Financial Advisor Selects WealthBook for Expanding Practice in 2009

In Today’s Economy, Generating Referrals Considered Critical
As a result of the tumultuous 2008 economy and financial markets, financial advisors like Denver-based Michael Jenkins found themselves scrambling to rebuild their practice through new referrals. Jenkins, a nine-year veteran of advising and planning for affluent and HNW individuals, families and foundations, realized that he needed a solution to create a network for reaching new clients and connecting with other professional advisors. What Jenkins discovered in WealthBook is, as he put it, a “referral machine” and a way to differentiate himself from the competition.

Within the first few weeks of his initial login to WealthBook, Jenkins received his first referral. And during the next six weeks, he received two more qualified referrals for generating new revenue.

“Without using WealthBook, that referral may have taken me up to a year to get,” said Jenkins. “And I was able to get three referrals very quickly from unexpected sources. I may never have gotten those three referrals without WealthBook.”

WealthBook is the only secure, online platform of its kind, allowing professional advisors to generate referrals through their trusted network and deliver superior client service. Since it was created by professional advisors for professional advisors, there’s a strong focus on helping advisors create trusted referral networks. Jenkins said that instead of spending between 18 months and two years to build a relationship with a tax professional, for example, he’s able to quickly connect with professionals already working with his clients.

"I’ll be much more efficient by having access to so many advisors,” he said. “The cost of prospecting will be greatly reduced with WealthBook."

When It Comes to Referrals, It’s All About Networking through Trusted Relationships
Trusted Networks, one of the foundational concepts of WealthBook, are relationships formed between professional advisors and their clients. These “inner circles” improve communication, facilitate collaboration, and help advisors expand their referral networks.

“In WealthBook, I’m able to network with other professionals in a way that I’ve never been able to before,” Jenkins said. “By reaching through my clients to their centers of influence, I can create relationships with their realtors, CPAs, and investors.”

And according to Jenkins, this may seem contrary to how many financial advisors are trained to find referrals.

“The industry tries to coach you to ask for referrals from clients,” Jenkins explains, “But getting referrals from other professionals is much more productive. It’s all about the network.”

Understanding How Collaboration Benefits Advisors and Their Clients
Unlike the traditional approaches to estate planning and wealth management, financial advisors like Jenkins are discovering that WealthBook puts professional advisors and their clients’ other advisors “in the same room.” This secure, online environment for collaboration helps advisors give their clients a 360-degree view of their financial landscape, minimizing risk and liability by coordinating all facets of an estate plan.

“When I do a financial plan for a client, it requires the client to interface with many other financial advisors that they work with so I can do a comprehensive plan,” Jenkins said. “I realized that WealthBook would not only allow me to generate a financial plan and keep it up to date, but it would allow me to collaborate with my clients’ other advisors.”

“That was the key for me,” Jenkins said. As a by-product of that collaboration, he was able to gain valuable referrals and build his professional network.

Providing a Higher Level of Client Service with Improved Communication
Another primary concern of advisors is communication—making sure that each client receives the right amount of personalized attention to maintain a solid business relationship that fosters client loyalty and word-of-mouth exposure.

“The last few months [of 2008] have made every client reassess their goals, time lines and risk tolerance,” Jenkins said. “The advisor community is exhausted as a result of the significant increase in the level of communication that’s been required over the past 12 months.”

According to Jenkins, the heightened level of communication is absolutely necessary to maintain client confidence even though it significantly impacts business development, routine review processes, and other essentials of financial planning firms. With WealthBook, Jenkins says that the challenges of frequent client interactions are more manageable.

“WealthBook allows me to communicate with households in a way that they’ve never experienced before,“ said Jenkins. “Now I’ll be able to provide a higher level of service to my clients.”

And what’s Jenkins’ advice for other professional advisors who are considering a solution just for financial planners?

“WealthBook gives you a strategic advantage,” Jenkins said. “It’s forward-thinking and it gives you a competitive edge for growing your practice.”

Challenges:

• Build a referral network that reaches his clients’ centers of influence
• Work with his clients’ other professional advisors to provide a higher level of service and a holistic approach to financial planning
• Efficiently and effectively deliver an elevated level of client service

Solution:

Financial advisor Mike Jenkins selected WealthBook for its client service features and referral generation capabilities.

Results:

• Gained new referrals within six weeks
• Increased efficiency of client communication, resulting in greater customer loyalty
• Began working with clients’ professional advisors to provide better service