What if you could gain an instant edge over your business competition?
There are many financial advisors out there competing for a small pool of clients. It can be difficult for your own business to stand out. That’s why you need your own financial advisor coach.
Wondering why a coach is so important and how to choose the right one? Keep reading to learn all the answers!
What Is a Financial Advisor Coach?
Our guide will help you learn more about these coaches and how to choose the best one. But first, we need to answer a straightforward question: what is a financial advisor coach?
On the most basic level, a financial advisor coach is here to help you learn more about money management, debt management, and creating and maintaining financial goals.
Another way to imagine a good coach is that they help you understand your behaviors and emotions when it comes to money management. This is different from a financial advisor (more on this later), and countless advisors can really benefit from these services.
What Do These Coaches Do?
What does a day in the life of a financial coach look like? While their exact advice and activities based on client needs, there are a few cornerstone activities every coach knows hows to do.
For example, coaches can help you analyze and understand your own money management. You might think an advisor like yourself doesn’t need this help, but sometimes you are too close to your own finances to see patterns or problems.
A coach will help you establish financial goals and begin working towards them. This usually involves creating a budget and a financial outline while helping you pay debts down.
Along the way, they can help you create or strengthen a financial emergency fund and learn more about how your feelings govern your money management methods.
Financial Coach vs. Financial Advisor: Key Differences
If you’re already a financial advisor, you probably still have some questions about what a financial coach does vs. what you do. Moreover, you probably have other questions about why an advisor needs their own financial advisor coach.
The key difference is that most coaches don’t offer investment advice. They are unlikely to have the same qualifications and certifications that you have, but their exact responsibilities are also quite different.
Mostly, these coaches function as problem-solvers. They can help someone with short-term problems (like paying down debts quickly) or even long-term problems (like creating a budget that will help someone save enough money for a downpayment on a home).
As a financial advisor, you know all about investment advice and wealth management. But running your own business can bring its own set of financial headaches, especially if you’ve never run a business before.
Frankly, running a business is a constant balancing act of debt, marketing, and revenue, and you must develop short- and long-term strategies for business success. A good financial advisor coach can help you with all of this and more.
Now that you know more about what financial advisor coaches do, let’s review some of the ways you can find a coach that best suits your needs.
Seek Out Experience
Ironically, you can hunt down a good coach using the same techniques that your own clients used to choose a financial advisor. And it all starts out with seeing what kind of experience they have.
Try to find out if the coach has helped many clients before today (and how many of them have been financial advisors). Look for things like online reviews and client testimonials that can speak to the quality of the coach.
Whether through your own research or via an interview with the coach, investigate their track record of successful advice. It’s great if they have helped many clients, but you should also be interested in how many of those clients financially prospered after receiving this advice.
Find The Passion
Some of the qualities of a good financial advisor coach are the same qualities of a good sports coach. And that means you want to find someone with real passion for what they do and for your own success.
It’s true that finding a passionate coach is more about your instincts and your credentials. We recommend interviewing a prospective coach and asking yourself this question: “is this person truly passionate about helping others?”
Once you find a coach whose passion is to make you more successful, you will find a lifetime relationship.
A Plan for the Future
Arguably, the most important quality of a financial advisor coach is their ability to plan for your financial future. Initially, that means creating a financial outline based on your specific business needs.
However, the difference between a good coach and a great coach is their ability to help you navigate that outline. They should have a solid plan for how you can move from your immediate goal to the next goal. And they should have a plan for how to overcome unexpected setbacks.
Long story short? If the coach you interview doesn’t seem to understand your future plans or have a vision for how you can achieve success, you should move on to someone else.
The Chemistry Factor
Let’s be honest: even for a financial advisor, it can be weird to talk about your own finances, setbacks, and future plans. Even beyond their experience and qualifications, you want a financial advisor coach that you actually like.
That may sound shallow, but keep in mind that you are trusting this person to help your business succeed. You’re going to need to be frank and honest about your debts, your doubts, and your dreams. To make this more comfortable, you should have a coach that you have good chemistry with.
It’s okay to go with your “gut” and trust your instincts. And you should have a good idea whether you can trust this coach shortly after meeting with them.
The Trust Factor
Speaking of trust, you need a coach that you can trust with financial matters. Finding someone you can trust is partially a matter of instinct and partially a matter of research.
Like we mentioned above, part of this comes down to how well you “click” with the other person. An in-person interview or phone call can help you quickly uncover how trustworthy you think this person is.
But even before you speak with the coach, use your research to find references for that coach. Between the references, reviews, testimonials, and your own interview, you can better understand how trustworthy the coach is.
Spirit of Service
At first, you might worry that you don’t know how to spot a good coach. But here’s a trick: try to find a coach that reminds you of some of your favorite teachers.
Why is this a good strategy? The best coaches are devoted to service and not sales. That means offering advice that best serves your own needs instead of better lining their pockets.
A great teacher didn’t go into business to get rich but to help other people succeed. And that is the exact vibe you want from a good coach.
The Right Credentials
Earlier, we touched on how you and your coach will likely have different credentials. But it’s important to investigate which credentials they have earned and how well this aligns with your needs.
For example, check to see if they are registered with FINRA or the SEC. And check to see if they have a CFP, an RIA, or other relevant credentials.
Obviously, there are many different coaches with different backgrounds and certifications. It’s worth taking the time to find which one is best suited to your own business and needs.
Cost Structure
Let’s say that you’re ready to hire a financial advisor coach. Before you do so, you should know exactly how the cost structure works.
With financial advisors, your own business likely runs on a structure of fees, commissions, or both. With a financial advisor coach, however, the cost structure is usually a bit simpler.
Most coaches simply charge an hourly fee. The exact amount of this fee may vary based on their depth of experience and which credentials they have.
In some cases, coaches may offer “bundles” of service. These bundles may include a certain number of face-to-face hours as well as support via e-mails, phone calls, and more.
Your Next Move
Now you know what a financial advisor coach is, how you can benefit from one, and how to select a good coach. But do you know which reliable coach you can reach out to right away?
We work with financial advisors and specialize in helping them take things to the next level. To see what we can do for you and your own business dreams, contact us today!
