Many new generation advisers lack the soft skills to effectively build a business, believes Paul Tynan, and this will lead to the emergence of a new ‘relationship manager’ role within advice practices.
Mr Tynan, CEO of Connect Financial Services Brokers, says the focus of adviser training over the past decade has been on lifting technical standards. As a result, Mr Tynan believes the fundamental business skills of organic growth and business development have been neglected.
He argues that as the financial advice industry moves to increase the education levels for both new entrants and current advisers, new planning business models will develop, and with them the need for a very different style of relationship manager role.
“The current generation lacks the skills, persistence and energy to develop referral networks and business development opportunities,” says Mr Tynan. “Businesses in the post-FoFA era will require a relationship manager, who will undertake two key strategic functions for the business, with remuneration based on success.”
According to Mr Tynan the two functions of the new relationship manager will be:
- Communication – meeting and greeting new clients, articulating the mission and vision of the business, detailing the client value proposition, and connecting clients to the most appropriate adviser within the business
- Business development and referrals – developing and monitoring referral relationships, identifying new business opportunities, building multiple referral points
“The way we communicate is changing and new social media devices and mediums are readily on hand,” says Mr Tynan. “However, people will always seek advice from individuals they trust especially as the larger businesses continue to move further away from their customers.
“In this rapidly moving hi-tech, social media era, the relationship managers will be of immense benefit to practice owners, utilising the skills and experience of Baby Boomer advisers that have either just retired or sold their practices to develop new networks and business relationships,” concluded Mr Tynan.
Agree with Paul Tynan. In the old days of tied relationships, sales training – essentially what we’re referring to here – was fundamental to new advisers’ training programmes.
We’ve moved from there and it seems few training programmes of that ilk are now available. Hence, for many newer advisers it’s make or break if they’re entering the business on their own and not on the coat-tails of their father’s business or they come into a business with a huge client base to work.
I and others have said several times before in this forum: ‘insurance is sold not bought’, so professional selling skills are as much in vogue as they’ve ever been. In this, there are fundamental differences from the way it was to the way it is, but that’s a discussion for another day.
No new client leaves my office without having to consider the possibility of losing the family home because of illness, injury or death; emotion created by statistics. No hard sell required. If the client doesn’t ‘get it’ then I show them the door. Young blokes are a hard sell, until you have them unable to work ever again and living permanently back with mum and dad; a fate worse than death for many, including my youngest son. An extensive list of testimonials from clients that we have helped with claims is another short cut to creating trust and appreciating need.
Just clinically analysing capital and income needs, doing a budget and making recommendations won’t cut if for most people until they come to the realisation that the cost of not having your ‘product’ could be significantly more than paying for it each month.
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