When I meet with a financial advisor in her office, I look around and think, “What do the displayed items tell me about you? Who or what is in the pictures, and why do they matter?”
One advisor had beautifully displayed his Boy Scout awards. We immediately discovered a shared history, and our conversation became deeper and more meaningful. Another advisor had an impressive photo of a fish he caught near the Bahamas. After sharing our experiences with boating, we decided that our next coaching session would be on the water.
I’ve found that even if we don’t have a shared interest, telling a story that reveals something personal, like a hobby or an experience, builds a stronger relationship and generates good feelings. Asking questions and genuinely listening help an advisor answer two of the inevitable questions that clients wonder about their advisor: “Do I matter to you?” and “Do you get me?” These questions lurk in the back of every client’s mind. They confirm the old adage that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. That is why I coach advisors to make sure they are answering these questions in every conversation.
For more information about the inevitable questions, ask to see the AB Advisor Institute’s white paper Inside the Mind of the Uniquely Successful Investor.
What Every Client Should Know About You
Not only do clients need to know that you understand them, they also need to learn about you in your role as their advisor. The photos and memorabilia displayed in your office offer a glimpse into your personal life and make you feel more real and approachable. However, if you want to take your relationships to the next level, you should intentionally share information with every client. In his book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, Simon Sinek describes the “Golden Circle” that addresses three important things that clients want to know about you.
What do you do? This seems like a simple question, but it is actually difficult to answer well. To say “I’m a financial advisor” or “I’m a financial planner” is to describe yourself with what linguists call a nominalization: a long word or short phrase that replaces a complicated process or an interlocking set of activities. It functions as a code word or label for something that is hard to describe quickly or easily.
To answer the question well, talk about your clients’ problems and how you’ve solved them. If you can give examples of fixing problems that clients were unaware of or didn’t fully understand, your listener may see more value in the services you provide.
How do you do that? By explaining how you’ve solved problems for your clients, you differentiate yourself from other advisors, highlight your expertise and solidify your value as a technical expert.
Of course, people differ in how much detail they want in your explanation. Some clients may need a lot of specifics, while clients with limited attention spans might prefer an overview. Either way, by describing how you solve your client’s problems, you activate curiosity and self-interest in even the most impatient listener.
Why do you do this? The deepest and most impactful pieces of information to share are your personal values and what drives you to do this kind of work. Your clients see you as a character of significance in their lives. They respect your knowledge and value your advice. Having a thoughtful answer to the “what” and “how” of your business helps people appreciate your professionalism at a deeper level. Answering “why” makes it personal.
The advisor-client relationship is a unique kind of connection: it’s a trust-based, personal relationship in which you discuss intimate and critical issues. It’s also a professional engagement in which you charge a fee for the services you provide. Most advisors benefit from improving how they talk about the “what” and “how” of their business. All advisors transform the level of personal connection when they share the “why” that motivates them.
Sinek is so passionate about the power of talking about your “why” that he wrote another book, Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team. It contains useful guidance for discovering the deeper values that drive your motivation. It’s a highly tactical guide to discovering and articulating these important issues about your work.
Visit the AllianceBernstein Advisor Institute for more practice management resources.