Nikhil Thakker, WeCare Investments
I started assisting my parents who were LIC agents. In 2003 I decided to float my advisory firm to build a mutual funds business independently. Before floating my advisory business, a piece of advice came from my mother who was a veteran in the advisory space. She asked me to follow these three priorities from the beginning - be committed to each clients and put their interest first, then your company’s interest and lastly your personal interest.
Another advice came from a colleague where we working together at NJ India. He advised me to follow a client segmentation strategy since I was spending significant amount of time researching each client and compiling their data which was not very productive. I followed his advice and re-organized my client book based on AUM, age group, preferences etc. and was able to utilize my time more effectively. Further, I prioritized my high value clients as they were responsible for large share of the AUM.
Knowing your segments and their unique needs can help you design unique service offerings and derive maximum value from all type of clients. It was certainly a great boost to my business and I was also able to communicate better with clients from each segment. Instead of trying to get my message to reach everyone I was able to channelize meaningful communication to segments based on their needs and behavior.
Jayant Vidwans, Vidwans Financial Advisories
An important lesson which I learned was during my school days and I consider it to be a turning point in my life. I was in the higher secondary and was punished due to mischief. The teacher punished me and advised me that education is the key to success. Just having information was not enough. Information cannot be converted into knowledge without education. Though I felt terrible that day but I understood its importance later.
After passing out, I remained in touch with my teacher. In fact, even after completing my post-graduation, I used to seek his advice. He certainly holds a special place in my life.
Another advice came from Edwin Morrow (coach for financial advisors who is based in the U.S A). I attended a seminar where he was guest speaker. He gave three pieces of advice to the audience:
- Read a minimum of four books in a year pertaining to your profession.
- Continuously upgrade and enhance your skills by attending seminars, workshops or even certification courses.
- Be constantly updated with technology. An advisor must change or upgrade his/her laptop every 3 years. This is good reason for the long term health of your practice and gives you a competitive advantage over your peers.
