Building a successful advisory practice takes more than technical expertise. The qualities that inspire trust often shape client decisions long before investment strategies are ever discussed. In today’s FA Alpha Daily, we discuss the qualities that can help financial advisors earn stronger client relationships and build lasting success.
FA Alpha Daily:
Return Driven Strategy
Powered by Valens Research
Think about the last time you hired someone for an important job—a contractor, a lawyer, maybe even a babysitter.
Chances are, before you even got into the details of skills, you had the following questions in mind:
Does this person seem reliable?
Does he or she follow through?
Can he or she do the work needed?
That’s almost the same thought process a prospect has when he or she is looking for a financial advisor.
… except the stakes are higher, since we’re talking about someone’s retirement, a child’s college fund, or a person’s whole financial future.
Simply said, people who hire financial advisors don’t just want someone who’s smart… they want someone who’s dependable, disciplined, and clearly all-in on doing right by them.
… and here’s the thing: work ethic isn’t just a nice bonus trait. It’s often the deciding factor in whether someone trusts you enough to become a client in the first place.
Reliability and dedication are easy to spot, even for people who have no idea how to evaluate your technical chops—so those traits end up doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to earning trust.
Of course, work ethic alone won’t cut it. There are a few other traits the best advisors tend to have in spades, ones worth aspiring to if you want to stand out from your competition.
Traits that Great Financial Advisors Possess
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Integrity
According to Bill Hybels, author of the book, “Who You Are When No One’s Looking,” integrity is LITERALLY who you are when no one’s looking. In dictionary definition, this character means holding oneself to high moral principles.
Financial advisors with a strong work ethic have outstanding integrity. They’re honest, polite, and fair to others.
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Reliability
One of the traits that set ethical advisors apart is they’re reliable. You can expect these workers to be on time for shifts and meetings…
… meet deadlines…
… provide quality work…
… and contribute actively to discussions about work or other projects.
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Dedication
Part of a strong work ethic is commitment and dedication to one’s profession. You’ll see this when a professional genuinely loves what he or she is doing for a living.
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Discipline
A disciplined financial advisor shows a controlled behavior and way of working. This person shows determination and strives to meet and even exceed expectations.
Additionally, this type of professional actively seeks opportunities to learn new skills and improve his or her performance. Simply said, this person loves learning too!
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Professionalism
Financial advisors with a good work ethic are professional. They exhibit a professional attitude in how they dress, speak, and carry themselves. Aside from that, they’re focused, organized, and neat.
Work Ethics and Career Driven Strategy
Career Driven Strategy is the presentation of the tenets of Return Driven Strategy as they apply to an individual’s career strategy.
So… where does work ethics fall in Career Driven Strategy?
Work ethics is part of the first tenet, “Ethically create personal wealth,” the second tenet, “Fulfill the otherwise unmet constituent need,” and the third tenet, “Serve the right constituents.”
- For Tenet One: Having a strong work ethic helps boost your overall performance in your job and build a positive reputation in your industry. The better your performance and behavior are, the higher the chance that you’ll get promoted or be entrusted with major projects. These then lead to the creation of your personal wealth, which could be in the form of financial wealth, freedom, lifestyle, etc.
- For Tenet Two: A good work ethic enables you to identify and prioritize the things your colleagues, customers, or clients need the most. The characteristics mentioned above play an important role in achieving this tenet.
- For Tenet Three: Your work ethic will help you provide a good experience for your customers, clients, or colleagues. Succeeding in this tenet and in the second tenet will lead you towards achieving the first tenet―“Ethically create personal wealth.”
These tenets of Career Driven Strategy are useful in asking yourself the right questions and thinking differently about your goals, behaviors, work ethics, and activities!
You may even think of this framework as a philosophy―one that is based on the ethical creation of wealth by fulfilling the needs of others while having a rewarding career and life.
So, build an ethical career! Cultivate moral humility, prepare for challenging situations, and be a responsible financial advisor.
You’ll see―as you do these things, not only will you live up to your values, but your clients will also thank you for doing so.
Best regards,
Joel Litman & Rob Spivey
Chief Investment Officer &
Director of Research
at Valens Research
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