Don’t Forget the Clients: The Most Overlooked Part of Your Exit Plan

Most advisors make their succession plan without thinking about a key player: the client.

What happens when clients aren’t at the center of one’s exit? And what are the benefits of including them in the process?

In this episode, Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour unpack why a successful succession is about far more than just transferring ownership.

Discover common mistakes many advisors make, how to think like your client, why including them in your plan is a must, and 5 key questions that will help you feel the pulse of how client-centric your succession plan is.

• Hosts Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour discuss how you can keep your clients’ interests first and foremost in the succession planning process.
• Kim points out the fact that most advisors have their business exit plan built only around themselves.
• Tyson sees leaving clients better off than they were getting from you as the ultimate goal of a succession.
• Tyson and Kim go over the questions that may be in a client’s mind as they hear about your upcoming exit. 
• Questions like “Are the new people going to understand everything I’ve shared with my advisor for the last 10, 15, 20 years?”
• Tyson goes over two different scenarios: one where trust has been developed and built over time, and one where a client has been transitioned to a stranger who’s their sole point of contact, and where things effectively start from scratch. 
• Kim and Tyson go into a practical piece that clients deserve as part of an advisor exit.
• Kim stresses the fact when a client feels like they’re at the center of the decisions you’re making, their engagement, their interaction, and their responses are much different.
• Tyson lists a couple of ways in which a succession can take place.
• There are 5 key questions that will help you include the client in your succession planning, says Kim.
• Tyson talks about the potential repercussions of not thinking about the client side of things when it comes to your succession, plus, he discusses the benefits of doing things right.
• Kim concludes by emphasizing the fact that most advisors build their succession plan only around themselves, while forgetting about the people who helped build their business: the clients.
• “Start small, one conversation, one client, one G2 person at a time, because that’s how your legacy lives on and will be felt,” says Kim.

 

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

TotalSuccession.com

TotalSuccession.com/podcast

FORM Wealth Advisors

Tyson Ray

Kim Cochenour