The Whole Truth Podcast for Financial Professionals

Explore the challenges and opportunities that financial professionals face today. With interviews from clients, subject matter experts and other industry professionals, The Whole Truth strives to be timely, actionable and concise with a promise to always leave on a high note.

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The Whole Truth Podcast Episodes

Financial professionals today are running even more complicated businesses with increasing amounts of products and technology. The way things were done 10-20 years ago just doesn't work anymore. That’s where Touchstone comes in.

70 Top Flashbacks From 2023

Join us for Highlights, Ideas and Farewells. Hear from our guests as we reflect on some of the major learnings from 2023 including topics on Growth, Execution, Client Reviews, Investments and Talent.

69 High Difficulty, High Reward with Michael Futterman

Michael Futterman - coach, speaker, EQ enthusiast and founder of Type Two Fun Consulting, joined the podcast to share how his experiences as an Outward Bound Instructor, Kolbe guru and 20+ years in financial services helped shape his process which emphasizes essential strategies for beating complacency and accomplishing difficult tasks.

68 Live at Barron’s Advisor 100 Summit!

Get the inside track on some of the fascinating topics that are covered during the Barron’s Advisor 100 Summit. Take a listen to discover what you might be missing out on if you weren’t there!

67 Advisor Catnip and Re-Thinking Referrals

Hear how Touchstone veterans Matt Campbell and Kurt Dupuis use "advisor catnip," aka creative Q&A to keep in mind when working with financial professionals. Referral guru, Stacey Brown Randall, joins to discuss her remarkably unique perspective on the referral process, from generating leads to nurturing and ultimately converting them.

66 This or That? Decisions….Decisions…

Dan Sullivan of “Internal Use Only” podcast returns to “The Whole Truth” to explore a variety of decisions one may encounter when working in financial services. We also debate both sides of the coin: Wholesaler or Financial Professional?

65 How is Artificial Intelligence Changing Investment Business?

Tom Trentman of Sands Capital Management returns to the podcast to explain how artificial intelligence is having its “smartphone moment” that is disrupting the investment management business.

64 Principles of Persuasion & Financial Services Marketing Today & Beyond

In this packed episode, we are first joined by Jake Willis, Touchstone Regional VP who discusses Robert Cialdini's “Six Principles of Persuasion” – a notable refresher for everyone in sales. Then, digital marketing guru, Dan Allocca and Partner at Prosek joins us to discuss marketing insights that can help financial professionals navigate for now and for future.

63 Growth, Scale & Guerrilla Marketing on the Road to Leadership

Our guest Stacey Wyatt discusses his transition from real estate agent to business owner, and shares captivating insights about leading a team, versus simply managing a team. Bonus: His reputation for highly creative approaches to marketing was the catalyst for conversation about great ideas for getting in front of people.

62 Tales In Practice Consulting – Wins & Lessons Learned!

No need to reinvent the wheel - our returning guest, Tom Singler joins the episode to dip into our collective hundreds of hours of cumulative experience reflecting on what has worked, as well as common challenges, when it comes to practice management consulting.

61 Powerful Team Structure & Broadridge Talks Industry Trends

With our industry pushing towards “Teaming”, you get Five Important Takeaways from our nationwide Team Structure presentation. Then, hear Tim Kresl of Broadridge discuss some surprising industry trends.

60 Differentiation with Liz Lenz

Liz Lenz returns to the podcast to share new insights from her latest venture. After running practice consulting for a broker-dealer, she has now started her own firm, Lenz Insights, LLC. She discusses how she decided to make the change, and what she has learned setting up her business.

59 Human Capital with Penny Phillips

Penny Phillips, owner of Thrivos Consulting, returns to the show to discuss practice management. Her first appearance ended up becoming our Episode of the Year, so we are delighted to have more of her insights in this episode.

58 Client Reviews: Facts, Myths and Opportunities

Ben Alge returns to discuss a number of topics, including how Navy Seals innovate in business development and how client reviews can work better.

57 The Whole Data-Based Truth

Have you done your research? Our guest certainly has. Neil Bathon is managing partner at FUSE Research, where he surveys and gathers trends for the asset management world. We asked him about some of the trends that are going on in the industry, and to separate what trends are actually making an impact from those that are not.

56 Understanding the Power of Pressure

Our guest, Dane Jensen, CEO of consulting company Third Factor is also an instructor at Queen’s University and the University of North Carolina. You may also recognize the title of our episode includes the name of Dane’s book, The Power of Pressure. We discussed how pressure can be helpful, how it can be challenging, and how you can approach it in a way that can raise your game.

55 Navigating the Boom-Bust Cycle of Growth

In this episode, we discuss the "growth" roller coaster with Tom Trentman, senior portfolio manager at Sands Capital. Then, we get into a discussion about emerging markets with Jack Mayer, portfolio specialist at Sands.

54 An Intriguing Look Inside Boutique Management

In this episode, we share two previously unreleased interviews with our former colleague Steve Owen of The London Company. Steve has talked about a plethora of asset managers over the years and has helpful insights about table stakes and the importance of “having an edge.”

52 Best of 2022

In this episode, we share highlights from our guests and reflect on the major learnings of 2022.

51 Demystifying Active Management

Today we have Dr. Martijn Cremers on the show. He is the Dean of the Notre Dame Business School, and his research on active management includes a paradigm-shifting paper on active share.

50 Concierge Aging with Annalee Kruger

Our guest today is Annalee Kruger, President of Care Right, Inc. for this important episode on the myriad reasons it is critical to have an Aging Plan in place. She has concentrated experience doing senior care planning during her 25-year career in the senior care industry. In addition to her company, Care Right where she advises people on end of life planning, she also founded Plan for Life, which is an educational avenue to earn an elder planning specialist designation.

49 Four Team Trends at Barron’s and an Interesting Twist on How to Think About COIs

Our hosts share ideas from a Barron’s talk about four trends found in Barron’s Top 100 Teams and then our wholesaler Patrick Farris joins the podcast to discuss COIs, which he is thinking about a little differently. "We work in an industry where we're able to really build our own business," he says. "So why would we not build it with clients that we enjoy working with?"

48 Embrace the Debate: Referrals Revisited

Touchstone colleagues Mindy Burgess and Jason Zawalich take over the podcast to discuss referrals and business development. They embark on a healthy debate – “To Refer or Not to Refer” and also share some creative ideas about how to think differently when it comes to the art of getting referrals.

47 Tools of a Financial Coach

Financial Services industry veteran Richard Weylman has been a coach at all the major wire houses, and partnered with Touchstone in the past, so we used this opportunity to re-connect. He talks about the tools he uses, including psychological needs of the affluent and 90-day elevation plans. You hear a lot of people talk about practice management ideas, but it's all in the execution -- and Richard can deliver on that.

46 House Call With Dr. Rick Jensen

Dr. Rick Jensen joins the podcast – he is a sports psychologist and author whose clients include more than 50 touring golf pros in the PGA, LPGA and Champions tours. Listen in as he shares how best practices from sports psychology can be applied as rules, suggestions, and strategies for financial professionals.

45 Things Wholesalers Wish Financial Professionals Knew

In this special crossover podcast with Dan Sullivan of Internal Use Only, we reflect on the job of wholesaling. What are some good questions that you should be asking wholesalers with whom you work? We also discuss podcasting and what we are trying to accomplish with our two shows.

44 Straight From the Mouths of Navy Seals - An Effective Team Requires Trust

On today's episode, Special Ops and Navy SEALS: John Choate, CD and Ant join the show. They draw upon experiences from their history and their SA-720™ Consulting business to discuss how to foster effective teamwork by managing attitude and ego and creating trust through vulnerability. They also delve into SABRE, which borrows from clandestine frameworks taken from their military service and how to apply them to business and practical purposes.

43 From the United Nations to Wealth Management

Our guest Daniel Catone is CEO of Golden State Wealth Management. He's fascinating on a number of levels -- he's been nominated for Top 40 Under 40, he runs a variety of different businesses, he collects artifacts, he's a pilot, he's got a master's degree in theology. And before he worked in finance, he was a part of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. We get into his unique story and pick up valuable financial insights along the way.

42 The Whole Truth on How to Assess and Assemble a Winning Team with Jennifer Scaglione

42 The Whole Truth on How to Assess & Assemble a Winning Team

When hiring a team, it's always best to consider individuals that approach problems in different ways. Kolbe can be a powerful tool used by Managers to assess and understand how members of your team work - it can make things easier, better, and more natural for all involved and can improve employee retention. Jennifer Scaglione, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at The Financial Services Network, joins to share her extensive Kolbe work with the financial professional teams that roll up under The Network.

41 Bold Moves for Building Superior Service: Supernova Teams with Curtis Brown

Industry veteran, Curtis Brown joins to discuss the concept of (and book) "Supernova Teams." You will hear how the financial services industry has changed over his decades in it, why client experience is critically important, and how to effectively team.

40 One of the Hardest Things to Learn is How to Unlearn

In this episode, we are joined by Liz Stiles, who discusses three big topics: people, process, and tech. We get into how she conducts a gap analysis with financial professionals and she explains actionable steps to assist with closing those gaps. Because we all often work with folks that have been doing things a certain way for a long time, her quote: "One of the hardest things to learn is how to unlearn," is especially potent.

39 An Entrepreneurial Take on the Do’s and Don’ts of Financial Podcasting

Lee Michael Murphy is doing innovative things in the financial professional space. He started his own podcast and with more than 100 episodes in, of course, as fellow financial services podcasters, we wanted to talk with him about how that's going, to discuss creativity in business and to hear his story of why he got into the financial business.

38 What is your morning routine?

In this episode we start with a “Just Stop It” segment, then move on to a discussion about how to improve your morning routine.

37 Emotional Intelligence in Business

How emotionally intelligent are you? In this episode, we discuss the concept of EI and how it pertains to leadership.

36 How to Work Smarter: Digging Deep to Create a Truly Meaningful Journey for Clients

Alejandra Slatapolsky joins the podcast to discuss how financial professionals can cultivate a wholistic experience for clients, from on-boarding to years-long relationships, as well as the value of asking "Why?"

35 The Kolbe Assessment with Brian Doe

Brian Doe joins the podcast to discuss how to make the most of the Kolbe assessment tool and shares some enlightening insights it can provide.

34 A Review of 2021: Secrets for Success and Habits for Happiness

Our hosts reflect on 2021 and share some takeaways they are still thinking about and implementing from this year's jam-packed vault of priceless insights. Whether you are a new or longtime member of The Whole Truth Community, the guests of Season 2021 served up amazing ideas, tips, philosophies and more – free of charge – that could help with anything from making your day easier to potentially propelling your practice to the next level! And we’ve added a new segment we call “What We're Obsessed About This Week”…we hope you enjoy!

33 People Buy From People

Elyse Archer, a founder of the Brand Builders group, joins the podcast to talk about strategies for personal branding as well as to explain the value of an intentional mindset. She explains the concept so well that even an analytical-minded skeptic can understand and appreciate it. She also describes selling from a point of “scarcity” versus “abundance.”

32 The Best Laid Plans

Team planning is difficult to do well. Many firms require some kind of plan, so there can be a “checking the box” element to the process, and it’s easy to build a plan that sits on the shelf and doesn’t get implemented. But there is a better way. In this episode, after a brief reflection on client service, the hosts discuss how to turn a plan into a livable document that actually drives activity, drives behavior, and ultimately drives outcomes.

31 Practical Advice for Fostering Your Team Culture

A Harvard Business Review article cited that two of the major levers a business leader can pull are strategy and culture, this episode explores how to strategize *about* culture. Robbie Reese, CEO of LeadAbroad, joins this episode, whose company our hosts believe has a fantastically successful culture, which has led to very high retention. Creating a culture for a company is one of the most important – and often elusive – aspects of leadership, so here we dig in with tangible steps you can take.

30 Using Data to Solve Your Most Pressing Questions

MBA school professor, Dr. Wayne Winston, from Indiana University Kelley School of Business joins to discuss how powerful data can be in solving problems and making decisions. He shares about his work with several NBA basketball teams, is a Jeopardy winner, a published author and an expert at Microsoft Excel. This wide-ranging conversation covers everything from decision making to how you can up your Excel game.

29 Closing the Referral Gap

Listen in for two fresh conversations about referrals, client engagement and inspiring success stories. At the 3:00 minute mark Julie Littlechild, CEO of Absolute Engagement shares insights derived from years of research and at minute marker 29:30, financial professional James Schleicher offers how his “Quest for Rejection” led to success.

28 Touchstone Talks Top 5 Takeaways For Working With Financial Pros

This episode, opens with some tips on how to make the most of LinkedIn. Then at the 15:45 minute mark we speak with Tom Singler, a member of Touchstone’s investment specialist group, who shares with us his sage (and somewhat surprising) top five lessons he's learned from working with hundreds of advisors.

27 Ditch Your Annual Plan

We kick off today's episode with our colleague John O'Neal, who shares insights about business planning, specifically getting out of the trap of ineffective annual planning. Then, at the 15:35 minute mark, we welcome back Daxs Stadjuhar, partner at The Network. Daxs is involved with practice management, and he's been spending a lot of time talking to his folks about effectively working remotely. Even though things are normalizing now, we know remote working in some form is here to stay.

26 One Year Report Card With Jerod Morris

With a year of episodes under our belt The Whole Truth gets its report card from Jerod Morris (begins at the 26:30 minute mark) and he also shares insights about how to build communities with clients in Segment One. Stick around until the end for some enthusiastic college basketball banter in the Costanza Corner segment.

25 Digital Marketing With James Pollard

At the 11:50 minute mark James Pollard, founder of The Advisor Coach, shares how to make the most of digital tools available to financial professionals. He hosts the Financial Advisor Marketing Podcast, he writes a daily email newsletter, and he explains why even LinkedIn can be a powerful resource for growing your business.

24 What's Your Vision?

Today, listen in for some tips on how to make remote working more effective. At the 14-minute mark hear Mary Mock, who returned to discuss her vision, what she has learned working in practice management and what she is working on now.

23 Stop Asking For Referrals With Penny Phillips

On today's episode, Penny Phillips joins the show to discuss hiring, firing, managing different personality types, and multigenerational practices. She also explains why she believes you should only ask for referrals from a quarter of your clients.

22 Critical Info You Didn’t Know You Needed About Claiming Social Security With Brian Doherty

For many financial professionals, the subject of Social Security can be complex and intimidating. The process can be complicated, and some people even worry the program may shut down before they become eligible. Luckily, our guest Brian Doherty has written a book on the subject, and he is happy to share his boundless enthusiasm and extensive knowledge, adding much-welcomed clarity on the topic.

21 Behavioral Finance With Ben Alge

How has the pandemic changed your business? We share results of a survey to see how financial professionals have coped and thrived through a difficult time. Then, Ben Alge returns to discuss behavioral finance.

20 11 Intriguing Business Development Ideas for Financial Professionals to Start 2021 Off Right

Tune in for our ever popular “Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down” approach, as we put Bill Diehl to the test pitching the hosts business development ideas and they turn up the heat with some of their own.

19 2020: A Look Back

In this special episode, we revisit some of the highlights from past guests of the show and whether you're a new or longtime listener, the wisdom from these guests is worth paying attention to and important to growing your practice in the future.

18 Technology: Taking Back Control

Steve and Kurt discuss how to use technology to your advantage without letting it take control of your life. They share some best practices from the Center for Humane Technology and discuss their thoughts on The Social Dilemma documentary.

16 How Many Great Ideas Can We Fit Into One Episode?

Today Steve and Kurt bring on Regional Sales Specialists Chris Fangmann and Jason Zawalich, to hear them pitch their best ideas for how to attract and hold on to clients.

15 Time for Community Collaboration

On this episode, Steve and Kurt answer questions from The Whole Truth Community on a wide range of subjects, including when it's time to find someone to hire, what to do when time blocking isn’t working, and much more.

14 An Introspective with Daxs Stadjuhar

Today we start things off on a fun note, sharing some of the music we listened to as kids. Then our guest Daxs Stadjuhar joins us from the LPL world to talk about his organization The Network.

13 The Challenger Sale With Ben Alge

Today we'll discuss with our colleague Ben Alge why The Challenger Sale, authored by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson of CEB, is considered one of the most consequential academic studies on sales that has come out in a long time. Then Ben sticks around as we dive into questions from the mailbag.

12 Growing Your Business With Maribeth Kuzmeski

Our guest, Dr. Maribeth Kuzmeski, founder and president of Red Zone Marketing reveals how she helped one client grow their practice from 10 million to 200 million in under five years using low cost niche marketing strategies. We also discuss Red Zone Marketing, some "don'ts" of marketing, and her thoughts on using second opinion marketing right now.

11 Wealth Management from Venture Capitalist, Paul Seid

Our guest Paul Seid, a successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist shares valuable lessons learned from decades of running multiple businesses in various countries. Also included in this episode: What's your niche? We explore on an article on the subject featured and give you our take and we finish with a much needed Costanza Corner.

10 How to Execute on a Great New Idea

What can you do with that notepad full of great ideas that has been sitting in a drawer ever since you got home from your last conference? On today's episode, Steve and Kurt give specific guidance for how to execute on the ideas that have been collecting dust, so your business can move forward. Then it's time for questions from the mailbag.

09 Behavioral Finance

On this episode, we dive into the fascinating world of behavioral finance and how you can apply its lessons to your business. Our guest is Dr. Daniel Crosby. He's a PhD in clinical psychology and a behavioral finance expert with Brinker Capital. Kurt and Steve ask him about his numerous books and TED talks and how behavioral finance is shaping how we think about investing and client relationships.

08 What is Supernova?

Our guest is Mary Mock, Divisional Vice President at Touchstone Investments. Prior to this she was one of the most successful wholesalers at Touchstone Investments. Mary discusses the concept of Supernova, how it came about, the foundations of the concept, and the variety of ways a financial professionals can apply it to grow their practice.

07 Digital Marketing for Financial Professionals

Mark Fujiwara joins us on this episode to discuss ways that financial professionals can market their practices in the current digital landscape. Steve and Kurt ask him about podcasting, LinkedIn, and other strategies that can differentiate a practice in a crowded marketplace. They also reach into the mailbag and respond to questions submitted by listeners.

06 Practice Analysis Review: Synthesizing the Data

Steve and Kurt dive into the world of PAR, or Practice Analysis Review. This review anchors a lot of what they do around practice management, so today they're going to tell you what it is, where it comes from, what are the crucial pillars of their analysis and what they do with the data.

05 Building Community: A Conversation With Jerod Morris

Our guest today is Jerod Morris, an expert in the world of podcasting and digital marketing. Steve and Kurt's goal for this show is to build a community, and Jerod was an inspiration to them when they were first talking about starting a podcast. In addition to the discussion around building The Whole Truth, Jerod Morris, an expert in the world of podcasting and digital marketing, details several marketing concepts that financial professionals can put into practice right away.

04 Foundations of Service #3: Now What? How Do I Execute?

After you’ve segmented your clients and built a service matrix, how do you take action? Steve and Kurt map out the processes needed to execute on your plan, and discuss client contact ideas for real-world application.

03 Foundations of Service #2: What Is a Service Matrix?

Building on client segmentation from the last episode, Kurt and Steve introduce the idea of a service matrix - how you can service segments of clients differently. They talk about different types of client touches, including formal review, digital communication, client events and more.

02 Foundations of Service #1: Effective Ways to Segment Clients

What is client segmentation, and how can it work for your practice? Steve and Kurt dive into specifics, and discuss several ways to segment clients.

01 Introduction to The Whole Truth: Why This Podcast?

Steve and Kurt give an overview of the podcast and an introduction to themselves. They discuss the upcoming series on client service and why it matters now.

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