CPA Team Based Model™
Why The “CPA Team Based Model” Is the Future of Financial Planning!
And How You Can Take Advantage of It
There’s never been a better time to be a Financial Advisor. With the right model,
advisors are positioned to be more profitable and efficient while spending less on
marketing.
These opportunities come despite two game-changing threats to the industry;
loss of trust and changing technology.
Trust
Loss of trust relates directly to highly publicized scandals--Madoff and Belford,
among others. It reflects public concern with the slow recovery following the
2008 economic crash and the failure of giants like AIG and Lehman Brothers.
Financial Advisors’ credibility and trustworthiness are reported at an all time low
(financialplanneronline.com, May 2013).
Technology
Potential clients are turning to other and
new sources to meet their financial needs.
Consider the creation of companies like
Mint.com, which has grown from 1.7 million
users to 13 million users in the last few
years, millions of people are getting their
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CPA Team Based Model™
“planning” done by the click of a mouse. Websites such as those by Fidelity, ETrade, Charles Schwab, among many, bring financial services directly to clients'
homes and provide services once the province of Financial Advisors.
A New Model
Wait, didn’t we say “there’s never been a BETTER time to be a Financial Advisor?"
To see why, take a step out of the profession's old bubble or comfort zone.
Examine the finance industry as a whole. We are not the only professionals in the
midst of an industry change. And therein lies a new path.
CPA Challenges and Opportunities
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants put it this way, “a CPA is no
longer defined by traditional services such as tax preparation, audits, and financial
statements” (CPA Horizons 2025).
CPAs are now expected to handle:
• Retirement planning
• Social security distributions
• Qualified plan distributions
• Complex income tax mitigation
CPAs face public and private expectations to address dozens of other matters that
they are traditionally not equipped to handle. In a survey published in April 2014,
The Sleeter Group found that 76% of people now believe their CPA is NOT
proactive enough in helping them plan!
So how should CPAs handle this changing landscape? Potential actions pose
dilemmas:
• Refer their clients to third parties and lose control of the planning
• Do nothing and hope their clients don’t leave them
• Become a jack of all trades and TRY to do EVERYTHING themselves
Opportunity
In Blue Ocean Strategy, the authors examine ways that individuals and companies
can succeed not by battling competitors in crowded markets of bloody red
oceans, but rather by creating blue oceans of uncontested market space.
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CPA Team Based Model™
At Elite Resource Team, we believe the shifts in the
financial industry have created a tremendous opportunity
for a “blue ocean," strategy that unlocks new demand and
makes the competition irrelevant.
How do we use the industry changes of trust and
technology as well as the changing expectations faced by
CPAs to our advantage? Here's how some in the industry
continue to march along:
1. Stay the course! In other words, keep:
• Buying leads
• Doing public seminars
• Buying radio advertisements
• Asking for client referrals
This may work, at least for a while, but just realize that you’ll have to keep doing
more and more for less and less. There’s got to be a smarter and more efficient
way to use your time than endless marketing to cold prospects who may not even
be qualified to be your client.
2. Get referrals from other professionals, especially CPAs. This is a better option
for you as a Financial Advisor, but what’s in it for the CPA? They:
• Expose themselves to more risk
• Lose control of their clients
• Have to manage new relationships with service providers
• Miss an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competition
What “CPA referral programs” don’t teach is how to truly work on the same team
as the CPA in a way that everything you do makes them look better in the eyes of
their clients and builds strong bonds with you.
Rather than trying to get referrals from CPAs--or worse, fighting CPAs for their
clients’ trust--why don’t Financial Advisors just leverage the trust that already
exists between CPAs and their client, WHILE simultaneously giving clients exactly
what they want, more proactive CPAs?
The CPA Team Based Model
By using the CPA Team Based Model, a perfect partnership is born. Financial
Advisors, along with their teams, can provide services that CPA clients need but
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CPA Team Based Model™
are not receiving. Likewise, CPAs can use their existing client relationship and
trust to provide a platform for the solutions to be executed by the Financial
Advisor in an efficient and holistic manner.
The key is to focus on building a value-based
relationship with CPAs, rather than being obsessed by
the number of transactions you can complete with their
clients.
Win/Win/Win
When CPAs become your client, and you help them
deliver more value to their clients, you create a
win/win/win relationship.
Let’s explore this from each party’s perspective:
Financial Advisor
The CPA Team Based Model allows a Financial Advisor to:
• Work with qualified prospects with the backing of their CPAs
• Increase revenue by working on a higher volume of larger cases
• Increase closing ratio with CPA’s support
• Increase efficiency by utilizing leverage (one CPA often has over 500 clients)
• Reduce marketing costs as a result of a constant flow of cases
Consider the math:
Average CPA = 500 clients
66% have retirement plans = 330 planning opportunities
Average retirement plan = $143k (Vanguard Study)
One CPA = 330 X $143k = $47m
4 CPA relationships = $47m X 4 = $188m of potential leveraged assets!
How much it would cost to host dinner seminars or buy cold leads to generate
$188 million in potential leveraged assets? And that’s only retirement plans. What
about the other revenue generating activities such as life insurance, key man
policies, tax mitigation plans, etc?
CPAs
This model allows CPAs to:
• Reduce the risk of losing their best clients
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CPA Team Based Model™
• Provide more value and increase client satisfaction
• Expand their brain-trust
• Increase organic growth by giving their clients a unique story to tell
CPA Clients
This model has numerous upsides for clients, including:
• One point of contact for all of their financial needs
• CPA remains their “quarterback” overseeing the planning process
• Truly holistic and comprehensive solutions
• Top-notch results coming from some of the best experts in the country
That’s why this is the win/win/win solution for financial planning!
Conclusion
The CPA Team Based Model allows you to become the “go-to person” to the “goto person.” By doing this, you stop competing against other Financial Advisors for
clients, and position your practice to take advantage of the industry shifts.
It really comes down to a choice, do you want more of the same or are you
ready for a change?
If you would like to learn more about the CPA Team Based Model, feel free to
contact us at 888.626.9672, or join us on an upcoming webinar. Visit
www.EliteRT.com for additional information.
We hope to see you in the blue ocean,
Anton Anderson
© All Rights Reserved Elite Resource Team™ - 2014
Kenneth Smith, RFC
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CPA Team Based Model™
Elite Resource Team Founders
With over 32 years of combined financial planning experience, Ken Smith and Anton
Anderson joined forces to build Elite Resource Team. Since 2010 they have specialized
in working with CPAs and attorneys, and used their experience to create an FMO with
one goal in mind: Build a first-class organization that helps Financial Advisors stay
ahead of the industry curve by working with CPAs and attorneys in a proven and
efficient system.
Kenneth Smith, RFC
Ken began his career in 1993 working with Lincoln National.
He graduated from Tampa College with a degree in
Management and Marketing. After starting his own financial
advisory firm in 1994, his focus shifted to financial planning
with a tax mitigation emphasis. In 2003, he developed an
expertise in tax efficient retirement planning, which allowed
him to maintain his position in the top 1% of all financial
professionals. In total, he qualified in the top 1% for 18
straight years of his career. In 2010 he accepted the fact that
there was a dramatic change going on in the financial
planning industry and began working with CPAs and
attorneys. He resides in Laguna Hills, CA with his wife Fariba.
Outside of work, he enjoys church and working out.
Anton Anderson
Anton began his career in 2003 with Smith Barney while
studying business. He graduated from the University of
California, Santa Barbara in the top 3 percent of his class.
He has developed a diverse and valuable financial
background as an investor and advisor. Anton is a published
author, and has lived in the United States, Australia, and the
United Kingdom. He currently resides in San Diego, CA with
his wife Sophie. Outside of work, he is a competitive surfer,
writer, and public speaker, and is involved in numerous
charitable organizations. He is also an active member of San
Diego Social Venture Partners, as well as STAR (Strategic
Trusted Advisors Roundtable).
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