What a Good Advisor Should Bring to the Table?
As an advisor, your success depends on what you bring to the table when you are working with your clients. Anybody can offer advice; your role as an advisor involves so much more than just giving an opinion; it involves knowledge, availability, and your commitment to excellence. When you focus on those areas, you will be automatically setting yourself apart from the rest, proving that you are a trusted asset.
When it comes to the mortgage, financial, and real estate industries, it can be confusing. Trying to sort out which product will help their business the best can be confusing for businesses and that is why they come to you. As their advisor you need to have more than just a glancing knowledge about the products, you need to have a true grasp of them; a firm understanding so that you can help your client determine which is best suited for their needs.
That means that you must always be on the lookout for new products or news about changing products. Your knowledge must be more than just a scratch on the surface of knowledge about the product; if your client just wanted to know the basic information, they could Google it.
You are their Google, so to speak. You should be their go-to source of information on everything that they need to know. Staying abreast of new laws, regulations, and products is only a small piece of the puzzle. Knowing about the existence of the various real estate, financial and mortgage products is only useful when you fully understand them and can make an educated decision, based on your client’s situation, about what is the best product for them.
Learn about the products inside and out, even if you tend to specialize in one area over another, you still need to have more than just a passing knowledge about other products. What are the pros and cons? Why are the suited or not suited for your clients?
Remember, as an advisor you are not just pushing products on your client, you are honestly steering them towards the products that they will benefit the best from, but you also need to educate them on the possible downsides of each choice as well. When you bring honesty to the table, that says volumes about you and your ethics and you will help forge your relationships with your clients.
A good advisor makes themselves as available as possible. Remember, if your client cannot reach you within a reasonable span of time, they will very likely pick up the phone or search the web and find somebody else available. Make yourself available because it is very likely that when your client needs advice from you, that it is something that is time-sensitive.
With smart phones, there is no reason why you cannot be in constant contact. Long gone are the days where you have to call into the office to check for messages or to go into your office to retrieve your email; you should make sure that you are always diligent about checking your voicemail and your email because your clients want the peace of mind of knowing that when they need you, you are there.
It is not just smart business; it is another way to grow your relationship with your client. Giving our your cell phone number does no good if you never answer your cell phone so make use of the technology available to you.
Even if you do not know the answer to a question that your client poses to you via email or voicemail, call them back right away and let them know that you are researching it. You want to have as little time as possible pass between when your client initiates contact with you and when you are able to respond.
Being available does not mean that you stay glued to the phone, it just means that you are easily accessible and with a quick response time. Good advisors give their clients a multitude of ways to reach them, such as through a website, their email, and office numbers and if you choose, your cell phone number.
A commitment to excellence should always be a top priority and it is something that you should be proud of when you bring it to the table. When you have a relationship with your client, you are committed to providing the best possible service to them and their business. Nothing gets done half way; you put your heart and soul into your business because that is how you cement your relationships with your clients.
Ethical business dealings are a part of this and when you are up-front and honest with your client, working hard to serve their best interests, they will notice and they will appreciate you even more for it. The choices that you steer them towards are always for their benefit, never for yours.
Being a good advisor means that you are constantly learning, as the mortgage, real estate, and financial industries evolve and change, you are staying on top of the changes because that is what sets you apart. The things that you bring to the table are the brick and mortar that builds your relationship with your client. A good relationship with your client is how to retain business and get new clients as well, because happy clients are just as
