Khyati Mashru, Plantrich Consultancy
I came across a book titled ‘From Selling to Serving: The Essence of Client Creation’ on my visit to USA. I picked up it randomly because I liked the title.
The book emphasizes on ‘serving’ your clients rather than ‘selling’. The word ‘selling’ is dreadful to hear and often feels like we are controlled by someone. The book is authored by Lou Cassara who is a financial advisor based out of USA.
After reading the book, I learned the importance of focusing on client relationships and not just product selling. People buy relationships from people and not just products. The book offers practical solutions to build a successful service business.
Though I read it years back, I keep referring to the book time and again. I have even highlighted with marker a few key recommendations for me to work on. I have told my staff to read this book so that they could also implement these points. I highly recommend this book to any advisor who wishes to strengthen her practice.
Melvin Joseph, Finvin Financial Planners
I was curious to know how advisors operate in foreign countries. While searching on web, I came across the book ‘In Search of the Perfect Model: The Distinctive Business Strategies of Leading Financial Planners’ authored by Mary Rowland.
The book tells how financial planners have evolved in recent years. The book gives examples of different financial planners across the globe. It has anecdotes of successful advisors about their business model, the way they charge fees and how they have converted their practices in to distinctive businesses.
After reading the book I understood that globally, financial planners charge fee on (1) hourly basis (2) annual flat fee (3) a percentage of the asset of the clients. I believe that the flat fee will make the service more affordable to the clients.
Lastly, we have to be absolutely clear about our business model - fee based or commissions. Indian market is not yet matured so I believe both models will work for some time. However, given the regulatory thrust towards RIA, I believe fee based model is the future.
