There Are Opportunities in The Gaps
Market Counsel President/CEO Brian Hamburger started off the event with a curious thought, that the “enjoyable client experience may not be scalable.” That technology, as great as it is, can only do so much and at the end of the day, it is the advisor who truly makes the difference in the relationship. That part may not seem so controversial, but knit together with comments made later in the day by JD Power Senior Director and Head of Wealth Solutions Tom Rieman, who noted that “clients place significant value” on an elevated experience, but “only a small fraction of advisors are delivering on it.”
That’s not all bad news because clients on the whole are satisfied with their advisors and the relationship, but there is room for improvement and in that space is where differentiation (and potential for growth) comes in…part of that will be tech, but most of it relies on human relationships with real depth and value. Think of it as the proverbial going from “good to great”. Advisors that hope to outpace their peers will take heed of this.
Putting On Your Own Oxygen Mask First Before Helping Others
As mentioned in our earlier blog post, Market Counsel deserves kudos for placing health (mental and physical) front and center at this event. As advisors we take such pride in helping others solve their problems…imagine how much more effective we can be if we address our own personal issues and challenges with as much vigor.
Succession Planning As Secret Sauce
Where things go from here isn’t just one of the most important conversations we should be having with our clients. For BlueSpring and Orion, it is part of the secret sauce that helped each organization innovate. Energy and ingenuity are at the heart of how these two firms expect to continue to grow, and one of the more interesting panels of the summit featured the top 2s at each company and how they viewed continuity and balancing power.
BONUS: The Shoe Game With This Group Is Strong
Covid changed so much about our world and, perhaps also spurred by the beach business casual vibes of The FutureProof conference, advisors have felt more comfortable sharing their personalities at conferences. Nowhere was this more apparent than in their choices of footwear. It turns out more folks in this space are sneakerheads than one would have guessed and panelists and audience members alike flashed grails and deadstock. Custom Lebron’s? Check. All the colors of the spectrum were represented. The Orion team sported custom company kicks. Even press row featured multiple pairs of red kicks.
