4 sins for advisors growing their practice

​In the day to day world of financial advising and insurance sales there appear to be many mistakes that are made.  One that has become very popular as of late has been that of hubris.  You see many advisors getting punished for being to greedy and too cocky and pulling scams on their clients.  In the general scheme of things these advisors are a minor part of the advisor community but they put a large black stain on our community in general and make the public distrust us even more.  However, there are four sins that we do everyday that are much worse but just not as publicized as their immediate cause and effect are not as egregious or obvious as embezzlement but they are still tragic.
The four deadly sins are:

• Assumptions: To get through case design practices and to see the number of clients we need to do to accomplish our goals, we often make assumptions.  These might be right and they might be wrong but they are done with good intent to move the scenario along.  The problem with assumptions is they may be based on facts but are they based on all the facts.  Slow down and take your time and find the right needs for the clients.
• Cookie Cutter Approach:  Just like assumptions, cookie cutter approach is done to save time.  Too often advisors recommend the same product mix for every client of the same circumstances.  The problem here is that one might miss nuances.  It is easier to provide a cookie cutter approach to clients, but not always right.  Take your time and slow down.  Take a look at each client and figure out where it needs to be.
• Do it Myself Approach:  We are supposed to be the experts.  As advisors we are the resource but we can’t know it all.  Team up with people to learn more and figure things out.  You don’t have to do it yourself you can team up
• Analysis Paralysis:  This is the most common problem for advisors.  We can get too caught up in the analysis.  This is where having a team that you can talk with and help do objective analysis to create the right decisions for the client.

Really simply, it is about taking your time and finding the right tools to help you and your clients.