Why Financial Advisors Deserve a Little More Leg Room
Your seat doesn’t recline. The noisy child behind you keeps kicking your chair. The guy in the window seat climbs over you ten times to stretch his legs. The lady behind you constantly stands over you to get things out of her purse in the overhead luggage compartment. And, of course, there’s the line of people waiting for the lavatory, all of whom feel a need to lean on your headrest while they wait.
We’ve all experienced it — life as a passenger in coach.
But it’s a necessary evil when you need to travel from point A to point B. If only there were an upgrade at no cost.
Why settle for the status quo?
During our recruiting conversations with financial advisors, we’ve learned that service — or a lack thereof — is the single most common reason an advisor begins searching for a new broker-dealer home.
Slow turnaround, lackluster responsiveness, and red tape are all symptoms of the typical broker-dealer. Most advisors stay with their current firms, even though they are completely dissatisfied, because it’s a hassle to change.
Many advisors see their unsatisfactory experience with their broker-dealer as the status quo: something they can’t escape.
We think that needs to change.
Every Seat a First-Class Seat
In a recent article by Financial Advisor Magazine, recruiter Jon Henschen says that many firms “lavish quality service on higher-producing reps” and even “have a special services department for their higher producers, and that’s usually an indicator of poor service overall.”
Better service shouldn’t cost more. And it shouldn’t be reserved for specific advisors because they produce more.
Financial professionals deserve better.
They deserve a first-class experience.
At SCF, we have banished the coach class that so many advisors have learned to merely endure.
No matter your level of production, you are a first-class passenger. We call it the Diamond Standard of service.
Name, Not Rep Code
Last year, an advisor left a large broker-dealer to join SCF. For several months, in every email he sent, and on every phone call into our office, he introduced himself by stating his name and then his rep number.
After several conversations, I finally interrupted him and said, “You don’t need to tell me your rep number. I know you. I know your voice. You’re a person to us.”
He laughed it off. He said he still isn’t used to the personal relationships he’s developed with everyone in our home office, and described again the impersonal culture of the firms he’s worked with in the past.
Partner, Not Servant
There is a time and a place where scale and revenue are important. We are a business, after all, and the bottom line will always play a role.
But when it comes to your everyday interaction with your broker-dealer, you should feel as though you’re a partner — not a revenue-producing servant who merely brings assets through the door.
As a broker-dealer, we believe it’s our job to help our financial advisors serve their clients and grow their practices.
Our success hinges on it.
That’s why we take a different approach. We set up internal controls that keep us both in compliance. We leverage technology that keeps you efficient. We connect you with other advisors with whom you can collaborate and share ideas.
Then we get out of your way and let you do what you do best.
Ready for first-class?
Get an offer from the broker-dealer where every advisor’s seat is first-class.
