Allied for Success: Creating a Synergy of Specialists to Fulfill Our Clients' Dreams

I believe that financial planners are at the pinnacle of the financial services industry. We have been trained to connect people's resources to what matters most to them, but as leaders, we are missing some fantastic opportunities. Most allied professionals labor under an enormous burden to sell products, and they have never been effectively equipped to uncover the dreams of their clients. Financial planners can help them. The industry, though, is fragmented. Professionals in every specialty: accountants, stockbrokers, insurance agents, mortgage brokers, estate planning attorneys, and others jealously guard their clients. In some cases, that's entirely reasonable, but our fragmentation and suspicion don't serve clients very well.

The solution, I believe, is for financial planners to take initiative to form informal alliances in their communities and equip each professional to build trust relationships with their clients. Financial planners have the skills, insights, and knowledge to transform allied professionals' business philosophies from sales to trust.

I've had the opportunity to see the industry from both sides, as a successful but frustrated allied professional in the insurance business and as a CFP® practitioner, trained to clarify and fulfill people's dreams. I'm writing this book because I want to encourage financial planners to recognize the amazing opportunities to equip allied professionals and build alliances of encouragement and referrals. When this happens, each member of the alliance serves clients more effectively, each business grows, and everybody wins. I know. I've got my own alliance, and it works that way.

In this book, we'll address the benefits, processes, and barriers to building these alliances. When these relationships are built, suspicions and jealousies melt away, and an alliance works beautifully. It's rewarding to refer clients to other professionals we trust, and it's fulfilling to hear clients call back to thank us for connecting them to another professional who met their specific need.