We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tyler Jones BFA, FIC a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tyler, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
It was a Saturday morning in Nevada. The sky was clear, and it was early enough for us to hike without experiencing the scorching desert sun. We were supporting a non-profit that organizes bike rides and hikes to raise funds for people affected by PTSD. Of course, as people naturally converse on these rides and hikes, we saw it as a perfect opportunity for forming new relationships. Once the usual icebreakers were answered, the inevitable question would always pop up:
“So, what do you do?”
Back in the day, it was common for people in our industry to have an “elevator pitch.” You have 30 seconds to grab someone’s attention in a unique way by having a few sentences perfectly crafted and memorized. Your words should be so exceptionally woven together, people have no choice but to want to meet with you right then and there because of your enchanting words so eloquently flowing from your lips.
Our team believes in being transparent with people from the get-go. So, when a man on the hike asked me, “What do you do?” I responded with our team’s agreed-upon answer:
“I’m a financial advisor.”
Simple. To the point. No speech. No enchanting words. Just the truth.
By keeping our answer short and to the point, we can first be quiet, and second, listen. By awaiting people’s responses, we can better understand their attitude toward financial services. And typically, based on their response, we’re usually able to determine if they are someone that we’d be in a position to serve.
After telling this person what I do, I knew that he likely wouldn’t be someone that wanted to work with me based on his initial response.
He immediately began speaking about his investments and asking me questions specific to his stocks.
I quickly shared with him that I can’t make any recommendations to anyone until I understand their whole financial picture. I explained to him that everyone’s situation is unique, and I wasn’t in a position to provide good financial advice without first sitting down with him to understand his overall goals and risk tolerance.
When some people hear “financial advisor” they tend to think “stock jockeys”. Like the man on my hike, some people only want to talk about investments and what the hottest stock pick of the day is, without realizing there is so much more to personal finances. Additionally, some professionals in the financial services industry are primarily focused on gathering as many assets as possible to manage under one roof. Other than diversifying a portfolio and asset rebalancing, there typically is no talk of important financial fundamentals such as emergency savings, budgeting and long-term planning. Our team takes into consideration a person’s entire financial picture as well as their goals and motivations, which we believe differentiates us in the industry.
While investments can be a piece of the overall puzzle of financial planning, it’s only an element of someone’s plan. Our clients know that our mission is to guide them on establishing good habits – ones that help them achieve financial clarity, enabling them to live with more meaning and gratitude. Our primary focus is to help them build a holistic strategy that aligns with their values and meets their unique needs.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Our team is the Zion Financial Group of Thrivent, a Fortune 500 financial services organization that offers advice, insurance, investments, banking and generosity programs and solutions to clients nationwide. At Zion Financial Group, our main goal throughout the planning process with clients is to help answer some of their most important questions, such as:
- When can I retire?
- Am I saving enough money to retire?
- What is the best age to file for Social Security?
- What is my plan for long-term care?
- What will happen to my family and the causes I care about when I am gone?
What sets us apart is illustrated in our Nevada story. Our team uses a process to ensure all of the proper pieces have been put in place to build a comprehensive plan. This process cannot be completed by just talking about one piece, such as investments, for example. While these financial planning conversations are important to have, we find that more often than not, life gets busy and it’s easy to put them on the back burner. Our team starts with a one-year commitment where we guide our clients through these vital conversations and help them implement the most important strategies that pertain to their situation.
This process became real when our team had a courageous conversation with one of our clients who was quickly approaching retirement. It was a discussion that required an uncomfortable talk about life insurance. Life Insurance! Exciting stuff, right? Our analysis highly recommended a simple 10-year term policy for the client in the event he passed away before his retirement date. Of course, we also discussed investments, trusts, tax efficiencies, and more. After a few weeks of conversations, he agreed to put the policy in place. Fast forward about two years later to when our team received a phone call from the client. What we thought was going to be a short conversation about reviewing his investments turned into a conversation with one word we will never forget.
Glioblastoma.
Although extremely rare, our client and now friend had been diagnosed with this malignant tumor and only gave him a few years to live. Immediately, our team reminded him about the life insurance we had put in place just two years earlier, the same policy with a rider that allowed him to receive the majority of his death benefit, tax-free, while he was still alive so he could enjoy his time with his family instead of worrying about medical bills and financial concerns.
This experience, although focusing on life insurance, is one that our team has deeply embedded in our minds. Our client was able to share his story in Thrivent’s quarterly magazine and allowed our team to share his story with the general public. His story is a reminder of the importance that our planning process can provide for our clients and their loved ones when they need it most.
In addition to this process, we are also a financial firm that believes in the power of generosity. This component is not a forced one, but one of the reasons our clients come to us. At Thrivent, we believe that humanity thrives when people are able to make the most of all they’ve been given. How to give, when to give and the best ways to give are all topics discussed and encouraged throughout our client meetings. Ultimately, it’s our goal to help clients give back with their time, treasures and talents to the organizations they’re most passionate about.
This holistic and purpose-based approach is what we believe makes our practice stand out from others in the industry.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Our team deeply believes this to be true. As a result, we are always eager to roll up our sleeves and serve alongside our clients and individuals in our community who are passionate about giving back. Our motto here Zion Financial Group of Thrivent is, “Live Generously.” We believe that being generous can also mean giving back with your time and talents. We have had so many positive experiences meeting new clients while serving alongside them at various community events, such as a food packing event or a backpack drive helping underserved children.
As financial advisors, there are many fiscal concepts we must be well-versed in; however, if we had every single piece of financial information memorized (and we don’t), but no one to share it with, all of this information would be rendered useless. Therefore, we believe if we can stand shoulder to shoulder with people who are aiming to live purposefully, we can be assured our values line up with theirs. We also hope they see that our team truly cares about serving others and making a positive difference for our clients and the communities they live and work.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One of the main lessons we had to unlearn was the old axiom, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” The biggest problem with this saying, as business owners, is the fact that we do not have the time to wear all of the different hats that come with owning a business. I used to believe that hustling and doing everything ourselves as advisors was a way to keep business expenses low and the best way to serve our clients. This meant we were sending email reminders, requesting documents, updating our schedules, sending out monthly newsletters, and handwriting birthday cards, too. Although these tasks are not difficult by themselves, we quickly found ourselves spending too much time running the mechanics of the business as opposed to spending our time advising clients on their finances.
Enter in: Shannon Fellows, our office professional.
Shannon is a vital team member and has been extremely organized from day one. She enjoys doing the administration essentials needed to run an effective practice. Better yet, she has implemented processes that are far better than what we had originally put in place at the infancy stage of our business! Her unique skill set has allowed our team to focus more on providing those holistic financial plans our clients expect us to create for them. Unlearning this individualistic lesson, many of us were taught as kids was a tough one, that is until we learned a new lesson after several years of running the practice ourselves: “If you aren’t good at something, find someone who is good at it and partner with them.”
Isn’t this what makes a good team, “good?” We strive to use every team member’s unique talents and capabilities so that we can better serve our clients. One lesson we hope business owners can learn from our experience is to find a team member like Shannon Fellows, because, let’s face it, we can’t be good at everything – nor do we have the time to do so.
When you unleash team members to walk in their purpose, your business will most likely succeed. Therefore, we propose business owners learn a new axiom:
“If you want something done right, partner with someone who does it better than yourself.” This can help ensure you’re creating an atmosphere where your employees and clients are equipped to thrive.
About Thrivent
Thrivent is a diversified financial services organization that helps people achieve financial clarity, enabling lives full of meaning and gratitude. Thrivent and its subsidiary and affiliate companies serve more than 2.3 million clients, offering advice, insurance, investments, banking and generosity products and programs over the phone, online as well as through financial professionals and independent agents nationwide. Thrivent is a Fortune 500 company with $189 billion in assets under management/advisement (as of 12/31/21). Thrivent carries ratings from independent rating agencies which demonstrate the strength and stability of the organization, including an A++ rating from AM Best; an Aa2 rating from Moody’s Investors Service; and an AA+ rating from S&P Global Ratings. Ratings are based on Thrivent’s financial strength and claims-paying ability, but do not apply to investment product performance. For information on these ratings, visit the rating agency’s website. For more information about Thrivent, visit our website or find us on Facebook and Twitter .
Thrivent is the marketing name for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Insurance products issued by Thrivent. Not available in all states. Securities and investment advisory services offered through Thrivent Investment Management Inc., a registered investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC, and a subsidiary of Thrivent. Licensed agent/producer of Thrivent. Registered representative of Thrivent Investment Management Inc. Thrivent.com/disclosures.
Insurance products, securities and investment advisory services are provided by appropriately appointed and licensed financial advisors and professionals. Only individuals who are financial advisors are credentialed to provide investment advisory services. Visit Thrivent.com or FINRA’s BrokerCheck for more information about our financial advisors.
Contact Info:
- Website: Thrivent.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivent/