Where to Find Coaching as a Financial Advisor

You want to scale your business and become the advisor prospective clients line up for, but you’re unsure how to achieve your goals. Maybe you’ve heard about coaching for financial advisors, and are wondering how it may benefit you. Coaching can help you clarify your business objectives, position your firm to attract and retain more clients, and achieve a better work-life balance. The key is finding the right coach to work with.

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7 Places to Find Coaching for Financial Advisors

Financial advisor coaching may be a click or a phone call away, it all depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re starting from square one, here are some of the best places to look for coaching services to help you grow.

1. CFP® Board

The CFP® Board oversees the Certified Financial Planner™ examination and credentialing process. If you specifically need coaching in preparation for taking the CFP® exam, you can connect with a Board-approved mentor.

CFP® mentors can help you develop a study plan and offer support as you prepare to sit for the exam. CFP® Board mentoring is free; you’ll just need to create an online profile to search for a Certified Financial Planner™ to work with.

2. Financial Planning Association (FPA)

The Financial Planning Association offers career advancement training and resources, including the opportunity to connect with coaching services. Barbara Kay Coaching (BKC), for example, is designed for financial planning individuals and teams who want to realize their vision of career success.

If you’re not an FPA member, you may consider joining to take advantage of the association’s resources and networking opportunities.

3. National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)

The NAPFA Mentor Engage program connects advisors who need career guidance and business development advice with experienced mentors. Access to this program is included with your NAPFA membership, so you would need to join to take advantage of the program, if you haven’t already done so.

Mentors are NAPFA members themselves and bring their unique experience and knowledge to the table. You can search for mentors with a background similar to yours or that fit any other qualifications you might be looking for, and coordinate the details of your mentor-mentee relationship together.

4. International Coaching Federation (ICF)

Financial advisors getting coaching tips from another advisor.

The International Coaching Federation is not specific to the financial services industry, but advisors can use this resource to find a coach to work with. You can get coaching as an individual or for your organization as a whole.

When you’re ready to find a coach, you can use the ICF’s Credentialed Coach Finder tool to conduct your search. You can filter by credential level, services offered, experience, demographics and other factors to narrow down the list of potential candidates.

5. Networking and Social Media

Your network can be an invaluable tool when you need coaching for financial advisors. You may know an advisor or two who has undergone the coaching process, or who offers coaching and mentoring services to other advisors.

Go through your contacts and consider who may be able to connect you with a coach. Once you have a few people you want to reach out to, send a short email asking if they have someone they might refer you to.

You could also post about your search on social media if you’re comfortable doing so. For example, you might share on LinkedIn that you’re looking for an experienced business coach. Or you could search LinkedIn for coaching professionals with the type of experience you’re looking for and reach out to see if they’re taking on new clients.

6. Financial Advisor Conferences

Attending financial advisor conferences can help you broaden your network and stay up to date on the latest industry trends. Participating in conferences is also another way to find advisor coaching services.

Scan the list of guest speakers and discussion panels to look for topics that may be relevant to coaching. A business development roundtable, for instance, could offer a chance to mingle with potential mentoring or coaching candidates.

7. Online Search

A simple search could help you find coaches that offer services online or in your local area. You may choose to work with an individual or a coaching firm. Oechsli, for example, is a top search result for financial advisor coaching services.

Here are a few terms you might use to generate results:

Financial advisor coaching services near me
Where to find a coach for financial advisors
Business coaching near me
Online financial advisor coaching services
Coaching services for financial advisors

Once you have some results, it’s time to do your research. A coach’s website can tell you quite a bit about who they are, what they do and whether they may be a good fit for your business.

Ask these questions to evaluate them:

Does the coach hold any professional certifications or designations that make them uniquely qualified to offer coaching services?
Are financial advisors their typical clients, or do they work with a broad range of professionals who need coaching?
How long have they been offering coaching services?
What specific coaching services do they provide?
What is their coaching philosophy or style?
How do they communicate with their coaching clients? For example, will you only meet virtually or is there an opportunity to complete coaching face to face?
What resources, if any, do they provide to coaching clients? For example, will you have access to an online learning portal, videos, textbooks or other tools?
What do they charge for their services?
Will you need to sign a contract to become a coaching client? If so, does the contract offer any type of satisfaction guarantee or allow either of you to terminate the coaching relationship at any time?
What do they expect from their coaching clients regarding accountability and reporting?

Look for testimonials from current or previous clients on their website. You can also search review websites and the Better Business Bureau for mentions of the coach and their services. You may even want to check with your state’s attorney general’s office to see if any complaints have been filed against a coach.

Remember to trust your instincts throughout this process. A coach may have all the right credentials and say all the right things, but if they don’t meet your needs or you have a gut feeling they aren’t the right coach for you, you might want to look elsewhere for help.

Bottom Line

A financial advisor reading notes from a coach.

Coaching can prove immensely helpful for financial advisors who feel stuck in a rut or need an outside perspective on advancing their business goals. If you’re ready to find a coach to work with, you can start your search with the options we’ve shared above.

Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business

One piece of advice a coach may offer is to build out your digital footprint. Working on search engine optimization (SEO), creating social media content and building your email newsletter list are all ways to increase your visibility online. You could also consider partnering with an advisor marketing platform to expand your reach. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service that financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
When choosing a coach, consider how many other clients they currently work with. If a coach has a lengthy client list, it’s possible that you may not get as much one-on-one time as you’d like. A coach who only serves a few clients at a time, on the other hand, may be able to devote more of their focus to your needs.