EXACT STEPS to becoming a financial coach and get your clients out of debt
A major part of your success in credit repair is also about learning how to get your clients out of credit card debt and coaching your clients to take control of their financial lives. Today’s article is an interview with Dan B., the leading industry expert when it comes to personal finances. Dan shares his EXACT steps to solving the biggest underlying issue that causes bad credit, and how credit repair business owners can use that knowledge to double their income and change more lives.
Read on for some key highlights from my podcast interview with Dan and learn the best ways to help your clients get out of debt while offering them the added financial coaching services they need right now.
Q: I'm really happy you're here. It's always amazing when you're here. So please tell us where you're from. And what led you to this interest in personal finances?
A: I grew up in a single-family household, and there was a lot of barely scraping by. There was a lot of poverty and a lot of issues.
“I was surrounded by people and family members that struggled with money and had a challenge with finances that helped shape who I am today.”
It made me think and focus on how to avoid those things. Because I had to take care of my mother throughout my life, who had struggled with personal finances, it allowed me to become a natural coach in that way. And that led to where I am today.
Q: When you spoke at the last credit repair Expo, you were awesome. By the way, you got a standing ovation, and then everyone wanted your course. How was that experience for you?
A: It was great. It really got me to understand the community, to understand their needs, to understand how credit repair relates to personal finance, which is really important. So I can craft it to understand how best to serve the community. The message that I always try to give is that most of us could repair people's credit if we know how to do it. There's a systematic approach. If you go through the steps, you can improve someone's credit, but that doesn't always address the underlying issues. So in many ways, fixing someone's credit is somewhat of a band-aid.
To address the underlying issues, you have to provide financial literacy, train your clients to be financially literate, and make better financial decisions. And that's where personal finance coaching is closely aligned with credit repair.
“If you truly want to address the underlying problems, you have to address the personal finance problems.”
Otherwise, what often happens is someone gets their credit repaired, and then several years later, they're right back in the situation they found themselves in.
Q: So when someone takes your course, what can they learn from you that can improve their business?
A: This course is specifically designed for people who already have a credit repair company or service. And what this does is it provides another service you could offer to your clients. That service is personal finance coaching. So this course teaches them how to provide that service, how to do it in a relatively short amount of time, to automate the process, and to provide as much value as possible to their clients.
“Nine times out of 10, the problem is too much debt.”
And of course, when people are financially savvy and they have the skills, very low debt, and they're building assets –– that's not what you see with a lot of people.
So this course goes into how to lower your debt and how to build assets. It’s at a very basic level of personal finance: how to increase your savings, how to reduce your debt, which credit cards to pay off first, the different types of loans that could be of value, how to build up, save a house. What are the building blocks and the different types of loans?
This course essentially gives you the basics of financial literacy.
“The course provides another service that you could offer to your client.”
It allows you to build a relationship with your client, to understand your clients more, and to have a long relationship with them, to get them into a more stable place. And I've heard many cases where it essentially allows clients to become more financially savvy and build assets. And that's really what we all want. We don't want people to fix their credit, and then a couple of years later, they right back to the same problem. No one wants that.
Generational wealth is so important to bring people out of poverty and essentially improve people's livelihoods and understand that throughout the course of a life, all of us can build generational wealth. It is such an important concept.
Q: If someone is doing credit repair, how much extra time does it take to offer personal finance coaching?
A: That time is fairly minimal.
“I go into techniques to automate the process”
...using the software. It could be no more than 5-10 minutes a day to review all their financial transactions, to see if they're following their plan, to see if they're following their budget. And essentially, coaching them. So it's not a lot of extra work. You're able to manage quite a few clients all at once. I want to kind of emphasize this, and it really does build a next-level relationship with your clients so that you're supporting them.
“You're getting them out of the hole that they're in and into a much better place, building assets, reducing debts, and creating generational wealth.”
Q: For the credit repair business owner, it literally becomes a new stream of revenue as well, right?
A: Any time you add more value and provide another service, that of course grows your business and as a new stream of revenue. And it’s more than that. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. This occurs over the course of years, but these skills take time to understand and they take time to learn.
Over the long haul, you'll teach your clients how to become more financially savvy, and that's a service they'll appreciate and they’ll value.
Q: What's a common financial trap that really hurts people?
A: Credit card debt is a very common trap that hurts virtually everybody in this situation. Credit cards are very unique in that they market their services to people that are financially challenged, and that is where the credit card companies make their income.
The credit card industry is subsidized by people who are financially challenged.
So for many of us, myself included, who use credit cards quite often and get free miles, and free dinners, and all these extra perks –– all of that free stuff is coming from people who are financially challenged. And that is not really a moral system, right?
So what we want to do is to teach people how to get out of credit card debt, how to pay off their credit cards, and how to use their credit cards responsibly.
Q: Is it true that credit card companies intentionally target the people who are financially vulnerable?
A: It could not be more true, and everyone knows this if they’ve gone through a period of financial challenges or gone through bankruptcy. You see all the credit card offers right away and, and they want you to feel guilty for not paying on time because you're essentially paying 20% or 25% interest rates.
“There are very few loans besides credit cards that are at that high rate.”
If I were to borrow money against my house, the loan is at 4%, 3%, or 2% rates. But if you borrow money against a credit card, which many people do, it can be as high as 25%. So they are targeting people.
“Credit card companies are hoping people will not be able to pay their credit cards off.”
If people did pay the credit cards off at the end of the month, the credit card companies don't make much money.
Q: Wow. Now, I don't use credit cards at all. But you've posted that you love yours using your credit cards because you get miles and all this stuff, right?
A: That's correct. For people like me, credit cards are a great free service. I don't pay anything and everything I buy is covered by insurance. And then I get free vacations every year. And all of that is coming from the profits from people that are financially challenged. Credit card cards could be very useful if you know how to use them. But for many people, they're a nightmare. And I thank them for that, but I don't like that system.
“So I teach people how to get out of that system.”
It's not a good system when essentially the poor are subsidizing the rich, and that's how the credit card industry works.
Q: It's very ugly. It's very hurtful. But it certainly is why we've all become credit heroes because of this, isn't it?
A: Yes, and we could solve this problem through education. This is not something that's unavoidable.
There are techniques and tricks and knowledge that allows people to get out of these situations, but it does not happen overnight. It's a skill set that you build over time and you have to have the discipline that goes along with it.
Q: So let's talk for a moment about your two courses. So first, you've got your course, Become A Personal Finance Coach. Tell me about that course and what it's like.
A: This course is written at a level where most people can understand it even if you don't have a financial background. It is not intended for people who have a strong financial background –– It's intended for the average person.
The course breaks down each subject in a simple way. It’s made for people who already have a credit repair company; it gives them the skill sets needed to provide another service to their clients.
That service is personal financial coaching, and it teaches them how to do that with a minimal amount of time and incorporate that into their credit repair company.
Q: Awesome. And then there's your new Credit Card Secrets course. Tell us about that one.
A: Well, most people's problems are credit cards. So this is a deep dive into the credit card industry and how to manage credit cards better: how to choose credit cards, how to pay off different credit cards, and which credit cards are beneficial. I don't necessarily favor not having any credit cards at all, because then you're not taking advantage of all the rewards programs, but they're complicated.
This course is specifically designed to make someone an expert on credit cards.
For most people who are personal financial coaches, that's the biggest challenge. Obviously, there are other challenges, like education loans, car loans, and other things, but for most people, credit card debt is their biggest challenge.
Q: Wow. And again, you created these courses just for Credit Repair Pros, right?
A: Correct. These courses are specifically designed for people who already have credit repair companies, and it allows them to have to provide another service and provide more value to their customers.
Q: And it's continuing education for your business. Knowledge is power.
A: The solution is education. We want to educate people and bring them up to a better place.
“The more we help them build up assets, and the more we help them reduce their debt –– the more we change lives. We do.”
So that’s it!! These are just SOME of the highlights from my eye-opening talk with Dan!! For the whole interview, listen here to become a superstar financial coach and help get your clients out of debt!
AND if you want to get certified in disputing and launch your very own credit repair business in just a couple of weeks, I invite you to join our Credit Hero Challenge!
It’s an amazing program that has helped tons of Credit Heroes get their first clients, get certified in disputing, and gain confidence in knowing they are launching their credit repair business on a solid foundation that allows them to grow and scale FAST!
We’re starting again soon, so SIGN UP NOW at creditherochallenge.com!