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August 11, 2010, Featured Articles, Guest Column, Advisors/Planners/Reps

Process First, Not Product

By Philip G. Lubinski   Wed, Aug 11, 2010

When clients discover that products have been sold to them without the adequate use of process, some advisors will surely face a day of reckoning, says the president of The Strategic Distribution Institute, LLC.

Recently, I developed a lower back problem. A friend referred me to a doctor who specialized in back therapy. At our first appointment the doctor summarized his background and training and told me that he wanted to take the following steps:

  1. Take my medical history and review the medications I was taking.
  2. Discuss my symptoms in greater depth.
  3. Take an x-ray of my back.

After completing these steps, he said, he would likely know if he could be of any help.  He would then recommend a treatment regimen with specific procedures, a monitoring schedule and costs. In other words, his practice was based on:

  1. Introduction
  2. Fact Finding
  3. Analysis
  4. Recommendation
  5. Implementation
  6. Review

Why would retirement income planning not follow the same process? Instead, the financial services industry tends to lead with product.

 

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