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By Dwarka Lakhan
Special to the Financial Independence Hub
The book, Winning Ways: Real World Strategies to Help You Reimagine Your Practice, is a comprehensive resource for financial advisors seeking to build and sustain their practices.
One of its reviewers, Fidel Hinds, former Managing Director with the Royal Bank of Canada, suggests advisors “can spend a lifetime learning what (they) can find in this book.”
Unlike countless books on practice management which typically promote the views and insights of a single author whose biases are often drawn from their own knowledge and experience, Winning Ways shares the strategies and tactics of over one hundred on-the-ground practitioners who are either engaged in running their own practice or provide professional services to advisors. These individuals live and breathe practice management as part of their daily routine and are best qualified to tell advisors “what works and what doesn’t” – simply because they have first-hand experience.
Reimagining practices
The book provides different – often conflicting – perspectives and approaches on building and running a practice. It seeks to help advisors understand what other advisors do to build their practice, with the objective that they will find nuggets of advice they can use to reimagine their own practice.
George Hartman CEO, Market Logics, Inc. and author of Risk is a Four Letter Word; Blunder, Thunder, Wonder; and Exit is a Four Letter Word, who wrote the Foreword to the book, sums up this expectation: “I have no doubt whatsoever that every advisor who reads this book will find something with the potential to elevate their business to new heights.”
Winning Ways is divided into eight sections that cover the full spectrum of practice management strategies and tactics. Section 1 takes the advisor from charting and managing their course, right up to succession planning; while Section 2 discusses ways to demonstrate their value and how to harness their resources to ensure they can deliver on their value proposition.
The book discusses strategies and tactics which advisors can use to grow their practices in an increasingly competitive environment in Section 3; while Section 4 focuses on the processes required to achieve operational efficiency and profitability.
The next section focuses on strategies for building and maintaining client relationships – from creating the perfect client experience to meeting and exceeding their expectations. It also discusses tactics for dealing with different client situations, ranging from sudden money to divorce and death.
Section 6 discusses why client retention is an imperative which advisors cannot ignore and how to acquire and segment clients. It takes the advisor through the lead generation and the suspect-prospect-client conversion cycle, as well as the discovery and engagement processes.
Adapting to a digitized world
Recognizing the importance of marketing and communication strategies to generationally different target audiences, the book discusses a variety of different methods to reach clients and keep them engaged in Section 7. It emphasizes the importance of technology which provides endless possibilities for advisors in contacting clients, nurturing leads and promoting their business in today’s increasingly digitized world.
The final section addresses risk which is often misunderstood by clients. It discusses why it is important for advisors to have a clear understanding of their clients’ tolerance as well as their capacity for risk and why they should ensure clients understand the difference between risk and market volatility; as well the risks associated with the products in which they invest and the process they use to manage risk.
Winning Ways is: “A compelling, well written and easy to read book which provides advisors with comprehensive insights into how successful financial advisors build their practices by adopting flexible strategies to meet the ever-evolving needs of investors,” says Philip Armstrong, Past Chairman of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada and former CEO of Altamira Investment Services Inc. and Jovian Capital. “It is a must read” for advisors, adds Hinds.
Dwarka Lakhan is an experienced financial writer, with extensive corporate management experience. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration; an undergraduate degree in Economics and a post-graduate Master’s Certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers and a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute®.
