Roger Wellington - Kinder Institute of Life Planning - On Articulating Your Value

In a nutshell:

The Kinder Institute of Life Planning trains advisors to talk with clients in a broader way than just focusing on the numbers side of financial planning. Here Roger Wellington, Kinder Institute Executive Director, shares his thoughts on best ways to communicate your value to current and prospective clients.

"The Life Planning approach to wealth management is often difficult to encapsulate quickly.  And if it takes you a paragraph to describe how your holistic approach differs from others, you’re likely to have lost your audience.  One of the pithiest summaries of Life Planning I’ve heard is as follows,  'We help clients explore how to use their money to make a life instead of using their life to make money.'”


Learn more about Roger and the Kinder Institute at www.KinderInstitute.com.

 

Mary Zimmerman, Path Financial / Kinder Institute of Life Planning

Hi, I’m Mary Zimmerman. I’m a Certified Financial Planner® professional and Registered Life Planner ™. I’m proud to be a founding member of the Kinder Institute of Life Planning and was the first certified faculty member of the institute in the United States. I serve on the Board of the Greater Phoenix Financial Planning Association as Director of Public Awareness.

The one big thing all advisors should anticipate is managing change.

How do we do that? When we invest time with our clients, deepening our relationships with them, we find out what is most important in their lives.

As their trusted advisor, we understand their goals of keeping the family home or putting a premium on education. As a result, we put structures and safeguards in place to help protect our clients’ priorities.

We should walk side by side with our clients through change. Change isn’t always easy, and your guidance and support will help them through a difficult time.

Remember to
1) Be nimble. Change doesn’t just affect our clients; it affects us, our families, our societies, and our planet.

2) Be alert. If one of your clients wants to “go green,” and you know about cash for clunkers or energy credits for heat pumps, alert them!

3) Be enthusiastic. Crackle with ideas that support and encourage our clients’ dreams. For example, a middle class client, working for Southwest Airlines wants her parents in Milwaukee to have a driver. You can encourage your client to trade driving for buddy passes.

4) Be still. Make sure to have some quiet time. Just like I tell my grandchildren, it’s good for the soul.

If you have any questions, you can contact me via my financial life planning practice, PATH Financial Strategies, LLC., at mary@pathfinancialstrategies.com, or via the Kinder Institute's Find a Life Planner map at www.KinderInstitute.com.