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The Admired Advisor Podcast

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Doing Things Differently, Teachable Moments, and the Need for Nice with Eric Lansford

Dec 27, 2021

Most investors play the long game. Rather than worrying about an ROI tomorrow, they hold with confidence, knowing their gains will be greater the longer they hold steady. Eric’s approach to his firm is much the same. Rather than focusing on immediate client ROI, Eric spends weeks getting to know each client before diving into their financial specifics. 

Beginning his career at Norwest/Wells Fargo in 1994, Eric soon realized that large corporations weren’t a great fit. Fortunately, he met another advisor who recruited him to Sound Financial Strategies. There, Eric was allowed to do things differently and place clients before immediate financial gain. The firm continued to grow until eventually the IRA Sound Financial Investments was born. 

In this episode, Steve and Eric discuss Eric’s client-centric approach, thinking big picture, and why a comprehensive strategy is the secret ingredient to financial success. 

 

Key Takeaways

  • [00:56] - About Eric and Sound Financial Investments.
  • [01:34] - How Sound Financial is structured. 
  • [02:23] - Where Eric got his start. 
  • [04:45] - Eric’s goal for the first client interaction. 
  • [09:49] - How to interpret a client’s answers. 
  • [15:13] - When Eric brings money into the conversation. 
  • [18:30] - Eric’s charge policy and what he looks for in potential clients.
  • [21:35] - The most common client concern. 
  • [24:07] - Eric’s ideal client. 
  • [31:22] - How Eric finds clients. 
  • [33:45] - How Eric stays educated. 
  • [35:45] - Eric’s closing thoughts. 

 

Quotes

[07:44] - “It’s not about a pot of money so to speak. You're much more than that. I need to get to know Steve as a human being, to know when you want to retire, how you want to retire.” ~ Eric Lansford

[19:18] - “The number one prerequisite that I’m looking for in a person for me to work with is, you have to be nice.” ~ Eric Lansford

[33:59] - “Focus in on one or two areas that you do really well and just blow that up. And then hire support people behind you that are going to take care of the other pieces.” ~ Eric Lansford

[35:51] - “The client sitting in front of you is more than just a pot of money. There is no, ‘what is your number?’ The mathematical formulas of wealth = money x rate x time — yeah in an ideal world or a perfect world works out. But in the real world, it doesn’t. So it’s ‘how do we take this asset, how do we take this product, this piece of your financial life, and combine it with two or three other things, and make it work wonderfully.’” ~ Eric Lansford

 

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