Carson Coaching Chronicle Issue #17: Working with Business Owners

There are about 33 million small business owners in the United States. And only 35 percent of them work with a financial advisor.

Executive Business Coach Greg Opitz notes that business owners are an untapped market for advisors, but Executive Business Coach Tammy Breitenbach, ACC, MBA said it takes time, passion, and commitment to best serve them.

This issue of the Carson Coaching Chronicle will offer tips on how to put in the work to become a trusted advisor to business owners! Plus, you'll also get:

• Access a free resource from Carson Coaching – plus invites to some other free events!??

• Insight into what we’re reading.??

• Some stats and facts that might be top of mind for your clients.??

• The inside track on the five benefits of creating solid and repeatable processes.?

Let’s get into it! ?

The Passion for Serving Business Owners?

Executive Business Coach Tammy Breitenbach, ACC, MBA sees a lot of advisors who want to serve business owner clients because they see a high net worth that’s going to transition at some point and they want in on those dollars.??

They wait and wait for a big sale only to be short-circuited by the business broker who already has another advisor in mind. That means these advisors are putting in a lot of work with no guarantee that they’ll see the proceeds of the sale.?

Tammy notes that advisors would be better off forging genuine relationships with business owners built on the foundation of trust to serve these business owners.??

“You need to put in the work earlier to connect with business owners and, if you’re already working with business owners, make sure they understand your capacity to serve their complex needs,” Tammy writes in the Journal of Financial Planning.??

Tammy comes from a long line of successful business owners, and notes that in order to best connect with people like her family advisors must:??

?? Demonstrate a passion for helping business owners.??

?? Establish themselves as specialists. Holding relevant certifications, such as the CExP or CEPA, can significantly boost an advisor's credibility.?

?? Be proficient at navigating family dynamics.??

Ultimately, success in serving business owners comes from a genuine commitment to understanding their unique needs and building relationships many years before major transitions. Read more in Tammy’s latest Journal of Financial Planning article. ??

Serving an Underserved Market: Business Owners?

According to Financial Advisor, advisors play a crucial role in aiding business owners with both managing their finances and navigating unpredictable economic climates. With around 33 million small businesses in the United States, as reported by Forbes, only 35 percent of them work with a financial advisor, creating a significant opportunity for you. Executive Business Coach Greg Opitz notes that this is an underserved market with a lot of potential.??

And you’re already likely connected with business owners through organizations that you (as a business owner) are part of (think local Chambers of Commerce, social or country clubs, etc.). You probably already know many business owners. But do you have what it takes to serve them???

Greg says serving business owner clients requires more than just financial savvy—it demands genuine connection and trust-building. This is what Greg calls both “substance and sizzle.”?

And in order to have the substance, you have to put in the time. Serving business owners is a long game—you have to build genuine connections and relationships with them first. Greg recommends doing this by:??

?? Being active in organizations for business owners yourself. You are a business owner after all!??

?? Obtain credentials specific to exit planning.?

?? Be honest with yourself whether you’re comfortable serving business owners.?

For a deeper dive into how to serve this underserved market, read Greg’s full blog post. ??

What We’ve Got for You This Month??

Our members and Partners have access to a range of events and resources. Here’s what we’ve got for you this month:?

Advisor Growth Path. Many next-gen professionals are looking for specific growth paths in their positions. If you’re a firm owner hoping to provide that for them, you can use our free resource this month to help you! Find it here.??

Group Coaching Call with Tammy Breitenbach. Join us for a free Group Coaching Call, co-powered by the Financial Planning Association (FPA) , where we’ll dive into how you can put in the work to serve business owners. Join the call, titled Don’t Do it for the Money: What It Takes to Serve Business Owner Clients, at 1 p.m., Oct. 8. Register here.??

ReFrame with Lacy Garcia. Join Ana Trujillo Limón, MBA , as she interviews Willow 's Lacy Garcia on her perspective on the State of Women in Wealth Management research and what credentials are available through Willow to learn how to better serve women clients. Live from the SER Summit for Latin@s in FinServ . Put it on your calendar: 5 p.m., CT, Oct. 10.

What We’re Reading??

Our team of lifelong learners is big on reading. Here’s what we’ve been reading this month that you might want to check out!?

• Back in the day, the psychological playbook was all about determinism—your life script is written by your past experiences. But that’s actually not the case. Modern research has found that you can build your future self based on a clear vision of what you want to be. You know how we’re big fans of identifying a vision. If you can identify a vision of your future self, you can start being that person today, writes organizational psychologist Dr. Benjamin Hardy in Be Your Future Self Now: The Science of Intentional Transformation. By envisioning and channeling your future self, you’re not just dreaming, you’re actively crafting that reality. “Decisions and actions are best when reverse-engineered from a desired outcome,” Dr. Hardy says. “Start with what you want and work backward. Think and act from your goal, rather than toward your goal.”??

• The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level, by Stanford psychologist Gay Hendricks, offers a practical mindset methodology anyone can do to “break on through to the other side” and enjoy their true potential, says Tammy Breitenbach. After reading this book, you’ll be inspired to leave behind the limiting belief that you don’t deserve happiness and stop engaging in self-sabotage by starting to work inside your “zone of genius”—which is the thing that you are best at. In your zone of genius, you are doing something you are naturally gifted at but that engages you and is satisfying. This is the zone where you find inspiration and create new, unique outputs. ??

“Decisions and actions are best when reverse-engineered from a desired outcome. Start with what you want and work backward. Think and act from your goal, rather than toward your goal," Dr. Benjamin Hardy

Top of Mind: 10 Stats and Facts??

Here are some stats and facts in the news that might be top of mind for your clients!?

63%...Percentage of workers who are contributing more or about the same amount to their retirement savings as they did a year ago. (Bankrate)??

57%...Percentage of workers who think they’re behind where they should be on their retirement savings. (Bankrate)?

37%...Percentage of workers who are contributing less to their retirement savings than they did a year ago. (Bankrate)??

79.1 years...The current U.S. life expectancy, which is up form 68.1 in 1950. (Macrotrends)?

46%...Percentage of Americans between the ages of 60-75 who plan to work part-time in retirement. (American Advisors Group) ?

18%...Percentage of seniors who say they plan to work past age 70. (American Advisors Group)?

12%...Percentage of seniors who say they don’t plan to ever stop working, up from 6 percent in 2019. (American Advisors Group)?

1 in 3...The number of older adults who experience feelings of loneliness at least once a week. (University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging)?

73%...Percentage of older adults who reported "fair" or "poor" mental health who also said they felt a lack of companionship. (University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging)?

$6.7 billion...The total annual additional federal Medicare spending that is associated with social isolation in retirement. (AARP) ??

The Inside Track: 5 Benefits of Improving Your Processes?

This month, Executive Business Coach Jessica Colston, MS, PCC offers some insight into the five benefits of developing solid and repeatable processes. There are many reasons you want to create better processes and systems in your business, but Jessica highlights five of them: ?

1. Continuity. You want to make sure that if something were to happen to somebody in one of the seats in your business, that you have full continuity. You want to make sure that you or somebody else can come in and do that person’s job without causing too much heartache and headache.?
2. Growth. In order to grow, you have to have great systems and processes in order to handle the growth and do it in a smart way. You always want to work smarter rather than harder. ?
3. Efficiency. Make sure you’re doing things the most efficient and effective way. One way to evaluate this is to asking the team to rethink some of the processes and systems you’ve used for years because maybe there’s a better way to do them. ?
4. Consistency. You want every client to have a great and wonderful “wow” experience every time. We want to ensure the experience they have when they onboard with you extends throughout the relationship and consistency is key to that. ?
5. Confidence. You want to be confident in your team. You want to be able to take a nice vacation and be confident that your team is able to run everything smoothly thanks to your systems and processes. ?

So how can you do all of this? Jessica recommends five steps: ?

1. Pick one process to focus on at a time. ?
2. Get your team on board. ?
3. Find a champion to help you.?
4. Delegate creating a plan to a trusted team member.?
5. Schedule time to review the process—whether that’s annually, biannually, or quarterly. ?

See Jessica’s full video tip here. ??

Want More???

Did you like this newsletter? Then you might like our platform Carson Coaching Online, where you can get access to more content like courses, resources, ghostwritten articles to send your clients and greeting cards.??

See if membership might be a good fit for you. Visit our website or email us at [email protected]. Or, schedule your complimentary 30-minute coaching exploratory call today with Katie Trout, Client Relationship Specialist.?

If you need some help on your growth journey, give us a call! With Carson Coaching, you don't just have one person, you have a whole team.?

We will see you again in November!?

?

?

?