What Is The Supernova Folder System?
Advisors who use the folder system give testimonials to its’ effectiveness:
“When [Joanne] comes it and drops the 3 folders on my desk for my appointments for the day I know I have to make those calls because she is going to come back and get them at the end of the day and give me 3 new ones. I enter the notes into the system and love the structure of it all”
“I thought we were going backwards when you asked me to use paper folders. But it works! It forces me to make the calls (especially to prospects) which results in less clients calling in randomly and interrupting our day. “
“The clients love the folders because they are smaller than what we used to give out and gives them a place to take notes between calls”
“I find myself updating the client’s information more often because it is right in front of me in the folder during our meetings”
What exactly is the folder system?
If you have read “The Supernova Advisor” by Rob Knapp you know the folder is an “evolving biography of the client’s life as told by the FA and their CA. “ As Supernova has evolved we have added folders to the mix. We recommend:
- Advisor's Client Folders: folders your team keeps with specific client information
- Advisor's Prospect Folders: folders you keep with specific prospect information
- Advisor's Centers of Influence Folders: folders you keep with information on your COIs
- Advisor's Mastermind Group folders: folders you keep with information about your mastermind group
- Advisor's Community Involvement folders: folders you keep with information about any nonprofit/arts board you serve on
- Client and Prospect Folders: folders you give to your clients/prospects to bring to their monthly meetings
Folders should be distinguished by color. We usually recommend assigning blue for FA client/prospect folders, red for clients' folders and green or yellow for prospects', COIs', Mastermind groups', and boards folders. All folders will be 6 sections. If you would like to see a picture of the folders we recommend
How does it work?
Step One: Your team will create two folders for each client and prospect. One for you (FA folder) and one for you to give to your clients/prospects with all the necessary contents (client). You will give a prospect their folder after you have met with them and are giving them a 90-day free look.
Step Two: When you set up your monthly calls, you give your clients their folder along with a two- hole punch and explain to them that this folder is for their monthly appointments. You will send them an agenda prior to each call that they can put into their folder. The last section contains blank paper for note taking and jotting down concerns and questions between appointments.
Step Three: Every day your assistant will bring to you the folders pertaining to that day’s phone and in-person meetings. You hold those calls and meetings and at the end of the day, your assistant will pick up the folders, note any action items, file them away and give you a new set of folders for the following day.
What’s the catch?
This is a very simple process as long as everything goes according to plan. But what happens if you get called away on an emergency or your assistant is on vacation? What happens if the client forgets and misses the appointment?
If you are not able to make your appointments, for whatever reason, your assistant will make the calls for you and simply tell the client you were unexpectedly called away and ‘is there anything she/he can do for them?’ If not, she/he will remind them of the next month’s meeting and return the folder to its filing cabinet. In some cases, when a client has a pressing need that only the FA can handle, your assistant may offer to reschedule the missed meeting or call.
If your assistant is on vacation, she/he should arrange with someone else in the office, possibly an intern, to make sure the folders are made available and filed away each day.
If the client misses a meeting, you should send an email or leave a voicemail that goes something like this: ‘I am sorry you weren’t available for our scheduled appointment. I will talk with you next month unless you need to speak sooner, in which case, you can call my assistant to reschedule.’ You make a quick note in the folder of the missed call and your assistant places it back in your files.
The Supernova folder system is a wonderful organizational tool; it keeps your team and your clients on track. The visibility of the folders in your office provides a great frame of reference for your overall workflow. The last thing you want to have is folder backup. There is nothing that will weigh on your mind more heavily than having a stack of untouched folders on your desk for clients or prospects you didn’t contact.
You can download the folder contents for the client folder here.