Like much of the football-loving public, I’ve been fascinated by the recent turn of events at Colorado University, Boulder, especially since it deals with something so critical for financial advisors.
A year ago, I couldn’t have told you the first thing about CU Boulder’s football program, but that all changed when my son decided to attend the school. He was a bit put off by the team’s 1-11 record in 2022, but he assured me (really, himself) that things would change with the new coach who was taking over the program.
And boy, did things change! In case you haven’t heard, CU Boulder has exceeded everyone’s expectations this year with a 3-0 start over some fierce opponents: Texas Christian University, Nebraska, and Colorado State. Unranked to start the season, CU Boulder even appeared in the top 20 in many football polls for a period of time.
The catalyst for all this was the hiring of head coach Deion Sanders, a former pro football player and Hall of Famer who had been coaching at Jackson State. Public opinion might be divided on many things relating to Coach Sanders, but in watching an interview with him on “60 Minutes,” I was struck by how absolutely clear and confident he was on his value to the team.
“I make a difference. I truly make a difference!” Sanders said in the interview.
That’s what I want to highlight here. Deep down in your bones, do you as a financial advisor feel that same conviction? It’s incredibly important to know that financial advisors truly make a difference in our clients’ lives. After a person’s health, there is probably nothing that affects someone’s well-being more than being on sound financial footing.
Think about it: the town you live in; the schools your children attend; the hobbies, travel and experiences you enjoy; the doctors or treatments you can afford if you do get sick — your quality of life is something very closely tied with the quality of your finances. Your job as a financial advisor is to help your clients do the very best they can, with the means and opportunity they have, so they can help their families feel secure and thrive. The planning, investing and discipline that financial advisors provide can dramatically affect a family’s choices for generations to come.
This is important work. Yet, I’m often surprised when advisors struggle to articulate a value proposition, and by how often they downplay all the meaningful work they do that changes lives. It’s time to take a lesson from Sanders' “Prime Time” playbook and be supremely confident of the value you bring to your clients.
Note the emphasis on you. While clients might appreciate your firm and staff and the benefits that come with them, they have many other choices. Clients choose to work with a financial advisor because they can trust that person, build a relationship, and feel they will be helped. Advisors need to have the same conviction and clarity that Sanders has about CU Boulder when he says, “My kids [who play for me] didn’t choose a university. They chose me.”
Advisors are lucky. In your work, you get the opportunity to transcend the day-to-day nuts and bolts of the job and offer your clients something meaningful. It might be finding a veterans benefit to help pay funeral expenses for a grieving widow; an idea to reduce student debt or loan burdens for someone starting a career; a way to help a business owner sell their business and fund college savings accounts for their grandkids; or a plan to help a retired couple so they can enjoy a comfortable retirement they worked hard to earn. All of these are opportunities to truly help others and relieve them of financial worries, with the result that their burdens are lightened and their lives are improved.
There might not be a stadium filled with fans cheering us on, but the work advisors do brings opportunities to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. It’s up to you to find those opportunities and bring the best of ourselves to the task at hand every day.
We ready? . . . It’s game time.
Kristine McManus serves as chief advisor growth officer at Commonwealth Financial Network.
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