Back to School, Back to Value: How Advisors Can Reinforce Their Worth

Even though my kids are older now (one’s a senior in high school and the other’s a sophomore in college), the “back to school” season still resonates with me. Over the years, I’ve often used it as an analogy for advisor and client education. To me, it’s the perfect time to shake off the laid-back summer vibe—complete with vacationing clients and staff—and motivate all of us to finish the year strong.

Also, let’s not forget planning for 2025 should already be on the horizon. So, now that the yellow buses are back, the days are getting shorter, and there’s a crispness in the air, how about a little “back to school” thinking for the fourth quarter (and beyond)?

What Clients Truly Value: Insights from Morningstar

Last week, Morningstar released a new study on what investors value most from financial advisors. If you’re serious about your business (and I know you are), this report is worth your attention.

No surprise here: the top two things investors want were bucketed into “advice I can rely on” and “help me achieve my financial goals.” In other words, personalization is key to how clients perceive value. It’s not just about the service you offer; it’s how the client sees it.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—clients don’t care about the S&P. They care about their goals. Sending their kids to college, and retiring on time—that’s what matters. Yet most content I see from financial firms—blogs, articles, podcasts—tends to be market-driven and impersonal. Does that really reinforce your value? Newsflash: it rarely does.

Proactive Personalized Advice = Engagement

To truly reinforce your value, consider what my good friend Philipp Hecker often says: “Lead with advice.” Thankfully, there are plenty of opportunities to deliver personalized, scalable advice through technology or by simply mining your CRM for data. Let me share a couple of simple, real-life examples that came up this week:

• My younger son turns 18 next month (gasp!). While I’ve been through this before with his older brother, turning 18 brings a whole new set of planning activities. Think power of attorney, registering to vote, and selective service. Proactively sharing advice on age-based events demonstrates that “advice I can rely on.” And pairing it with tools like online wills and estate planning tech makes it actionable for clients.  What if you looked through your CRM and found every parent or grandparent with a kid turning 18 in the next 6 months? 
• With October 15th right around the corner, most taxpayers will soon have their annual returns filed. I haven’t found one person who thinks they pay just the right amount of taxes to the IRS.   What if you offered the top 10% of your clients a free 1040 review to proactively look for ways to save them money next year? Better yet why not extend this to the next 10–15% of your client list? If you’re not comfortable with 1040 reviews yourself, consider partnering with a CPA or leveraging tech that generates white-label reports for you, your client, and their CPA to review together. Saving on taxes sounds a lot like “helping me achieve my financial goals,” doesn’t it?

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Newsletters, blogs, and podcasts might be interesting, but they’re often too impersonal. If you’re serious about reinforcing your value, it must be personalized to each client.

A Back-to-School Mindset for Advisors

For me, back-to-school time means new ideas, learning, and setting up fresh routines. As advisors, we can apply the same mentality to engage clients: meet them where they perceive value. As you move into the fourth quarter and gear up to close out the year, let’s embrace a little back-to-school spirit. After all, there’s always something new to learn.

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