The same can be said with portfolio-related contact points. Instead of market-related contact points, use a 5%, 7% or 10% gain or loss to trigger a discussion on current holdings and the economic outlook. Contact points build emotional alpha by proving to your clients that you are committed to following through on what you said you'd do, which fosters both trust and loyalty.

Be Real Instead Of Cliché
When it comes to creating emotional alpha, the greatest opportunity for advisors is the retirement planning process. As stated previously, much of what financial professionals offer has reached a point of parity and nothing proves the case like traditional retirement planning. Baby boomers, however, are once again provoking a change at this stage of life, and many individuals, employers and professionals are finding there's a need to plan for more than just the financial aspects of retirement. A successful retirement today requires more than a binder full of charts and numbers. Retirees need specific strategies to replace their work identity, stay socially connected and keep both mentally and physically sharp.

A benefit for advisors who position themselves as a quarterback for a variety of services is that they don't need to facilitate everything for the client's benefit. Having access to a variety of tools, tips and resources to help current and soon-to-be retirees craft and live a meaningful retirement assuredly adds emotional alpha. Be prepared, therefore, to steer clients to a Web resource; hand them a guide or worksheet; or give them an outside referral such as a coupon to a personal trainer, a free yoga class or a travel group's newsletter.

Actions Speak Louder Than Surveys
One way to measure emotional alpha is to use a satisfaction survey. These can be great tools, and online surveys like those available at Surveymonkey.com can make them both easy to use and effective. However, like other aspects of the financial services industry, I see them as somewhat clichéd. Everyone seems to have one. In my book, actions speak louder than clicking on a radio button. Accordingly, as a means of measuring emotional alpha in each client relationship, I suggest five questions advisors should ask themselves:

    When was the last time a client contacted you about your newsletter or another communication?
    Has a client recently forwarded your e-mail or newsletter to someone else and copied you on it?
    Which clients have made a recent referral?
    Which clients have you asked to serve as a reference and why?
    When was the last time you received a thank-you card from a client?

While I don't expect the SEC or the CFP Board to adopt these questions as an ultimate measure of emotional alpha, they serve as a concrete example of something advisors can use to gauge the value they provide clients beyond the stereotypical.

Emotional alpha is an emerging area of practice management. Advisors need to be more aware of it and find new ways to integrate it into their client relationships and retirement planning methods. It does require advisors to go beyond superficial touches and communications. But it helps advisors build a strong bond with clients and a business model that can help redeem our industry from the grips of the product salespeople and Ponzi scheming charlatans dominating the headlines.

Robert Laura is president of SYNERGOS Financial Group, author of Naked Retirement (http://www.nakedretirement.com) and co-founder of RetirementProject.org. Laura can be reached at [email protected].

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