I was addressing a group of US RIAs last week on the HappyRich concept. One of the questions that came up was around the value of a financial professional. I thought my response will be valuable for you; thus, I wrote it for your consumption and reflection.

Your Value ≠ Time spent on Client Engagement.

More Hours do not mean More Value.

Your Value ≠ Complexity.

Your Value ≠ the thickness of your Financial Plan.

Your Value ≠ the number of products in your client’s portfolio.

Your value is not beating irrelevant benchmarks or their neighbours/friends.

Your Value is not showing off your technical expertise or your credentials. Some people think using Monte Carlo or showing complex graphs and charts is your value.

Your Value is not asking 300 questions and filling reams of data.

Finally, you do not have to do MORE things to justify your value.

First you need to understand your Value and then Believe in it.

Your Value = Making your client’s financial life Simple

Your Value = Bringing Clarity in a prospect’s or client’s life (Am I doing ok? Do I have Enough? How much is Enough? Am I on track?)

Your Value = Helping your clients avoid costly mistakes.

Your Value = Absence of Financial Worry from their lives

Finally, Your Value = Helping them Live the Life they have imagined with their Money = Return on Life = HappyRich

Once you believe in your value, the next step is to learn to communicate it or get the prospect/client to experience it.

The Firm and the Financial Professional that deliver the above value are Invaluable and irreplaceable for 95%+ of your clients.