The Efficient Advisor: Tactical Business Advice for Financial Planners

Should you be charging for financial planning—and if so, how much? For many advisors, the idea of charging directly for their advice brings up a whole lot of questions (and maybe a little head trash). In this episode, I’m joined by Jacqueline Bradley and Ben from MindShift Financial Coaching to unpack what it actually looks like to move from “working for hope” to confidently charging for the value you provide. We’re talking pricing, positioning, separating planning from AUM, communicating your value, and even how to approach existing clients when you’ve been providing planning for free.
In this episode you will learn:
How to determine what to charge for financial planning without overcomplicating your pricing.
How to clearly separate financial planning from investment management and other transactional services.
How to communicate your planning charge with confidence and position the value beyond the financial plan itself.
How to begin introducing planning charges to prospects and existing clients without changing your entire business model overnight.
If charging for financial planning has been on your mind, this episode will give you practical language, a new way to think about your value, and some simple first steps to get started. And if you’re ready for more support, MindShift Financial Coaching offers both a self-paced Financial Planning School and a live cohort beginning October 21st. Efficient Advisor listeners can receive 10% off either option—head to the show notes or visit the Resources page at theefficientadvisor.com for all the details.

If you want to learn more about Mindshift and take advantage of the 10% discount: Check it out HERE and use code: LIBBY at check out!
Register for the Quin x Efficient Advisor Show & Tell HERE!

Check out The First 100 Days Course: The Advisor's Blueprint for a Remarkable Client Experience HERE!
Learn more about T2MWorks HERE!

Learn more about Asset-Map financial planning software HERE!

Learn more about our sponsor Beemo Automation HERE!   

Check out the Efficient Advisor YouTube Channel HERE!

Connect with Libby on LinkedIn HERE!

Successful businesses don’t get built alone. You need community! You need collaboration! Join us in The Efficient Advisor Community on Facebook.

What should financial advisors charge? Too often, advisors answer that question by looking around at what everyone else is charging and picking a number that feels safe. But your clients aren’t paying for the number of hours you spend creating a financial plan or the number of meetings on your calendar. 

They’re paying for the years of experience, expertise, and pattern recognition that allow you to help them make better decisions, avoid costly mistakes, and move forward with confidence. In this episode, we’re breaking down how to think differently about pricing your advice—and how to determine whether your fees actually reflect the value you create.
In this episode you will learn:
Why pricing based on what other advisors charge can lead you to undervalue your expertise.
How to separate the one-time value of financial planning from the ongoing value you provide.
Why you shouldn’t immediately lower your price when a prospect pushes back on your fee.
A simple exercise to evaluate whether your current fees reflect the value you create for clients.
Your clients aren’t paying for how many hours it takes you to do the work. They’re paying for what your experience, expertise, and time make possible. Take a look at the last five clients you onboarded, identify the value you created and the costly mistakes you helped them avoid, and then ask yourself one important question: Does my fee actually reflect that value?
Register for the Quin x Efficient Advisor Show & Tell HERE!

Check out The First 100 Days Course: The Advisor's Blueprint for a Remarkable Client Experience HERE!
Learn more about T2MWorks HERE!

Learn more about Asset-Map financial planning software HERE!

Learn more about our sponsor Beemo Automation HERE!   

Check out the Efficient Advisor YouTube Channel HERE!

Connect with Libby on LinkedIn HERE!

Successful businesses don’t get built alone. You need community! You need collaboration! Join us in The Efficient Advisor Community on Facebook.

We spend a lot of time talking about how to simplify, systematize, automate, and streamline our businesses—but what about our lives outside of work? After sharing that I recently flew my family to South Africa and back in upgraded seats for mostly free, I got flooded with questions about how I had accumulated so many miles. The answer isn’t complicated travel hacking or a spreadsheet filled with credit cards. In this episode, I’m sharing my “easy button” approach to free travel: a simple, mostly automated system that helps me earn points, score travel perks, and save money without turning any of it into another job.
In this episode you will learn:
How I use SkyKey to automatically find lower fares and get money or miles back after I’ve already booked a flight.
My simple strategy for using companion passes and credit card spending to cover more of my family’s flights.
How I “double dip” with Uber, SkyMiles Dining, shopping portals, and everyday spending to earn points with minimal effort.
How I keep my entire system simple by giving each credit card a specific job for business expenses, personal spending, and travel.
This episode isn’t about perfectly optimizing every point or becoming a travel-hacking expert. It’s about finding your version of the 80/20—using simple systems and automation to get more of the benefits you want without adding more work to your life. Whether your preferred combination is Delta and Marriott or completely different airlines and hotels, the goal is the same: find what works, keep it simple, and use the margin you’ve worked so hard to create to actually enjoy your life.
READ THE BLOG HERE! 
Register for the Quin x Efficient Advisor Show & Tell HERE!

Check out The First 100 Days Course: The Advisor's Blueprint for a Remarkable Client Experience HERE!
Learn more about T2MWorks HERE!

Learn more about Asset-Map financial planning software HERE!

Learn more about our sponsor Beemo Automation HERE!   

Check out the Efficient Advisor YouTube Channel HERE!

Connect with Libby on LinkedIn HERE!

Successful businesses don’t get built alone. You need community! You need collaboration! Join us in The Efficient Advisor Community on Facebook.

Some of the best efficiency wins in your practice aren’t massive system overhauls—they’re the small decisions you find yourself making over and over again.
In this episode, I’m sharing one incredibly simple process I used in my own advisory practice to eliminate a recurring interruption, empower my team to make more decisions without me, and ultimately give clients faster service. I’ll walk you through exactly how we created a “first $20,000” distribution strategy for clients, documented it in our CRM, and built a decision tree that helped my team know exactly what to do when a client called needing cash.
In this episode you will learn:
How to create a simple “first $20,000” distribution strategy for your clients.
How to use your CRM to give your team clear direction without needing to involve you.
How to build a decision tree that helps your team confidently handle client distribution requests.
How to identify recurring questions and small decisions you can systematically remove from your plate.
You don’t have to build this process for every client overnight. Start with the clients you’re already meeting with next week, document where you’d recommend they access cash if a need comes up, and build from there. Small systems like this can eliminate interruptions, speed up your client service, and gradually train your team to take ownership of more decisions—freeing you to focus on the bigger strategies and conversations that actually require you.
Register for the Quin Show & Tell HERE! 
Register for the Quin x Efficient Advisor Show & Tell HERE!

Check out The First 100 Days Course: The Advisor's Blueprint for a Remarkable Client Experience HERE!
Learn more about T2MWorks HERE!

Learn more about Asset-Map financial planning software HERE!

Learn more about our sponsor Beemo Automation HERE!   

Check out the Efficient Advisor YouTube Channel HERE!

Connect with Libby on LinkedIn HERE!

Successful businesses don’t get built alone. You need community! You need collaboration! Join us in The Efficient Advisor Community on Facebook.

What does it actually look like to build a fast-growing advisory firm without sacrificing the depth of your client relationships? 
In this episode, I’m sitting down with financial advisor Emily Rassam to take a behind-the-scenes look at the client experience, workflows, and team structure she’s used to build a thriving practice serving approximately 270 families. We dig into how behavioral finance shapes everything from prospect conversations to financial plans, why every meeting in her firm has a defined purpose and process, and how her team delivers a highly personalized experience without relying on traditional client segmentation.
In this episode you will learn:
How to use behavioral finance questions to identify ideal clients and create deeper financial planning conversations.
Why a structured onboarding process can differentiate your firm before a prospect ever becomes a client.
How to build a flexible client service model that combines consistent processes with personalized planning.
How strong workflows and delegation allow advisors to step away from prep and follow-up without sacrificing the client experience.
If you’ve ever wondered how to create a more personalized client experience while still building a practice that can scale, this conversation gives you a look under the hood of a firm doing exactly that. You’ll walk away with practical ideas for structuring your meetings, strengthening your workflows, using your team more effectively, and creating the kind of processes that give you more capacity to focus on the work you do best.
Register for the Quin x Efficient Advisor Show & Tell HERE!

Check out The First 100 Days Course: The Advisor's Blueprint for a Remarkable Client Experience HERE!
Learn more about T2MWorks HERE!

Learn more about Asset-Map financial planning software HERE!

Learn more about our sponsor Beemo Automation HERE!   

Check out the Efficient Advisor YouTube Channel HERE!

Connect with Libby on LinkedIn HERE!

Successful businesses don’t get built alone. You need community! You need collaboration! Join us in The Efficient Advisor Community on Facebook.