Distraction-Proof® Advisor Ideas

Avoid falling into the trap of thinking more information is better.

There is so much market commentary available today, especially given the current market volatility that we’re experiencing, that advisors can often sit behind their desk absorbing so much information and not realize that they’re running down rabbit trails, spinning their wheels, just wasting time.

A great way to avoid this is having a set, go-to cluster of advisors and market commentators you follow consistently. This way you get to know how they see the world. You get to listen to them, again, consistently, so you get a feel for their language, for their nuances and how they’re describing what’s going on. Then you can relay what they’re saying cogently to your clients. Most importantly, it stops your wasting time, thinking that more information is helpful when you’ve already got enough to run with and should be talking to clients and conveying what you’re hearing.

We used to have a cluster of market commentators I loved listening to – Liz Ann Sonders from Schwab, Dr. David Kelly from JP Morgan, Russ Koesterich from BlackRock, Greg Valliere from Horizon. We had a European correspondent we listened to. I listened to a person from Asia give their market commentary about Japan and China and India and what was happening over there.

While I’m not advocating these people specifically, what I am encouraging you to do as an advisor is to build a cluster of correspondents, market commentators, you listen to, you get to know, you subscribe to, you’re receiving their emails. That way you can stop wasting time listening to a thousand other voices out there. Keep it nice and succinct. Verbalize what they’re saying to your clients and stop wasting time.

So,

1. If you don’t have a group of people you’re listening to, develop one.
2. As much as your broker-dealer and custodian might provide help in this area, also go outside of them. That way you can tell your clients you independently seek out your own information and follow a group who you really have gotten to know and enjoy listening to.
3. In following them consistently take on board what they’re saying and correspond with them. You’d be surprised: I’ve written to a number of those people I mentioned, and they’re more than happy to respond back to you. That way you can start building up a little bit of rapport with them and genuinely tell your clients, “I’m in touch with these people personally.” It’s a really cool thing to be able to say.

So take the time to build that team, stick with it, develop how you listen to them and go forward relaying their helpful information to your clients.

I look forward to bringing you another Distraction-Proof Advisor Idea next week.