Advisors Excel’s Post

You help one client with an estate issue. Another needs coordination with their CPA. A third is preparing to sell a business. Over time, those individual requests become your service model. But have you stepped back to define what you’re actually delivering and who should be receiving it? At AE Wealth Management, we’re helping advisors bring more intention to that client experience: defining their services, aligning them with client needs and making the value easier to see. That’s the focus of my latest Kiplinger article.

Here's a question most advice firm owners cant answer in 30 seconds: If you were out of action for a month, what would your clients experience? A firm in London entered administration last month. It got me thinking about how few firms I speak to have a real answer. Its rarely a lack of care. It's that nobody has time until something forces the issue. When I look at firms that run smoothly, they usually have the same three things: - A one-page "if I'm not here" plan. Who contacts clients, who covers reviews, where the files live. One page, not a manual. - More than one way of winning clients. If 70% of new business comes from one source, that's a risk, not a strategy. - Files you'd be happy for a stranger to read. Clear notes and suitability evidence make your book easier to look after, and worth more if you ever sell. None of this is glamorous. All of it makes the business calmer to run and easier to grow. I've pulled the checklist into a short article if you want a starting point. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/enwFBMTZ #FinancialAdvice #IFA #AdviceFirms #BusinessGrowth #ClientExperience

This one is worth the read 👏 Common theme with a lot of advisors is that they're doing SO much more for their clients than simply managing money. The problem? Their clients don't always know it. You're coordinating with CPAs and attorneys, helping families navigate major life decisions, thinking ahead about income, estate planning, taxes and legacy, and solving problems behind the scenes that clients may never fully realize are part of the value they're receiving. Shannon Larson nails it in this article: It's not enough to deliver value. You have to make that value visible. Something to ask yourself: If one of your clients referred you to a friend tomorrow, what would they say you actually DO for them? That answer tells you a lot. https://lnkd.in/etbzwf8n

For many business owners, their company represents one of their largest assets. But have you considered what that business is actually worth when it comes to your estate plan? An accurate understanding of business value can play a critical role in planning for: ▪️ Estate taxes and liquidity needs ▪️ Inheritance and the equitable treatment of family members ▪️ Life insurance and financial planning ▪️ Ownership transitions and succession planning And here's something many owners overlook: Business value isn't static. Changes in revenue, profitability, management, customers, assets, and market conditions can significantly impact what your business is worth today compared to several years ago. Your attorney, CPA, financial advisor, and business valuation professional each bring important expertise to the table. But effective planning starts with credible information about the value of your business. Don't leave one of your largest assets out of the conversation. 📊 When was the last time you had your business valued? At ValueCap, we help business owners understand the value of what they've built so they can make informed decisions about their future. 📩 Contact ValueCap today to discuss your business valuation needs and take the next step toward a more informed estate and succession plan. #EstatePlanning #BusinessValue #BusinessValuation #BusinessOwners #SuccessionPlanning

Building Wealth Is One Objective. Preserving It Requires a Different Discipline. Business owners and professionals spend years building businesses, careers, relationships, and assets. Yet the structures supporting those accomplishments do not always receive the same attention as their growth. Consider five questions: 1. Is your business structured appropriately for its current stage? 2. Are your important legal, tax, insurance, and financial advisers communicating where coordination is needed? 3. Is there a documented succession or continuity plan? 4. Have you reviewed the risks that could interrupt your income or operations? 5. Do your estate and asset-protection arrangements reflect your present circumstances and objectives? These questions are not a substitute for advice from qualified attorneys, tax professionals, or licensed financial and insurance advisers. They are a starting point for identifying where a more coordinated review may be needed. My perspective is that wealth preservation should be approached as an ongoing discipline not as an emergency response after a problem occurs. Through Woodberry Wealth Preservation &; Corporate Consulting Inc., I focus on helping clients think more systematically about business structure, continuity, governance, and the coordination of appropriate professional resources. I think by providing these tips might help protect your assets and scale your business. A question for business owners and professionals: When was the last time you reviewed the structures supporting what you have worked to build? #WealthPreservation #BusinessContinuity #AssetProtection #SuccessionPlanning #ExecutivePlanning

The highest offer doesn't always deliver the best outcome for an advisory firm. In this Financial Advisor Magazine article, Scott Winters examines why financial advisors must look beyond valuation when considering a sale. Culture, autonomy, client relationships and post-sale expectations can ultimately determine whether a transaction succeeds. Before accepting an offer, consider what your firm could become without selling. Read the article to explore the factors that matter beyond purchase price. Article: The Best Deal On Paper Isn't Always The Best Outcome Read here: https://lnkd.in/gKBda6Da #10XFinancialAdvisor #10XFA #FinancialGravity #WealthManagement #AdvisorGrowth

I once asked a business owner how much time he spent managing his financial life. He laughed. “More than I spend managing some parts of my business.” He had an investment advisor, a CPA, an estate attorney, an insurance broker, a banker, and business counsel. Every one of them was good at what they did. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that he had become the project manager. A tax decision affected investments, an estate plan created insurance questions, and a business deal required conversations with everyone. Whenever something changed, he was the one responsible for connecting the dots. As wealth grows, we naturally add specialists. That’s often necessary. But eventually, a critical question emerges: Who sees the whole picture? Having several great advisors doesn't automatically create one coordinated strategy. If every professional operates in a silo, the client becomes the middleman—responsible for: ▪️ Forwarding emails and scheduling meetings. ▪️ Explaining one advisor's recommendation to another. ▪️ Remembering if the attorney knows what the CPA recommended six months ago. ▪️ Making judgment calls when two pieces of advice conflict. That is a strange position for someone who hired advisors to make their life easier. As wealth becomes more sophisticated, your advisory structure should make your life simpler, not more complicated. That doesn't mean hiring fewer professionals, it means building better coordination among them. ▪️ The CPA should understand the estate strategy. ▪️ The investment strategy should reflect the business dynamics. ▪️ Insurance planning should directly support your broader wealth goals. This is the core of the family office mindset. It isn't just about accessing expertise; it is about integrating the expertise you already have so major decisions never happen in isolation. Most successful business owners didn't spend decades building a company just to become the manager of their personal financial affairs. Your time is far better spent growing your business, being with your family, or planning what comes next. Your advisors should create clarity and freedom, not become another organization you have to manage. Complex wealth may require multiple experts. It shouldn't require you to become the project manager coordinating all of them. #WealthManagement #FamilyOffice #BusinessOwners #WealthStrategy #FinancialPlanning #NicholsWealthPartners

Advice First. Implementation When Appropriate. Not every financial planning relationship needs to end with a transfer of assets. Sometimes the most appropriate outcome is advice that helps a client make better decisions with the resources they already have. Your process should make room for that distinction. Consider these three principles when separating advice from implementation: • Lead with the client's needs. Make recommendations based on the plan and the client's circumstances, not on whether an opportunity produces a transaction. • Align assets with the plan. Consider how existing accounts and investments fit into the client's broader goals and risk tolerance. • Respect the right outcome. If transferring assets is not appropriate or the client chooses not to do so, there can still be meaningful planning work to accomplish. A client-centered process gives you room to act as an advocate rather than approaching every conversation as a sales opportunity. That distinction can strengthen trust and reinforce the value of your advice. Enroll in the IMPLEMENTATION Archives to explore how to build an advice-based process that keeps the client's interests at the center. https://lnkd.in/gvKuQQVy #AdviceBasedPlanning #FinancialAdvisors #ClientAdvocacy #FinancialPlanning #IMPLEMENTATIONArchives

Advisors are great at year-end planning for their clients. For their own firms, they often stop with a quick look at revenue and AUM. Your business is likely your largest asset. This year, ask whether it became more valuable and more transferable. In this Wealth Solutions Report article, Scott Leak, CFP®, CEPA® explains why your most important year-end review is your own, and what you should be looking for to build enterprise value: https://bit.ly/4yFeAAi "

Most financial advisory practices are built around a single advisor. One person's expertise, availability, and perspective on every situation a client brings through the door. At Kaizen Wealth, every client relationship benefits from three partners with combined designations across CFP, ChFC, AIF, CEPA, CFBS, and CLTC, and more than 60 combined years of experience in financial planning, investments, compliance, business succession, and long-term care. That structure means no client situation falls outside our collective experience. A complex estate. A business exit. A long-term care decision. A family business transfer. Each of those requires a different depth of expertise, and our team brings all of it to the same table. The right answer for a client is always better when more than one experienced perspective has stress-tested it.