Two years ago, lawrence Chambers began overhauling his business, Chambers Planning Services Ltd. of Gibsons, B.C., to become as much a financial coach as a financial advisor.

Two tools — one high-tech and one low-tech — allowed him to revamp his practice. By tapping the Intern
et, he found systems and software that helped him get to the root of clients’ wants and needs. In doing so, Chambers says, he differentiated his business from that of traditional advisors.

“I have never seen, heard of nor experienced any system or process that had such a significantly positive outcome for clients,” he says.

Chambers’ experience reflects that of a growing number of advisors who are using tools found on the Internet to build more satisfying client relationships. By delving into clients’ hopes, needs and values, these software and survey tools address what is truly important to clients. That, in turn, helps the advisor.

“You need to distinguish yourself in the market,” says Steve Shagrin, a fee-based financial planner in Youngstown, Ohio, who uses the Internet and his Web site (www.planningforlife.info) extensively to serve his clients. That’s why he hunts for tools to add to his practice and Web site that tell him more about his clients’ attitudes toward money and life. He looks for things that clients can do on their own or that allow him to collaborate with them to develop deeper understanding. “I want to get a better understanding of their feelings about money and the areas in which they feel they have high or low satisfaction,” he says.

Whether paper-based workbooks or online surveys, there are a number of practice and client tools that can help advisors enhance their businesses and be more competitive in the marketplace.

A 23-year industry veteran who operates under the Dundee Securities Corp. banner, Chambers was moved to change his business model when a colleague recommended that he check out Money Quotient Inc.’s online offering (www.moneyquotient.com). Money Quotient is a non-profit financial education service based in Poulsbo, Wash.

Chambers was looking to move off the commission-based model he had followed over the years and develop a more holistic approach to managing his clients’ financial needs. The latter approach was more in keeping with his personal value system.
Chambers, who holds the Canadian life underwriter and elder planning counsellor designations, believes strongly in a “balanced lifestyle and focused values” (to the point of taking a minimum of two months’ vacation each year).

“It really inspired me,” he says of Money Quotient’s series of client-centred workbooks and surveys. “I thought this was awesome, and I began to look at how I would create a business model to deliver this type of focus.”

Money Quotient trains advisors in the art of what it calls “financial life planning.” The training and tools it provides are designed to move advisors away from “transaction thinking” to “transition thinking.” Instead of focusing on products, money and financial statements, the focus shifts to helping clients understand their goals in life — and how their money fits into those goals.

Through a series of surveys, the Money Quotient system forces clients to assess what is important to them, to define from their own perspective the concept of “true wealth.” Likewise, it encourages them to pay less attention to their monthly account statements and the ups and downs of the markets. “It aligns you with your client’s vision of life,” Chambers says.

He also uses VisionWorks Life Planner, software from Vision Systems Corp. of Toronto (www.visionsystemscorp.com).
VisionWorks allows what-if planning scenarios and includes an interactive component in which clients provide their views on personal values and financial attitudes.

The costs? The initial fee for Money Quotient is US$1,500 for training to use the system.
There is an annual renewal fee of US$750 or US$1,000, depending on the level an advisor chooses. The advisor version of VisionWorks is $349.

Chambers considers it money well spent. He cites the case of one retiree who was obsessed with building a dream home and buying a motorhome. After completing the Money Quotient surveys, the client realized that the most important thing to him was taking his grandson fishing — which didn’t carry a hefty price-tag. So he shelved the plans for the dream house and decided to rent a motorhome rather than buy one.