I see a great deal of wealth managers in my working week. With every adviser firm I visit there is usually a lady or gentleman who is front of house and who greets me. Thankfully, gone are the days where an unenthused greeting attempts to welcome you onto the premises. Now, almost without exception, all the front of house staff I meet are pleasant, welcoming and offer refreshments to a parched salesman.

But seeing as ‘pleasant’ is now the norm, how are you going to stand out? What makes you different enough to remember? Where’s the WOW?

Cue mindset change.

To have an awesome front of house, you need a Managing Director of First Impressions who:

• Is always smiling and making eye contact.
• Introduces themselves with pride and a very clear idea of what they are there to do.
• Has a good, clean handshake.
• Is engaged with the rest of the staff and cheeky in an endearing way with the advisers.
• Naturally curious, finding things out about people that nobody else knew.
• Spots an anxious client immediately and makes them feel at ease.
• Remembers complicated refreshment orders.
• Sees solutions, not problems.
• Always looking for ways to collate marketing collateral for the firm, testimonials (written and video), sensitively asks for google reviews and referrals.
• Understands the vision of the firm and contributes daily to achieving it.
• Believes in the boss and what the firm is trying to achieve.
• Lives the brand.
• Can chat easily with all spectrums of society no matter what their story is.
• Always ready to go the extra mile.
• Shows initiative at every turn.
• Knows the rules and when it makes sense to break them.
• Can handle the paperwork as well as the people.
• A volunteer.
• Covers the backs of the team.
• Popular with everyone.

Finding and keeping this person is like finding the proverbial hen’s teeth but in a world where pleasant is normal, nothing less than hen’s teeth will do.

Hat tip to Chris Barrow who made me embed this in my business.