Mitchell Morrison Of Eyeballs Financial On 5 Things To Look For When Hiring a Financial Planner or Financial Adviser
Make sure they have adequate staff to help with your needs and the questions you will have in the future.
As a part of our series about 5 Things To Look For When Hiring a Financial Planner or Financial Adviser, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mitchell Morrison.
Mitchell Morrison is the founder and creator of Eyeballs Financial LLC, a fintech application. The Eyeballs app is the first to provide up-to-date information pairing trusted advisor intelligence and artificial intelligence, delivering convenient, automatic, and secure insight into all your financial investments.
With deep expertise in finance, Mr. Morrison has held senior positions with Financial West Group, Skyway Capital Markets, FourStar Wealth Advisors, E.F Hutton, Travelers Portfolio Group, Smith Barney, and Charitable Alliance Foundation. He is the current acting Executive Director and Founder of the Financial Literacy Project and a passionate philanthropist. Morrison has appeared on numerous national television stations for his role in the World Trade Center Miracles Foundation and America’s Ride.
Thank you so much for doing this with us, Mitchell! Our readers would love to ‘get to know you’ a bit more. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was drawn to the financial services industry because I like to work with people, and I like to form relationships. I really thought that financial advice was pushed on people almost as a hard sell. When I first started out with E.F. Hutton Co. The standard advice was based not on human needs but on investment product benefits. Not all products, even if their performance metrics look strong, are the right fit for each investor.
Can you share a story about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting in the industry? Can you tell us what lesson or take away you learned from that?
I was giving a PowerPoint presentation to a group of financial clients in a hotel meeting room.
The rain was pouring down so hard that only two people out of a projected 26 invited showed up.
At the halfway point in my presentation, one of the clients went to use the restroom and the remaining person actually fell asleep during my talk. I kept my presentation going and did not stop for the client to wake up. Suddenly the other man returned from the restroom, and he shouted
“Who are you talking to? That guy is asleep.” I said I knew, but finishing the presentation was good practice for my speaking skills. The takeaway is to keep going! Keep pressing forward. The financial advisor for these clients also missed the PowerPoint, but he apologized for the low turnout in the room. He felt sorry for me and actually did more business with me than I ever expected.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Yes indeed. I invented an app called Eyeballs Financial; it has a huge financial literacy function, but the main function of the app is it takes the confusion out of customers’ brokerage account statements. Now users of the app can simply talk to the phone, and the phone talks back. The Eyeballs app will answer all financial questions instantly. Furthermore has a patent on RIQs “Remote Inquiry Questions” are fed back to the financial advisor dashboard. This is like having “night vision.” The advisor knows what the clients are thinking without even having a live conversation. www.eyeballsfinancial.com and www.eyeballsadvisors.com
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Is there a takeaway or lesson that others can learn from that?
I would say the tipping point in my career was the creation of Eyeballs Financial.
What three pieces of advice would you give to your colleagues in the finance field to thrive and avoid burnout? Can you give a story or example?
1. Be a resource, have specialized knowledge in areas that are meaningful to the family members.
2. Know the family, the entire family.
3. Keep learning or “A B L” Always Be Learning instead of A B C, Always Be Closing!
I really have so many stories about this. I told financial colleagues that you need to have your clients focus on legacy planning and not just immediate or retirement planning. I wrote the book “Charity Is a Contact Sport,” subtitle, “Move From a Life of Success to a Life of Significance.”
Ok. Thank you for all of that. Let’s now move to the core focus of our interview. As an “finance insider,” you know much more about the finance industry than most consumers. If your loved one wanted to hire a financial advisor (not you :-)), which 5 things would you advise them to find out about before committing? Can you give an example or story for each?
#1 Make sure they put people first.
#2 Utilize FINRA Broker Check — Check if arbitrations or customer complaints have been filed.
#3 Get testimonials from others who have been clients.
#4 Make sure they have adequate staff to help with your needs and the questions you will have in the future.
#5 Inquire regarding their credentials, CPA, CIMA, CFP, CFA, CCGP (Certified Charitable Gift Planner).
I think most people think that financial advisors are for very wealthy people. This is likely not actually true. Can you explain who would most benefit from hiring a financial advisor and why? Can you give an example?
It is not what you make in life that makes you wealthy. It is what you keep that makes you wealthy.
Almost everyone needs a financial plan, which comes with hiring a competent financial planner.
I will give the example of professional athletes. I know many who have filed for bankruptcy after a few years in retirement. Some even filed for bankruptcy while still playing the sport. If anything, the financial adviser can provide the discipline that most people do have on their own
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My Manager at EF Hutton gave me advice when I was trying to get more financial clients. He said becoming successful in this business is like playing in a Rock N Roll band. At first, no one comes to your venues or concerts, but if you keep at it and get better each time, then they start to come to the venues. All of a sudden, you are playing to a packed house.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
LinkedIn and Facebook.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Mitchell Morrison Of Eyeballs Financial On 5 Things To Look For When Hiring a Financial Planner or… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
