It’s entirely possible that two people with a similar amount of money to invest and the same risk tolerance could have different financial personalities.

Or they could have similar financial habits but very different risk tolerance. Understanding how to guide clients through these key decisions under pressure and uncertainty is the reality advisors face every day. The core of this, and frankly all our dealings with clients, is effective communication.

This summer, the FPA Research and Practice Institute released its survey, “Trends in Client Communication 2014. The study examines communications with clients—the frequency of reviews, the length of response times to e-mails and phone calls, etc. It then discusses advisor tracking of these standards of service and reports on advisors’ perception of their effectiveness.

While the findings are not startling, I find it sobering that fewer than half of the advisors in the study have a formal client feedback process. It’s concerning that 56% of advisors have communication service standards but only 30% actually review and reinforce them with clients. It’s fascinating how frequently practitioners talk about communication but how little they spend on it.

Finally, it’s amazing that a majority of advisors (more than 77%) believe they have a client communication process that is fairly effective. Their perception is apparently confirmed by the findings from the study “Rules of Engagement 2014,” by Advisor Impact and AssetMark. Ninety-one percent of clients in the study indicated they were very satisfied with their advisory relationships. But this begs the question: Are advisors really doing a good job of communicating or is it that when markets are positive, clients don’t care? The risk, of course, is that the clients may start to care a great deal in a bear market, and if our communications are poor, our business may be at risk.

My favorite book is Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith. First published in the ’90s, it makes a valuable point that has always stayed with me. What we do in the service business—any service business—is sell something that a client cannot touch, see or feel. Many times, he can only judge, years later, how effective or valuable our service has been. And because our work is intangible, our relationship is fragile unless we successfully make this “invisible work” visible. It doesn’t break down until it breaks down, and when it does, it becomes something very personal. For example, when the client’s air conditioner acts up, he blames the unit; when his portfolio is volatile, he blames you. So while we are patting ourselves on the back for the good job we are doing, we aren’t working on improving our communication processes or making them more effective and less invisible.

As part of our communication classes at Texas Tech, we use the DNA Behavior software developed by Massie. It has carefully crafted questions that pinpoint behavioral style, particularly what Kahneman refers to as Level 1 or automatic behavior. First, we use the assessment with students to help them understand their own financial hardwiring. Then we help them evaluate their clients’ financial hardwiring in order to design an appropriate portfolio (instead of using risk tolerance alone).