Every Now and Then You Win One

Eakinomics: Every Now and Then You Win One A theme of the Biden era has been the government running roughshod over citizens’ hopes, dreams, and preferences. Progressives dictate lifestyles, cancel dissenters’ opinions, and stifle debate. The government regulates without restraint, moves control to the public sector, and defies the private sector to grow in an environment of crippling red tape and bloated government. And the competition regulators openly discard the objective of enhancing consumer welfare in favor of an agenda of political payback and playing favorites. But every now and then the good guys win one. As AAF’s Jeff Westling put it: “In April, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that Apple’s iPhone and application store practices – which limit users to applications offered through Apple’s App Store and charge a 30 percent commission on sales – didn’t violate antitrust law, adhering largely to the consumer-centric analysis of modern antitrust law. As the court explained, Apple had important, pro-competitive reasons for its practices, such as enhanced cybersecurity, and consumers had the choice to use these products and services.” That’s right, Apple can do the things that it does – pricing and restricting access to its app store – because it does business the old-fashioned way and gives the customer what they want. Having said that, there is nothing to stop Congress from meddling anyway. In particular, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Open App Markets Act (OAMA) in the last Congress. It would require firms like Apple to allow access to mobile operating systems without going through the operating system’s own application store. With the 9th Circuit’s condoning of Apple’s conduct in the mobile application space, a renewed push to regulate the market could arise. This kind of access to the operating system opens up a host of cybersecurity concerns, but Congress could simply choose to dismiss the procompetitive benefits of closed systems and make the determination to move ahead. In short, it’s a good day for those appreciative of the power of market forces, but a host of threats remain.

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The Future-Ready Financial Advisor: Financial advisors need to add more value to their ideal clients every year!

Fast forward one year Imagine you are meeting with one of your top clients a year from now in 2024 for a progress update. Markets are always volatile and bumpy, and their portfolio continues to be up or down. What questions will they be asking you at this meeting? Am I going to be OK? How am I on or off track in reaching my goals? How is my performance giving me a high probability of success? Answering these questions clearly for ideal clients is critical to your success better each year. Deliver more value through more valuable and deeper more meaningful conversations. I truly believe that this will separate successful advisors of the past, from successful advisors of the future. This is where you can discuss the probability of success in reaching ALL of your goals with your comprehensive plans. You can show them on one page that they will be ok, and the plans and strategies you put in place have not only kept them on track, but your goals-based plan will continue to guide them to make better decisions for their future. Here’s the problem. Most advisors don’t have a goals-based plan to follow up on, which is why they wing the conversation. Deliver more value by uncovering more goals. Wealthy people have changed some of their major goals in life. You need to have deeper conversations to help them. Think back ten years ago What was the value you delivered 10 years ago as a financial advisor? Now, what value add have you delivered in the last few years? What about the future? Help ideal clients and prospects accomplish more in their life, and life planning as well as goal planning. How have your conversations changed to deliver more value? Do you have legacy planning conversations, family conversations, clarity and goals conversations, charitable conversations, and future family planning and goals conversations? What are the names and types of conversations you have with your ideal clients? Are you helping them get organized in all 7 areas of their financial life? Do you coordinate their other professionals in meetings and have powerful conversations with their accountant lawyer or other professionals? Are you holding family legacy conversations? What is your process to deliver more value this year and how will you articulate and deliver that value this year? Your words are powerful You know your words are powerful. You manage millions of dollars and have a deep level of trust. Your words and communications are powerful. I recently practiced with several advisors I coach on how to respond, what they were saying, and how clients were reacting. Several advisors had a choppy response, they winged it on the top of their heads, and when I asked them to repeat it they couldn’t. Your conversations must be perfected. You cannot wing it on Shark Tank (ABC TV Show) or Dragon’s Den (CBC TV) What happens to people who wing their answers on reality TV shows such as shark tank or dragons den? We laugh and they exit the building, with a terrible experience. You cannot wing it with your ideal clients and prospects. Have you communicated your value-added conversations with your best clients and prospects? By email, phone call, or both? Is it a proven script that shows confidence, leadership, and direction? Have you communicated with both spouses or partners? This was a big mistake I made in the past, and I don't want you to make it. Clients and prospects will repeat your words, or stories to family and friends, making you the most referable advisor. Think about it. The easiest time to grow your business is when your competition is assuming everything is fine. Your biggest benefit is managing human behavior, for it is one of the biggest factors in managing wealth. Communication plans After reading this article, fast forward to one year. You have delivered deeper conversations of value, with a proven scripted process. You practice your script so you can articulate it with belief and conviction. You can look back knowing you gave your clients confidence, leadership, and direction and you acted continuously on a comprehensive goals-based plan. You delivered valuable planning and lifestyle conversations, estate and legacy conversations, and deeper family conversations. Plan out who and when you are going to deliver more value. Without a plan, who knows where your business will be in one year? Who leads you as an advisor during these challenging times? Elite financial professionals always turn to their coach or mentor to manage their behavior.    What is Your Path to Success?   For financial advisors struggling to grow, they are on the path to frustration and as one advisor told me, chaotic. How can you go from $500k in revenue to over 1 million? What are the keys to your path to success? Let’s examine your current path?   Ideal Clients Defined   Do you have a clear definition of what an ideal client is? How much revenue do you want to generate for every ideal client, family or household? Is it $5000 or $10,000 or $20,000 or more? Defining what your ideal revenue is first. Then plan on delivering more value to those clients that pay you the most, and you will gain confidence by delivering more to your best clients. What Value Add Did You Deliver Last Year?   What are the value-added items did you deliver to your best clients last year? Did you deliver a comprehensive estate plan in writing? Did you build a legacy binder for them, or do a beneficiary audit? Did you give more comprehensive planning and advice, or was it all about performance? What are you going to deliver of great value this year? “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity. Deliver more value, means you are worth more. This is how you are going to go from generating $5000 per client to eventually $10,000 to $20,000 or more revenue to you. ( Note I am not saying charging fees, depending on your compensation, it is the revenue generated by assets, fee-based commissions or other methods. This is up to you and your firm.)  Measure Your Revenue   The number on thing advisors measure is their overall revenue. Divide your total revenue by the number of clients, and you have your average revenue per client. Now measure your top 10 revenue per client. This will help you determine your ideal revenue per ideal client.   Measure the Number of Ideal Clients   How many ideal clients do you have now generating your ideal revenue per client? If your ideal revenue per client is $30,000 and you have 20 clients paying that, how many could you manage in a calendar year, if that is all you did? If eventually all of your time was spent on ideal clients and prospects, how many could you manage in a calendar year delivering more value to each year? Usually, the number is 100 or less. Is this the path you are currently on? Or are you just getting more and more clients and less and less time?

How About Your Goals for Your Practice in 2023? Our Practice Management Checklist or Fee Audit Checklist:    While each financial advisor's practice may have a different approach, advisors need to understand where their practice needs help, and will they get the right help for the right part of their practice. What areas does your practice need help with?    Get a copy of our Updated 21-page Comprehensive Practice Management Strategies Checklist by going to our website https://www.advisorpracticemanagement.com/about-us or clicking here: https://practicemanagement.getresponsepages.com/ Fee Audit Checklist for Ideal Prospects: click here https://feeaudit.getresponsepages.com/ Comprehensive Financial Advisor Practice Management Benchmarking Report sample  Key data and KPI's Key Performance indicators. Do want a sample benchmarking report to help you understand how to get the edge on your practice and your competition? https://benchmark.getresponsepages.com/  Updated 2023 Technology Checklist for Financial Advisors This checklist is five years worth of research on the best processes elite financial advisors and their teams implement to acquire and service ideal clients, while running an efficient practice. https://technology-checklist.getresponsepages.com/

IntegraCare CEO: To Fix Staffing, More Senior Living Operators Should Think Like Manufacturers

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Updates to Coverage for COVID-19 Tests

Updates to Coverage for COVID-19 Tests The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency is to end on May 11, 2023. The ending of the Public Health Emergency may impact an individual’s coverage of COVID-19 tests. We encourage you to know these changes and share the New Consumer Fact Sheet on COVID-19 tests.   Consumer Fact Sheets: English - https://www.cms.gov/files/document/covid-over-counter-test-coverage.pdf Spanish - https://www.cms.gov/files/document/covid-over-counter-test-coverage-spanish.pdf Before May 11, 2023 If you have any type of health insurance, you can get up to eight over-the-counter tests per month with no out-of-pocket costs. Over-the-counter tests are available in most pharmacies and may also be available online for delivery.   After May 11, 2023 Laboratory tests for COVID-19 that are ordered by your provider will still be covered with no out-of-pocket costs for people with Medicare. Over-the-counter tests will still be available, but there may be out-of-pocket costs. Coverage of over-the-counter tests may vary by your insurance type, as described below.   What does this mean for Medicare Beneficiaries? Generally, Medicare doesn’t cover or pay for over-the counter products. The demonstration that has allowed us to offer coverage for COVID-19 over-the-counter tests at no cost ends on May 11, 2023.   However, if you are enrolled in Medicare Part B, you will continue to have coverage with no out-of-pocket costs for appropriate laboratory-based COVID-19 PCR and antigen tests, when a provider orders them (such as drive-through PCR and antigen testing or testing in a provider’s office).   If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, you may have more access to tests depending on your benefits. Check with your plan.   What does this mean for people with Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program? If you have coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, you will have access to COVID-19 over-the-counter and laboratory testing through September 30, 2024. After that date, coverage of testing may vary by state.   What does this mean for people with Private Insurance? If you have private insurance, coverage will vary depending on your health plan. However, private plans won’t be required by federal law to cover over-the counter and laboratory-based COVID-19 tests after May 11, 2023.   If your insurance chooses to cover COVID-19 testing, they may require cost sharing, prior authorization, or other forms of medical management.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has sent this update. To contact Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) go to our contact us page.

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