Ep 415: Systematizing A Firm-Wide Planning Process By Leveraging Centralized Teams And A Ticketing Workflow System with Erika Wood
Dec 10, 2024
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Erika Wood, Director of Wealth Management at VisionPoint Advisory Group, oversees a firm managing about $3 billion in assets. She dives into innovative strategies for centralized financial planning and a ticketing workflow, enhancing efficiency across client meetings. Erika discusses client segmentation and tiered pricing based on a data-driven approach. Her insights into nurturing client loyalty and the significance of advisors finding their niche are invaluable. Plus, she shares how structured planning fosters engaged client relationships while maximizing operational effectiveness.
Erika Wood's firm utilizes a centralized financial planning and service team, enhancing efficiency in client interactions through a collaborative approach.
The firm employs a data-centric strategy for client segmentation and fee-setting, ensuring tailored services and clear cost transparency for different client needs.
To cultivate client loyalty, the firm engages through educational initiatives and personalized gifts, reinforcing relationships and building community among clients.
Deep dives
Centralized Financial Planning System
The firm utilizes a centralized financial planning and service team structure, enabling efficient support for client-facing advisors. This includes an internal meeting preparation team that creates thorough pre-meeting worksheets, ensuring advisors have the necessary information to conduct meetings effectively. This streamlined approach allows for a more systematic and organized client service, enhancing the overall efficiency of the planning process. Such a model ultimately shifts the focus from individual advisor assignments to a more collaborative team effort.
Client Segmentation Strategy
Erica's firm categorizes its clients into distinct segments, including private wealth clients, e-wealth clients, and foundational clients. This segmentation is based on criteria such as investable assets and the complexity of planning needs, allowing the firm to tailor services effectively. By focusing on a client's specific requirements during a fit meeting, Erica's team determines the appropriate level of planning and affordability of services. This needs-based segmentation fosters a better advisor-client relationship and aligns client expectations with the firm's offerings.
Data-Driven Fee Structure
A data-centric approach is employed to set client fees, commencing with an assessment of the costs involved in servicing different client segments. The process includes evaluating the estimated hours required for each planning area and incorporating a buffer to ensure profitability. For example, the firm has established pricing tiers for foundational planning, e-wealth, and private wealth clients, with costs ranging from $2,500 to $12,000 annually depending on the client's specific needs. This structured fee approach not only enhances transparency but also helps clients understand the value of the services provided.
Quarterly Client Service Calendar
The firm adopts a quarterly service calendar for top-tier clients, ensuring that each meeting addresses pertinent planning topics throughout the year. For instance, each quarter is dedicated to specific areas such as goal planning, estate planning, tax strategies, and portfolio reviews, promoting a comprehensive approach to financial management. This structure keeps clients engaged and ensures that all aspects of their financial planning are regularly assessed. The clarity of this service model encourages clients to prepare adequately for their sessions, enhancing the productivity of each meeting.
Client Engagement and Loyalty Building
Client loyalty is reinforced through various engagement strategies, including regular webinars on relevant planning topics, in-person social events, and thoughtful client appreciation gifts. Erica’s firm emphasizes staying connected through educational initiatives that not only inform clients but also foster community among them. Unique gifts, such as personalized cutting boards and wine kits, signify the firm’s appreciation and commitment to building relationships. These efforts not only cultivate trust but also position the firm as a valued partner in clients' financial journeys.
Advisory Role Flexibility and Personal Growth
The transition away from a traditional brokerage environment has allowed Erica to explore a more flexible and fulfilling role within the advisory space. By aligning with her strengths and embracing a collaborative team structure, she has been able to develop a professional path that prioritizes client service and personal values. Erica encourages newer advisors to identify their unique strengths within the profession and pursue roles that resonate with them. This mindset not only leads to professional satisfaction but also enhances the client experience through more authentic advisor-client interactions.
Erika Wood is the Director of Wealth Management of VisionPoint Advisory Group, a hybrid advisory firm based in Dallas that oversees approximately $3 billion in assets under advisement for both 780 client households and retirement plans. Erika’s firm stands out for its use of centralized financial planning and service teams, along with a ticketing workflow system, to streamline a firm-wide planning process, efficiently serving a private wealth client base with $600M in assets under management.
Listen in as Erika shares how her firm streamlines client meetings and task completion, ensuring efficiency and accuracy across all client interactions. She discusses her firm's approach to client segmentation and fee-setting based on a data-centric analysis of service costs, adding a profitability buffer to maintain a sustainable business model. Erika also talks about how her firm builds client loyalty, as well as the importance of advisors finding their niche in the financial planning field to maximize their unique strengths.
