From time to time, we welcome a guest blogger who brings new perspectives on key issues in practice management. Today we are sharing a post from Eric Magyar, who spells out details on finding a perfect fit between advisors and wholesalers.
Eric graduated with an MBA in finance and has 16 years of industry experience. Eric serves as a Senior Regional Sales Consultant with Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management.You can find Eric online at www.internal-wholesaler.com and follow him on twitter @erickeithmagyar.
Genuine partnerships with quality people, products and services are essential for any business to succeed today. Professionals in the exceedingly competitive financial services industry have many opportunities to form partnerships. Internal wholesalers make excellent business partners with financial advisors. Most internals today have extensive industry experience and want to assist in building your practice. The problem for financial advisors is they get overwhelmed with calls every day and it is very easy to ignore the wholesaler’s call. If you are a financial advisor in your office right now, you will get a call from an internal wholesaler before you finish reading this article.
Take the call and profile the wholesaler with these questions to save you time and learn if they will be a beneficial partner to help grow your business.
- What is your best product idea right now?
The internal wholesaler should be prepared to deliver a 30-second pitch on their best idea. If it fits your business plan, partnering with them could be mutually beneficial. If the concept presented does not align with your investment model and goals explain why.
Benefit to Financial Advisor: In one minute you learned this internal wholesaler is not an ideal partner at this time and saved yourself hours from future calls.
Benefit to Internal Wholesaler: In one minute the wholesaler learned you will not become a client at this time. This is invaluable to the wholesaler enabling them to move on to find the “right fit” clients.
- How do you support your best clients?
This answer can be anything from value-added programs – such as access to a Business Coach or personal meetings with the Portfolio Manager. Convey your expectations and ask how the wholesaler will be able to meet the needs of your clients and your firm. Keep in mind, the solution presented should align with your investment model and overall firm goals.
Benefit to All: In three short minutes a partnership was initiated to potentially benefit the Financial Advisor, the Internal Wholesaler, the firm practice, as well as, the end client with a new and/or better product/service.
In as little as one minute you can evaluate if working with an Internal Wholesaler will be beneficial to your practice. From that first minute you will know if they are professional, respect your time by being prepared with their best idea and know if that idea fits your business model and values. If you don’t want to work with the wholesaler, kindly ask them not to contact you again, or schedule an appropriate follow up time if desired. This will save you time by not answering future calls and also help the wholesaler in understanding why you are not a potential client.
The next few questions you should ask will reveal the types of services the wholesaler can deliver. Most of them will be in the following categories:
- Seminar support
- Professionals to speak at your client events such as a Portfolio Manager
- Dedicated Relationship Manager to assist in servicing your business and clients
- Logo merchandise
- Ability to help offset the costs of improving your practice for a Business Coach or Trainer for your staff
- Quick response time for questions you need answered correctly the first time
Starting a business relationship with the Internal Wholesaler is an efficient use of time since they are calling you and the most time spent is three minutes asking the questions above. Once the relationship is established, the next step will be to meet in person with their external wholesaler to learn how they can assist you and your clients. Filter through the vendors proficiently to ensure you have the best quality partners, products and services to help you build your practice, reach your firm goals and save you valuable time.
Question: What successes or challenges do you have with your wholesalers?
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