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1. Not enough research. Many advisors automatically assume that financial planning expertise will translate into plan success. You need to actually learn the space and study governance best practices plus lingo to have any chance. 2. Lack of sales experience makes it difficult for some advisors to approach a plan sponsor and represent their financial analysis as a winning strategy to reduce costs and improve performance of the existing plan. Making the message (sales pitch, email, direct mail) powerful and eye-catching is as much important as the accuracy of the data in the report itself. 3. Not preparing before a meeting or phone call. Find out how to avoid this mistake...

Daniel Satchkov

18 Apr 2018

How to Distinguish Yourself from the Competition as a Plan Advisor

Most of the advisors may do very little to distinguish themselves from the competition. By making yourself stand out from the crowd, you stand a far better chance of winning the business. This can be done by bringing their attention to things other plan advisors are not, like lower cost investment alternatives, issues with fiduciary liability, and using things like benchmarking statistics to illustrate how their plan stacks up against their peers. I’ve also heard so many bland “elevator speeches” that sound just like everyone else’s. It’s important to keep in mind the goal of the elevator speech. It’s not to close the sale, get an appointment or even look...

Daniel Satchkov

18 Apr 2018

A Must Have Checklist for Retirement Plan Advisors before an Important Meeting or Call

Not preparing before a meeting or phone call can be a major mistake for Retirement Plan Advisors. Research is a key. Go online to review the company website, LinkedIn profile, Facebook page and google for business articles. Review the current plan and all the Historical 5500 filings in Planisphere. 1. Plan Assets beginning of the year and end of the year. 2. Employer contributions and employee contributions, money rolled into the plan. 3. Employee Distribution, Loans, documented expenses. 4. Corrective, amended plans (correct issues). 5. Service Provider History. How often do they switch service providers. You will be able to see patterns and determine if the plan is growing because...

Daniel Satchkov

17 Apr 2018

Reasons Why Retirement Plan Advisors and Providers Need to Work Together

An article from Investment News discussed the need for Retirement Plan Advisors to change their approach and the way they work with providers. The article goes on to list several reasons why this is necessary; including the fact that “more assets are moving into target-date funds and passive investments”. The need for marketing is underlined because support from providers is not guaranteed. The article mentions going beyond simply marketing to a provider and stresses the importance of a close working relationship between the two parties. Finally, it is important to note that it is a two way street where advisors are not the only ones who need to make an...