Advisors do not become successful overnight. They have to make consistent efforts to upgrade their knowledge to grow business.
We spoke to a few leading advisors to understand how they fine-tune their knowledge and skills. Here are a few tried and tested ways for you to develop your knowledge.
Peer-to-peer learning
One of the best ways of increasing your knowledge is through peer-to-peer learning. This can be in the form of attending industry events, advisor association meetings and networking with top advisors.
Talking from personal experience, Jayant Vidwans of Vidwans Financials says, “This has worked out very well for me. I meet my colleagues across the industry and try to understand how they work. I get insights on what are the latest trends my fellow IFAs are adapting, how they are managing their clients, the latest software they use. Since these are tested, it is easier for me to implement these approaches in my practice.”
Attend courses
Another way to gain knowledge is by attending relevant courses conducted by various universities. Nikhil Naik of Naik Wealth says that he constantly encourages his employees to attend these courses as they give them scope to develop both personally and within the organization. “Most of these courses are for short durations. They give attendees deep insights on specific topics. For example, you can attend a four-five day training programmes on behavioural finance offered by many universities. In addition, you can take online courses on topics like soft skills, story-telling and so on if you do not have time to attend offline classes.”
Seminars and workshops
Seminars and workshops help advisors get expert views on topics. Vidwans says that he attends at least three events a year. “There are many advisor specific events conducted by various AMCs and media houses. Advisors can get many takeaways by attending such events. Apart from these events, many advisor associations also conduct learning workshops for their members,” he says.
Read books
One thing every advisor suggests is reading up books relevant to your field. “I make it a point to read at least 2 or 3 books every year,” says Jayant.
While advisors must inculcate reading up on all their interests, Nikhil Naik says that ‘Storytelling for Financial Advisors’ and ‘The Excellent Investment Advisor’ are two books that really helped him as an advisor. “An advisor is the machine on which his business runs so it his duty to constantly upgrade himself. If you do not update your services, it will be like a Symbian mobile competing amongst Android models. You will soon get extinct,” he says.
