A day in the life of Hannah Chilcote, the front-of-house administrative manager at Maestro Associates.
Whether you’ve been working with Chris and his team at Maestro Associates for years, or have simply called in to inquire about their services you’ve likely interacted with Hannah. For more than seven years, Hannah has been the first- and main-point-of contact for Maestro clients. Her knowledge of the financial planning world is vast and helping making sure clients are set up for success in their endeavors with the Maestro team isn’t something she takes lightly. Let’s see what it takes to steer the Maestro ship as we walk through a day in the life of Hannah -- the one whose main purpose is to work with clients to help make sure they’re as prepared as possible to create their path to financial independence.
9 AM Fields emails and voicemails that have come in overnight while simultaneously checking in with the Maestro team to ensure everyone knows what’s on their docket for the day. A self-described Checklist Junkie’, Hannah’s daily to-do list and most of her organization present as extensive checklists. Catching up on industry news via LinkedIn and industry pubs first thing in the morning helps her maintain a high level of professionalism and knowledge in her position.
10 AM Begins work on one of the special projects she’s been tasked with spearheading. This time, it’s the firm’s social media presence. Hannah reviews the day’s social media content and shares it out on her social media networks. She ensures the firm is disseminating relevant information and in turn, she’s been able to keep up professional relationships -- using social media, especially during the pandemic has provided a level of connectedness that’s been lacking without her typical F2F interactions. If you haven’t yet, connect with Hannah and Maestro on LinkedIn and Facebook.
11 AM One of the benefits of working with the Maestro team is its robust network of professional service contacts. Hannah spends time on most days working with clients to connect them with trusted service providers. If part of your financial plan involves needing to be in touch with a CPA, an estate planner, a trust attorney, insurance broker, an accountant or something of the like Hannah is the one making those connections.
Noon Pre-Covid Hannah might find herself wandering around their Cherry Creek office searching for the best mac & cheese. But for now, lunch breaks often involve short cuddle sessions with Walter her 7-year-old Coon Hound and Chuck, her 11-year-old Basset Hound.
1 PM Handling prospective client calls and scheduling initial meetings often means needing to dole out some information about Maestro’s unique approach to financial planning... the flat fee structure. Hannah describes why Maestro’s flat fee approach is better than the traditional AUM model with one simple word: honesty. Without the pressure of product sales or sneaky transaction fees being applied to client accounts, Maestro is better able to focus on designing solutions that will help you reach your life’s goals.
2 PM The Maestro process combines personal budgeting and money management, insurance, tax accounting, retirement savings, and estate planning into a single, comprehensive, and flexible plan. And making sure that clients are prepared for their financial planning meetings means an eagle eye, and astute attention to detail on Hannah’s part when it comes to confirming each person’s Welcome Packet and Fact Finder worksheets are complete. Meeting prep is just as important as the meeting itself -- working with Hannah to prep helps clients develop a strong foundation from the start. And if you start slacking on your action items, Hannah will be on you faster than you can say ‘financial planning’ -- one of her main responsibilities is working with clients to make sure that their checklist of to-dos and action items is complete before and after their planning sessions.
3:30 PM Client services that fall onto Hannah’s plate each day can range anywhere from coaching clients to be, well, more organized clients, to pulling recent financial reports & statements and shooting those off as requested, to accessing the firm’s secure server to help with personal document retrieval. Because collecting and archiving everything from estate planning details to tax returns to trust documents is part of the financial planning process she’s often pulling docs upon request when clients are closing on a house, reworking a will, or even embarking on travel. Dedicating so much of her day to client success is something that Hannah takes pride in.
4:30 PM Puts in her final calls for the day to Chris and the rest of the team. Touching base on video calls, messenger, and email multiple times a day ensures that nothing falls through the cracks. She then takes some time to update her to-do list for the next morning, including making a shortlist of clients to follow up with regarding their pending action items. With more and more people wanting human connection in their financial life Hannah makes it a priority to schedule time with a Certified Financial Planner™ for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of their financial well-being.
A day in the life of the administrative manager requires flexibility as the tasks she may have laid out for herself on Monday have completely changed by Wednesday. Regardless of the ever-changing landscape of account optimization, Hannah is here to help each client feel prepped and ready for their meeting with their certified financial planner. Because at the end of the day it takes a village to make you feel secure in your financial future; making every aspect of your financial life work for you. With the Maestro team, you'll have someone to help keep you on track to reach your goals, supporting you in your financial decisions, and giving you the insights you need to help make the money moves that are best for you.
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