Financial Planning Consultant

Northwestern Mutual•Prior Lake, IL

16d•$78,190 - $145,210

About The Position

Summary Focus on achieving successful outcomes in implementing the Northwestern Mutual planning philosophy with existing advisors and new recruits who join Northwestern Mutual. Engage with advisors through various channels including an inbound phone queue, virtual consultations, virtual presentations, as well as in person. Spend significant time virtually and in person working with advisors, their staff, and office leadership where applicable, to help them become deeply skilled in delivering high quality plans to their prospects and clients. Further, lead large events, present training content in group settings, represent Financial Planning Consulting at field events, and present regularly within the home office. Primary Duties and Responsibilities Drive the achievement of KPIs for the Financial Planning Consulting team with your assigned target audience. Partner with Region leads and Assistant Director of Financial Planning and Consulting to ensure alignment of objectives and establish expectations for assigned offices and advisors. Engage with advisors and staff through an inbound phone queue, virtually and in person to provide personalized coaching to master the software and the related processes (fact finding, plan build, plan presentation). Offer plan presentation simulations and work with advisors to increase their confidence around the plan presentation prior to meeting with clients. Educate and collaborate with field leaders to promote NM's planning philosophy, increase planning adoption and help influence risk and investment product sales. Innovate to help develop better effectiveness in training/supporting our field on best practices for planning throughout the sales cycle. Provide quality planning consultations and presentations to the field on the integration of financial products to create solutions for clients primarily via inbound calls, long-distance training methods, schools and potential visits to network offices. Offer just-in-time solutioning for case design and plan design needs. Maintain an extensive in-person presence with your assigned target audience to build relationships and promote local culture around digital tools and financial planning. Partner with the Technology Solutions & Support Consultant (TSC) (where available) to ensure local adoption of related planning tools including CRM, client website, client account aggregation, prospect invite, Digital FactFinder, etc. Be available to build financial plans for the advisor on an as-needed basis. Escalate feedback to leadership and/or appropriate partner to follow through on needs/gaps of advisors and/or network office around sales skills, leadership alignment, etc.

Requirements

Series 7 required or obtained within 6 months.
Minimum of 5+ years professional work experience.
Able to travel in assigned region approximately 20%
In-depth understanding of financial services products and financial planning.
Excellent knowledge and application of consulting skills.
Robust mastery of Northwestern mutual planning software; confident ability to consult on complex topics, scenarios and propose effective, needs-based solutions.
Ability to identify and address problems, opportunities, wants and needs of the field and their clients in a suitable manner.
Exceptional problem-solving capabilities.
Deeply patient, willing to teach and work through the adoption and implementation of financial planning.
Focused on outcomes v. process (delivers on what matters most).
Able to act as the owner of workstream.
Identify and recommend changes/improvements to the existing process to improve adoption of planning and delivery of sales.
Able to gain buy-in from teams you work with and inspire confidence in the planning process and sales cycle
Empathetic - can put yourself in the shoes of our field roles (Staff, Advisor, MD, MPs, etc.) and see their perspective.
Willing to develop a deep subject matter expertise in the digital product portfolio, passionate about Northwestern Mutual financial planning process, products and services.
This position has been classified as a Registered Representative under NMIS guidelines and requires fingerprinting.

Nice To Haves

CFP preferred or other relevant designations such as CLU, ChFC, CFA, CASL, MSFS, or other advanced degree.
Client facing financial planning experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Drive the achievement of KPIs for the Financial Planning Consulting team with your assigned target audience.
Partner with Region leads and Assistant Director of Financial Planning and Consulting to ensure alignment of objectives and establish expectations for assigned offices and advisors.
Engage with advisors and staff through an inbound phone queue, virtually and in person to provide personalized coaching to master the software and the related processes (fact finding, plan build, plan presentation).
Offer plan presentation simulations and work with advisors to increase their confidence around the plan presentation prior to meeting with clients.
Educate and collaborate with field leaders to promote NM's planning philosophy, increase planning adoption and help influence risk and investment product sales.
Innovate to help develop better effectiveness in training/supporting our field on best practices for planning throughout the sales cycle.
Provide quality planning consultations and presentations to the field on the integration of financial products to create solutions for clients primarily via inbound calls, long-distance training methods, schools and potential visits to network offices.
Offer just-in-time solutioning for case design and plan design needs.
Maintain an extensive in-person presence with your assigned target audience to build relationships and promote local culture around digital tools and financial planning.
Partner with the Technology Solutions & Support Consultant (TSC) (where available) to ensure local adoption of related planning tools including CRM, client website, client account aggregation, prospect invite, Digital FactFinder, etc.
Be available to build financial plans for the advisor on an as-needed basis.
Escalate feedback to leadership and/or appropriate partner to follow through on needs/gaps of advisors and/or network office around sales skills, leadership alignment, etc.