Jonny West, CFP®, transitioned from a “do-it-yourself” financial planner to a professional advisor after exploring his own personal investments and gaining experience advising friends and family. His firm, Better Planning, Better Life, emphasizes life planning over pure financial advice. He aims to understand his clients' aspirations and align their financial habits with their goals. Jonny also hosts the “One for the Money” podcast where he provides tips and tricks on financial topics such as retiring early, investing in volatile times, and teaching your kids about money.
Jonny West, CFP® is a registered representative with, and securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC.
Challenge
A way to demonstrate leading with planning
Jonny was looking to maximize his impact with clients. “Obviously a huge component of my practice is investments, but a big part of it is more life planning. Ultimately, I spend a lot of time understanding clients, their deeply held desires, their wishes—not just what they want to do but who they want to become. Then I analyze investments, taxes, estate plans, cash flows, everything, to see if they’re aligned with that ideal life they’re trying to build.” He continued, “It’s really exciting to learn about people and what they want in life. A lot of times, that’s not directly finance-related and it’s not investment-related, especially.”
Solution
“The most critical tool”
Jonny motivated himself with a financial planning subscription for earning his CFP®. In his research on Kitces, speaking with other advisors, and experience with a different software, “A lot of things that I read and understood pointed to RightCapital…and when I saw the demo, it was phenomenal.” From the beginning, Jonny found RightCapital easy and intuitive.
He now calls RightCapital “the most critical tool” to show his clients what kind of lives are possible. “Investments are hugely important, but that's not where life happens. Investments support life and RightCapital allows me to show the life that is possible. I spend just a few minutes on investment strategy and most of my time is in RightCapital because it gets to the heart of what matters for clients. That’s been the biggest difference. RightCapital is the easiest way for me to demonstrate it and more importantly, the easiest way for clients to understand it.”
Results
Increase in close ratio and AUM
Jonny highlighted multiple instances where RightCapital played a key role in expanding his practice. One such story involves a person initially seeking planning advice, who eventually turned into one of Jonny's biggest clients, through the value he demonstrated while using RightCapital. Additionally, Jonny has experienced a surge in his closing ratio and in assets under management from existing clients. “It’s brought more money from current clients and converted more prospects into good clients, because of RightCapital.”
“Best prospecting tool in the world”
Jonny shared that he can easily demonstrate his impact as an advisor with prospective clients with RightCapital, showing them what’s possible in their lives. “RightCapital is the best prospecting tool. It easily shows how I can provide answers to the most important questions that prospects have such as ‘Am I on track? What's possible given my income, expenses, net worth, etc.?’”
Client understanding and confidence
“I can model everything so easily and (clients) can understand it. It’s been awesome.” Jonny emphasized the essential role RightCapital plays in responding to his clients' inquiries, especially "wherever finance and life intersect", enabling him to "influence every aspect of their lives".
Jonny shared, “Clients appreciate the peace of mind and assurances RightCapital provides. Before RightCapital, clients are just winging it and they don't have a clue if they are on track or if they are behind and I can show them the progress they've made thus far and the adjustments they can make to optimize their plans.”
RightCapital has allowed Jonny to highlight the impact of his services, convert prospects into valuable clients, and enhance the understanding and confidence of his clients. Schedule a demo to explore the features and benefits of RightCapital firsthand. For more advisor success stories, visit this page.