In today’s one-stop service world for retirement preparation, financial services professionals are expected to do everything - attend estate planning courses, understand taxation issues, be able to handle trusts, be familiar with Roth IRAs, understand insurance policy and on top of it all, manage investments.
However research shows that most financial advisors are ill-prepared and lacking in knowledge that is fundamental to these disciplines. However, Internet-based corporate training can quickly build those skills that are prerequisite to employees capturing the sales opportunities before them and get employees back on track.
Today, the demands on financial professionals, particularly those involved with estate planning, are massive. Baby boomers are aging and estate planning is a major industry. So, how do you get your employees to not only understand estate planning, but to master it? Simple - estate planning courses. The question is, how do you create a good course?
What Constitutes a Sound Training Program?
Knowledge and expertise are your primary tools as a financial planner and financial services company. That means your employees need to be experts when they’re dealing with clients. A hesitant client will walk away from an investment opportunity if their potential consultant seems unsure or less than totally confident.
Because financial services and estate planning are so complex and constantly changing, they need training programs and resources that are equally flexible. That means they must have:
* A sound curriculum crafted to meet the specific needs of each organization;
* Confident experts delivering the information and providing practical expertise; and
* A well-defined process that consistently supports and reinforces core skills.
Three Steps to an Effective Training Program
Step one to an effective estate planning training program is to set out the basics. For any financial planner working in estate planning, that means outlining their basic job requirements. Instead of having your planners focused on reeling in new clients or upselling insurance add-ons, get them to focus on their job - effectively planning estates and retirement packages.
Step two in an effective training program is to quantitatively assess the knowledge of your staff. That means, being able to test them and identify who needs work and on what subjects. If you don’t know where an individual stands, you won’t be able to effectively train the person. Without results that you can see, you will not only be unable to train your staff, but you’ll be incapable of assessing the effectiveness of your training.
Step three of an effective estate planning program is to constantly reinforce what they’ve learned. If your financial planners aren’t retaining what they’ve been taught then that training program is a waste of both money and time. You need your employees to prove they’ve retained the information from their estate planning courses, whether through ongoing workshops or testing.
Tags: Financial Money Matters