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Tel: [email protected]
Spring 2010 IssueIf you would prefer an E-Newsletter
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Tips and ideas for your business.
CONTINUE, STOP, STARTA simple method to improve communication.
If clear communication is so critical to a team, why is it that many important things get left unsaid?
Advisors often tell us that they would like their assistants to do additional tasks or do something in a different way. Simi-larly, assistants often want their advisors to change something. However, these thoughts often go unexpressed. Some are afraid to state what they are feeling because they do not like “confrontation.”
One exercise that can help people open up is known as Continue/Stop/Start (CSS). Here’s how it works:
• Each team member takes time to assess the issues impacting the relationship with another individual. Each records on a sheet of paper two or three things he/she would like the other person to “Continue” doing, “Stop” doing and “Start” doing.
• In a face-to-face session, each individual
reads or tells the observations. The receiving party cannot respond until the sender completes his or her observations. When he/she does respond it should only be to clarify -- not to disagree or defend.
• The process is then reversed and the sender becomes the receiver and vice versa.
• An action plan is then discussed and agreed upon and a review date is set.
A coach can help facilitate the sharing ses-sion and pro-vide input into the action plans. Coaching may also be needed to help make required behavioral changes in order to implement the action plan.
Some examples of feedback we have heard include: continue holding weekly team meetings; continue commenting on what I’ve done well; continue dictating notes after a client meeting; start believing in yourself and what you are capable of doing; start delegating more tasks to others; start prioritizing the projects; stop adding new projects every day (in addition to current ones); stop arriving late to meetings; and stop micro managing projects.
Note that the real value of CSS is increased trust and openness. Many people need a little help when it comes to communicating
OUR NEW WEbSITE IS hERE
We are thrilled to announce the new Personal Coach website. Stop in to see the enhancement to the 1 Hour Complimentary (valued at $500), improve-ments on our services, the MasterPoint™ Branding Program, informative arti-cles and much more.
Take a quick look. Go to www.thepersonalcoach.ca
Visit our Website for the latest
www.thepersonalcoach.ca
WEBINAR
Note that the real value of CSS is increased trust and openness.
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tel: 519-576-2262 [email protected] www.thepersonalcoach.ca
CSS IN bUSINESS PlANNINg
You could apply the Continue, Stop, Start communica-tion formula to any aspect of your firm including business plan-
ning. Use it at your quar-terly business planning or update meetings as follows:
• List three things your firm is currently doing that you should STOP.
• List three things that you should START.
• List three things you are currently doing that should CONTINUE.
or simply ask yourself these questions:
• What is not working in our current organization? (Something we should STOP).
• What should we have in place to improve our organization? (Something we should START).
• What is working well in our organization? (Something we should CONTINUE).
with others, especially if there is some con-flict. Offering your team this simple tech-nique is a tangible way to promote respect-ful and effective communication.
CSS is a simple formula that you can use in any aspect of your business -- to communi-cate better with your team, give feedback, resolve conflicts, complete a performance appraisal or get clearer on achieving your business goals. SPEAKINg TO ThE hEAD – AND hEARTby guest contributor Barry LaValleyRight Brain Consultant
Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch and Sir John Templeton have all been masters of the metaphor. They are noted for their ability to simplify a difficult concept or to speak in plain language.
While they are ratio-nal and intelligent people, their com-
munication style represents a “right-brain” approach that appeals to the emotional side of the brain.
Right-brain communications is based on the fact that the brain delineates between logic and emotion and assigns these func-tions to the left and right sides of the cere-bral cortex.
Advertisers recognize the power of under-standing how the brain works when they craft their marketing messages to reach an audience. Consider the effect of a long-distance commercial that shows a young homesick college student phoning home.
Yet many financial advisors don’t make the same connection between logic and emo-tion when they communicate investment management, financial planning, insurance
or tax planning concepts.
One of the brain’s main jobs is to interpret information and then decide how to act on it. Much of this work occurs in the cerebral cortex in coordination with other parts of the brain. Research has shown that the left-brain will respond more to facts, figures, numbers and data; the right-brain becomes more engaged when you talk about feelings, hopes and emotions.
Emotion guides our behavior; it will generally be the ultimate screen of how we think and act. In fact, it is the highway that will move the communica-tion through to a client’s decision-making centre.
At the risk of over-simplification, for the advisor communicating with a client or prospect, the role that emotion plays in decision-making is everything. Neurosci-entists tell us that our brains do not make decisions logically, but emotionally.
In their effort to establish credibility, many advisors fail to reach their clients with appropriate language. In fact, the financial services industry is one of the few where advisors are taught to communicate with the wrong side of the brain to the wrong side of the brain!
They feel the more simplistic they sound or the more common sense words they use, the greater the chance the client will not respect their knowledge. Yet, the more they insist on not speaking the language of the client, the more likely the client will miss the message entirely.
Barry LaValley can be reached at
Emotion guides our behavior; it will generally be the ultimate screen of how we think and act.
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tel: 519-576-2262 [email protected] www.thepersonalcoach.ca
YOUR bRAND IS NOT YOUR lOgOWhat comes to mind when you hear the word “brand?” Most people think of the logo for McDonalds or Apple. The truth is, the logo is not a brand.
Here is a definition of branding you can use to impress others the next time you are in a marketing meeting or simply discuss-ing branding with an asso-ciate.
Branding is NOT a logo. A logo is a representation of your brand. It only acts as a reminder to your audience of the value you provide.
Branding, on the other hand, is EVERYTHING you do to communicate your unique value, your personality and the promise you provide for your pre-ferred client.
Once that brand is uncov-ered, you can now strategi-cally define what are the most effective TouchPoints to communicate your brand. A TouchPoint is everything you do to con-sistently communicate your value and maintain the cli-ent’s perception of you.
The most common Touch-Points are a business card
ThRIvINg vS. SURvIvINgAn interview with Neal Owen.
Financial advisor Neal Owen had a record year in 2009, despite the global market meltdown. Kim Poulin asked him how he not only survived, but thrived.
how do you explain your results last year?
There were signs that 2009 was going to be difficult. So we actually added staff to free up more of my time to meet person-ally with clients. When some advisors were retreating, we were holding 15-20 face-to-face client meetings per week.
how were you able to execute that strategy?
The specifics were driven by Goldmine, the Customer Relationship Management pro-gram the CMS staff uses to book appoint-ments, allocate workload and follow up. The system is coded to list what type of meeting needs to be scheduled, such as meet and greet, review, etc.
What single action had the greatest impact on your business?
I held a staff meeting guaranteeing every-one’s job. I explained what happens in a downturn and how you have to adapt to changing conditions. Our employees came to work fully engaged and ready to work hard. As a team, we met frequently to dis-cuss how we were going to keep clients.
What has helped you the most in achieving success?
I would say the commitment to hiring quality staff. Our sales and productivity increase in direct relation to the quality of the staff. It is the single most important
factor that helps you get to the next level.
What are the core values that drive your business?
What’s right for the client is the bottom line. We are client focused and client driven. I feel that our clients truly believe we are genuine, honest and trustworthy. We want to make their lives easier, better, safer – and get rid of the dangers. We always ask: “What is keeping you up at night?”
You went through our MasterPoint branding Program. What were the benefits?
It gave us confidence in our identity and how we present ourselves to clients. We are expanding our branding and adding pieces that will further enhance our professional image.
how will you maintain the momentum in 2010 and beyond?
We are on the right track; we just need to refine some of our CMS processes, especial-ly through automation (such as automatic notification/pop-ups of meetings). We will be constantly striving to focus on our top 20% of clients and ensure our referral net-works build off this client base. You can’t stop growing. If you do, you go backwards.
ThE gRISWOlDS AT gREAT WOlf lODgEMy wife, Glenys, and I traditionally invite our grandchildren to Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls the week before Christmas. This year, however, Michelle and Mark, who live in Sarasota, Florida were visit-ing with their two boys and we expanded the tradition to include the whole family – grandparents, parents and kids (all 18 of us). We dubbed ourselves the Griswolds.
From the time we walked into the lodge, where there are make-believe wolves howl-ing over top of the fireplace and talking
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trees, the expressions on the kids’ faces told us this would be a memorable outing. In addition to the fabulous lobby, the Great Wolf Lodge has themed bedrooms, a multi-tude of slides, pools and arcades. And they also have a number of restaurants on site.
As our society has become more affluent, families are looking to participate in the “experience economy.” While it is diffi-cult to compete with something like Great Wolf Lodge, The Personal Coach has been working with advisors to create a Wow! experience with their best clients. Interest-ingly, those clients who have this kind of experience become more engaged with their financial advisors and even act as advocates.
If you would like to find out more, just contact us at [email protected].
PRODUCTIvITY TIP
Why is it that we can accomplish much more if we come into the office early or on a weekend? It all comes down to focus. When we are able to concentrate fully on one task with no interruptions, we are much more productive.
One way to foster this productivity is to use time blocking – setting aside uninterrupted time (i.e. one hour) when you are focused on a certain project or task. This means door closed, with no incoming phone calls, email or Blackberry messages. Make an appointment with yourself on your calen-dar for batching and completing certain tasks, such as a financial plan for a client. Let everyone on your team know you are not to be interrupted and stick to it.
Email [email protected] for a spreadsheet to help create your own ideal week.
and a website, but it really involves everything you do. Think of the words and the feeling you project when you introduce your-self, how the receptionist answers the phone, the shape and colour of pen you give your client or the smell of your office.
The Personal Coach team uses the MasterPoint Brand Strategy Program to help advisors build an effec-tive brand strategy and determine the right Touch-Points. We take advisors through seven categories of TouchPoints to help them connect to their ideal client, keep loyal clients and train their clients to refer like-minded friends and associates to them.
If you care about mastering your brand or have questions, feel free to contact us.
PIECE OF MIND by Fortunato Restagno
Personal Phrase of the Day“It’s not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.”
Winston Churchill
Time Blocking
