Your 2 year old baby is ill. You are new to the city and do not know much about the local doctors. Your heartthrob has not had anything since 24 hrs and you have to take him to a doctor. On googling, you get 3 options in your area; Dr Anil Karmakar, MBBS, DCH, MD (PED.), Dr Sunil Pandey, MBBS and Dr Ajay Bhatia, MBBS, MD (Ortho). Which of the above will you go to see? The obvious answer would be Dr Karmakar, who is a specialist in child health, and not Dr Pandey, who hasn't obtained any other specialisation or Dr Bhatia, who is a specialist in Orthopedics. Similarly, when someone is looking to consult an advisor for his hard earned money, whom would he approach? A B.Com graduate or a B.Com graduate with a CFP or a CWM certification? The answer is simple, the person will choose the latter, because he is a specialist in the field.

A certification attached to the name of an advisor creates an impression in the mind of the client even before meeting him personally, and as they say "First impression is the Last impression". So in order to make a lasting first impression, it is very important to acquire knowledge and certifications which will make you a specialist in your domain.

In the modern day competition, you have to go an extra mile to stand out of the crowd. You need to gain knowledge and keep yourself updated with the latest developments in the advisory field. And certifications will help you renovate your knowledge and skill repository. There are various institutions offering numerous courses and certifications for financial advisors. And each of these courses involve time and money. There are courses which cover financial advisory on the whole and then there are specialised courses which focus on specific areas like estate planning, retirement management courses, etc. You have to pick and choose the right fit according to your expertise and target areas.

Following are a few certifications which you can pursue to enhance your knowledge and name:

NISM VA-Mutual Fund Distributor Certification Examination: It is a mandatory exam for anyone who want to make a career in the mutual fund industry to take this exam. The objective of the exam is to familiarize the candidate with the basics of mutual funds. It is conducted by NISM, which is the regulating body of Mutual Funds in India. Hence, for any advisor the first step is to acquaint himself himself with the fundamentals of Mutual Funds, take and pass the NISM VA-Mutual Fund Distributor Certification Examination exam and become an advisor.

Just like an MBBS is not enough for a doctor, he needs a masters degree to enhance his knowledge and gain recognition. Likewise, an NISM VA-Mutual Fund Distributor Certification Examination exam is not enough, you need to enhance your knowledge through further certifications.

CFP^CM: A Certified Financial Planner certification is the most prestigious accreditation in the field of financial advisory and financial planning. CFP^CM is a trademark of specialisation in personal finance for individuals and small businesses. This course is accepted and recognised worldwide and FPSB India awards the CFP^CM certification in India through an agreement with FPSB Ltd. You must fulfill the following criteria for this certification:

• You must be 12th pass at the time of enrollment and must pass the 5 module CFP^CM Certification Education Program through an Authorized Education Partner and pass corresponding Exam 1-4 facilitated by NSE.
• Pass the CFP^CM Exam, which demonstrates that you possess the required level of competency to apply your knowledge to real life financial planning situations.
• Either Pre or Post CFP^CM examination(3 Years for Graduates & 5 Years for Non-Graduates)
• After meeting the above criteria, you must agree to abide by FPSB India's Code of Ethics and Rules of Professional Conduct, Practice Standards and Disciplinary Rules and Procedures.
• Once Certified, you must fulfill the Continuous Education requirement to stay current on Financial Planning strategies, products and trends affecting their clients. This will help you keep yourself abreast of the developments in the Financial Planning field.

CWM: The Chartered Wealth Manager Certification is the only Wealth Management Certification in India and is the most prestigious and internationally accepted Wealth Management Certification. This course aims to polish your wealth management skills as required by the industry and focuses on Investment Strategies, Life Cycle Management, Intergenerational Wealth Transfer, Relationship Management, Behavioral Finance, Alternative Products, Real Estate Valuation and Global Taxation. This certification is provided by the American Academy of Financial Management^TM.

In India, the ultra High Net Worth population is growing, and therefore the need for Chartered Wealth Managers is also growing. Wealth Management is one of the fastest growing and highly paid careers. The course helps advisors to to gain in depth knowledge of advising HNIs and ultra HNIs on managing, growing and transferring their wealth. Registration Pathways:

• Compulsory Pathway: The eligibility criterion to register through Compulsory Pathway is that the candidate must have passed minimum 12 Standard.
• Experience Pathway: The eligibility criterion to register through Experience Pathway is that the candidate must have passed Graduation with 3 years of minimum work experience.

CTEP: The Chartered Trust and Estate PlannerTM focuses on Estate and Trust Planning. This course deals with all the aspects of Estate Planning and Trust Planning like Asset Protection, Intergenerational Wealth Transfer, Succession Planning, Creation of Trusts, Trust Management, International Trust Structures, Philanthropic Planning, Cross Border Estate Planning, Maintenance of Dependents and Estate Tax Planning issues Globally. The participants get in depth view of Wills, Power of Attorneys and Succession Laws etc.

So, in our example you wanted to go and see a Child specialist for your 2 year old baby. Similarly, if someone is looking forward to transfer his huge estate to his heirs, he would choose an advisor who has a CTEP certification. So, if Trust and estate planning is your cup of tea, so it is wise to perfect your skills by going for this certification.Succession and inheritance laws are very complicated in India and people are moving in the direction of availing professional services for the same in order to avoid complications later. Therefore the need for CTEPs are on the increase. This course is certified by AAFM India.

We, at NJ offer comprehensive training programmes for the above courses in addition to the basic trainings. We assist you in the registration process, provide detailed course material, practice questions and classroom trainings. NJ aims to create a force of quality financial advisors who possess the right knowledge to offer the excellent advisory services.

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Do you often wonder, “why my client is not happy in spite of putting in my best?”

At times there are evident circumstances when you have not been able to deliver results and stand up to his expectations, but at times the client simply wants to switch to another advisor without any visible reason, leaving you wonder what went wrong.

The gap between what you are offering and what he is looking forward to, is the answer to your question.

The clients have various reasons to do so, which we do not recognize. The most common causes are listed as follows:

Mistakes: If you have committed mistakes in handling your clients' investments, it goes against professional standards. You tend to forget or overlook things about the client which might not be material for you but he is sensitive to. Even if you rectify the mistakes, repeated errors create a negative image of yours in the mind of your client. The investor entrusts you with his personal data and improper handling of the same leads to loss of trust.

Lack of like mindedness: The client is looking to hear what he believes in. A mismatch in personality can also lead to loss of clientele. The client might have a conservative approach and you are the one who believes in maximum wealth creation by investing in equities for a long term. Or because dissimilar outlook, you two are not able to strike a conversation. Your ideals do not match and therefore the client walks away.

Not sounding concerned: If you seem to place your product before the customer's goals, even if the product is best suited for him, he would stop believing in you. Your words should be carefully chosen and should convey that you are genuinely interested in his needs and goals. You should be all ears when he speaks. At any point you should not give the impression of diverting from your basic goal: Customer Satisfaction.

Overcommitment: Customers do not like advisors who overcommit and then underperform. Since no one knows for sure how will the investments fare, it is better to play safe. You can use historical performance as an illustration to market the product, you can narrate the strong fundamentals. But promising a certain percentage of future returns even when the markets are going good can put you in a fix if the winds change their direction.

Performance: This is an obvious reason for a dissatisfied client. The client would not want his portfolio to be a consistent underperformer. There are bad times in the market and all portfolios are bound to fall, though at different accelerations and there are good times, when the portfolios are supposed to rise. If the client is not able to make money even in good times, then there is a problem with his portfolio. So, you should stick to fundamentals of good investment while devising his portfolio.

Promptness: When the markets fall, your clients lose money and they are bound to panic. They need their advisor the most at this point, and the advisor doesn't respond to his calls or mails. At times, the advisors are so busy with their newer clients, that they lose touch with the existing ones. They do not call and are late in responding to calls or forget to call back at all. There are situations when you are targeting a lead, and he told you he would call back and doesn't call or call back too late at his ease. You don't feel too good about it, your client is also in a similar situation. So always be prompt in responding to your clients, make it a point to respond to calls or mails within a fixed time, say 2 hours. You will build a genuine image of yours in the mind of the client.

Communication Gap: This is another prominent cause which diverts the clients from you. You are trying to convey something and the client receives something else. You do not understand what the client wants and devise a plan which is totally of track. Quality and Quantity of communication matters in advisory role. You must make sure that he receives what you intend to give and vice versa. The client may not tell you directly but you have to understand from his gestures, you have to read his mind to be his perfect advisor.

A financial advisor is a friend for life. Your relationship with the client can last a lifetime if you do it right, try to avoid the mistakes as narrated above while dealing with your clients. Your client can take losses but he certainly can't take negligence, lack of responsiveness and communication and inefficiency on your part.

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Out of India's total perimeter of 15,200 km, almost half is bordered by the sea, and our country has a number of beautiful beaches and landscapes, yet Goa is the boss, when it comes to beachside New Year's celebration. Ever wondered why? It is because of the unique feel good factor it extends to the visitors, which none does. Goa's culture encompasses it's clubs, clean beaches, the latest fashion, great seafood, water sports, the sunburn festival, and collectively it draws tourists from not just India but from the world into 'the Goan spirit'. This feel good factor or the Goan spirit is the Unique Selling Proposition of Goa.

Simply put, your USP is a set of your unique characteristics which places you one step up from your peers.

When you meet a prospective client for the first time, how do you introduce yourself?

Hi, I am ABC, I am a financial advisor
Or
Hi, I am ABC, I am a Wealth creator. I advise and help people achieve their financial goals

The latter creates an impact and an impression that you are someone who is different from the rest and can help the audience achieve their financial goals.

There are people and companies who create a USP, by offering their products and services at cheaper prices; for them price is a factor which creates their USP. Amazon and Flipkart can compete by selling cheaper products in the Big Billion Days or the Great Indian Festival, but an advisor cannot sell his services at cheaper prices, you have to think out of the box and create a USP, which will help you stand out of the crowd.

Why should you create a USP?
The answer to this is a question: Why should someone do business with you?

This means that there should be something irresistible in you, so that your clients are drawn towards you and not your competitors. You must dispense an aura which makes your client call you for his financial planning and not the advisor who lives in his society. For creating such a situation, you must must identify, develop and propagate yourself as a package that makes you different from others.

How to create a USP?
Now, since you are ready with creating your USP, you must keep in mind the following two tips:

• The Unique proposition is not for you, it is meant to appeal to the clients, so whatever you come up with should eventually be for client's benefit.
• In our business, since everyone is selling the same product, you might not have something unique but can definitely differentiate the ordinary to make it extraordinary.

To build your USP, you may proceed as follows:

Identify your strengths and best qualities: Every individual is unique, you have to explore and bring out that exclusivity from within. It is observed that this unique factor is guided by your special qualities, interests and passion. List down the facts that describe you. It can be your education, certifications, background, hobbies, experience, interests, personality traits, etc.

Club your qualities to arrive at your USP: Clubbing together your qualities will give you that simple dominant factor that makes your clients wanting to be your clients. It may be a result 10 other attributes, but it is this one special combination which makes you distinct from the others. If you are someone who likes to socialise, one who is inquisitive and likes to gain knowledge from various sources and share his knowledge on random subjects with random people and the icing on the cake in you have a diploma in wealth management, then these attributes of yours can bring out your USP as you are the one who has deep subject knowledge and is good at explaining the technicalities of financial products to people.

Reality Check: After coming up with a USP, check if you will be able to live with it? It should not be old and it should not be changed. You cannot cannot come up with a new USP with every change in the financial industry. Having said that, your USP must fit in with every new aspect of your profession. If you are banking on technology, then continuously updating technology should be the constant factor. You must analyse if the USP that you have selected is the best for you. Before finalizing the USP, you may do a self check, or consult your friends and acquaintances, or check with your clients, to gauge its sustainability.

Communicating your USP: Although you might not directly narrate to your clients that this is my USP, yet it should be communicated to them, through your actions. Your marketing techniques should always revolve around your USP, your banners, your logo, your tagline, your introduction, your expressions, should always revolve around your USP. You must have seen the Ad of Chings, their tag line is Desi Chinese, and their commercials are based on the same theme. The Ad makes it crystal clear that they offer Chinese food items, yet the spices and flavours are Indian.

So, once are set with your Unique Selling Proposition, go ahead and make the world follow you.

"In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different" - Coco Chanel

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