6. Discuss “legacy beyond money”

Do your clients’ children and grandchildren know what Gen 1 really stood for, their life stories, life lessons, core values? “Deep Sharing” is not baked into most families’ DNA. What if you facilitated such sharing by gathering a group of your older clients and delivered our Legacy Beyond Money Workshop?

One of our favorite questions from the workshop is, “If you had just ONE thing to share with your next generations what would you want to tell them?” How do you then tie this to connecting to the next generation?

“Thank you so much for opening up at last week’s workshop. I was so touched by your insights and wisdom. When are your children (and, if appropriate, grandchildren) coming to town for a visit? I would like to host a lunch with you and them to share many of the jewels you shared with the room. Your life lessons are priceless. In addition, with your approval, of course, I would like to edit the video tape of the workshop to your commentary only and present it to them as a token of my appreciation of you.”

Can you imagine a more favorable way to “be discovered” by your clients’ next generations?

7. Package all the “stuff”

How many 60-year-old “children” of 90-year-olds face the challenge of trying to locate key documents or even keys to safe deposit boxes after the passing of your older clients? Could you have done something to have made for an easier transition? Many advisors add the cataloguing of a “life inventory” into their scope of services.

8. Connect with husband AND wife

You can’t possibly connect to the next generation if you lose the client after the husband dies. Recent surveys suggest that 70 percent of women fire the couple’s advisor within one year of the death of their husband. How is this possible? Many advisors fail to connect to both sides of couples.

As Kathleen shares, women’s brains are typically wired differently than men. They tend to be concerned with:

• What does it feel like to sit down with this advisor?

• Do I feel understood?

• Do I feel heard?

• Does this person “get” me?