work week sounds great, doesn’t it? Many firms will utilize some variation of a block calendar to guide your week. What does that week look like?

Most of our financial advisors follow this ideal work week which best allows time to ensure you’re covering all of your bases. While you don’t have to follow this, it is a proven guide that our team can coach you on to best incorporate into your workflow and practice building.

The 1-3-1 Approach

Here at Consolidated Planning, we use a structured workweek that follows 1-3-1. The 1’s represent admin, and “catching up” while the 3 is for 3 focus days for your prospects and clients.

1 Day for Administrative tasks – 3 Focus Days – 1 for “Catch Up” Activities

Mondays and Fridays

• Admin (client notes, research, meeting preparation, data for APG)
• Trainings (CPU, Continuing Education)
• Consolidated Planning Meetings
• Reviewing prospecting lists

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

• Client meetings
• Client phone calls
• Anything where you’re in front of people

Rest assured, our teams are designed to take as many non-revenue generating tasks off of your plate as possible but there are still housekeeping items that you will need to do. Being in front of your prospects and clients is of utmost importance but some of these “admin” tasks are necessary for professional learning, developing relationships, and ultimately building a long-term successful practice.

 

Is Consolidated Planning The Best Firm To Help You Overcome These Mistakes?

Don’t get us wrong, mistakes will happen in your career as a financial advisor, no matter which firm you work with. However, we do our best and encourage you to do the same in ensuring that the firm you select is the best fit for you.

So, you may be thinking, is Consolidated Planning the best firm for me?

As a financial advisor at Consolidated Planning, we want you to have every opportunity to identify how your career is going and we feel this is essential for the longevity of your career. As a part of your mentor-mentee relationship, you will send a weekly recap to your mentor indicating what you think went well, what did not go well, and what Consolidated Planning can do to help you. 

This is a good chance for you to be open, and honest with yourself, allowing our teams to best help you, therefore helping your clients.

If you want to work with a firm that can help you avoid common mistakes and identify areas for improvement, your next step might be to reach out to our recruiters to keep the conversation rolling.

 

 

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