What Does A Customer Look For In An Advisor?

Ask a customer who invests in financial products what he thinks is the difference between an Agent and an Advisor and he may probably tell you that to him an Agent sounds like someone who earns a commission and pushes a product to earn that commission, while an Advisor sounds like a person who has knowledge, gives impartial advice, and probably charges a fee for that advice.
This may be a matter of perception - but then marketing is all about managing perceptions.
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Remember the one fundamental difference - an Agent represents a company while the Advisor represents the Customer! S/he thinks for and on behalf of the customer! And that is what the customer is going to pay you a fee for!
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This blog urges you to THINK and ACT like an Advisor who is

1. Knowledgeable
2. Professional
3. Balanced 
4. Well Groomed!

And this site will equip you with advice on how to be all of these - and more! Wish you a Happy Journey!

Mutual Funds - Commmission Based V/s. Fee Based System - Implications

The following table looks at the possible implications of the Commission Based System as against the Fee Based System :

How this will affect you will be discussed in the next post! Stay tuned!

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People!

This video is a must watch for all people aspiring to be great in their respective fields.

Choose Your Attitude!

Here is a simple presentation on staying positive in the work environment!

SET GOALS!!!

A good Advisor sets goals for himself.  Goals give you direction. They set the pace. They give purpose to your business. And they help you succeed.   Imagine a game of football, where there were no goalposts! The players would have no purpose to play the game and they would lose interest in kicking the ball after a few minutes! But the goalpost at the other end gives them a new meaning and a purpose – they know what they have to achieve and go in that direction.

Research shows that many successful people were actually people who had set clear goals for themselves right form their college days!

But then goal setting isn’t only about saying that “I want to be rich”! That won’t get you too far.  When you set goals, make sure they are S.M.A.R.T.

Let’s discuss each of these in detail :-

SPECIFIC - A goal saying I want to be rich is not specific and won’t help you. But if you were to say that “I want to be on the Million
Dollar Round Table” then your goal is being specific.  This helps you see your goal clearly and gives you a direction in terms of what you should do to achieve it.

MEASURABLE - Another important thing is that the goal has to be measureable. “I want to be successful” is not measureable – I need to bring in a premium of Rs. 5 lakhs this year or an AUM of Rs. 20 lakhs this year – are measurable.

ACHIEVABLE - The goal has to be achievable. Don’t say that I want an AUM of Rs. 10 crores in my first year.  You know that this is overambitious – extremely difficult to achieve and will depress you since you won’t be getting anywhere close. At the same time – goals should be stretch – not something easily achievable. That won’t do you any good either.

RELEVANT - Goals should be relevant to your business. “I will network with 100 people this year” isn’t enough – the networking could be social in nature without getting you any business. On the other hand if you said, “I would network with at least 100 new people with a view to selling my services” is more relevant.

TIMEBOUND - Lastly, a goal has to have a timeline. I will be on the MDRT is not good enough. "I will be on the MDRT within 2 years from now is time-bound".


In the next post we will discuss more about Goals.

Insipring Words From Dr. Wayne Dyer!

This is an inspirational  video from Motivational Guru Dr. Wayne Dyer. Every Insurance & Mutual Fund Agent must watch this!