Mastering the Delivery of Advice

G'day, I'm Jim Stackfield from jimstackfield.com. I want to share with you one of the most important

attributes that all our successful clients have had on board when they've been approaching

this whole shift in their business towards a much more successful advisory practice

It's important to have this in context to what all our clients are trying to achieve

They have it fundamentally in their makeup. All our clients that come to us and pay our fees are fundamentally trying to work towards

what we call a position of mastery. What might appear initially difficult because learning how to price differently, learning

how to have different conversations with clients, learning how to work with different alliance

partners, learning how to attract the right staff, they all might be quite difficult for

people to do, but their path has become to turn that difficulty into easy, to be masters

at it. Their path is to focusing on trying to get to this level of mastery

To get to that level of mastery, they all work through what we call competency

Just getting more and more competent, making by regular practice. It's not like trying 50 different things to get the one result

They try the same thing 50 times by practice, practice, practice, to get through that level

of competency. They stay focused on those tasks, whether it's new ways of pricing, new ways of engaging

with their clients, new ways of hiring staff. They move through this path of competency, focusing on what they've been told to do

even though it feels uncomfortable, until they work through that level of uncomfortably get mastery

The core element, what really makes them champions of change is by understanding the three pillars

that hold up this level of competency. The first pillar we provide, and other firms like us provide

It's a set of skills, it's a set of templates, it's a set of procedures, it's a set of ... and

it's coaching on top of those skills. It's by role play, it's by simply learning the skill, learning the technique, and that

can be available off the internet, can be available in one-on-one coaching sessions

or workshops. A lot of people attend these skilling sessions, but they don't do anything with them

The next level is a commitment to what we call getting fit

It's not only just having the skill, because I can be skilled up, but if I actually can't

last the distance in some of the difficult conversations about price or how I actually

engage with alliances, if I'm not fit, I won't actually be getting better and better at using

the skill. I've actually got to make sure it lasts, it's got to be tested. This is why we, for instance, expect all our clients sending us a copy of their transcripts

for their clients every month, not just the first couple, every month, to make sure they

maintain a level of fitness. The most important aspect is what I call a mindset aspect, why are they doing this

People can be skilled, and people can be fit, but they don't know why they're doing it

Now, if our firms are only coming to us because they want to be compliant, they'll drop off

after six to 12 months. If they're coming to us because they're looking for a silver bullet to get them through this

next level of legislative hurdle, they'll drop off. But if they're coming to us because they fundamentally want to build a business that's aligning to

the outcomes for the client as compared to the product, then that's a fundamental basis

for them to move forward. If people can understand why they're doing stuff, and that's fundamental to the engagement

even before we start putting in place some competency and mastery, then we're on the

path to great growth. So you don't only just want skills, you don't just want to also get tested by being really..

You want to make sure that your why, your mindset is aligned to the ultimate outcome

because it just gets too hard. And if your mindset is more aligned to finding a silver bullet, I suggest you look about

getting out of the industry as quick as you can. I'm Jim Stackfield from jimstackfield.com