Regarding Generations X and Y, their approach to advisors is more about the future than the past. “Show me what’s going to happen to me . . . show me my future” is how younger folks look at a potential advisor relationship, Marston said, adding they’re less interested in what a particular advisor did for their parents or how much assets under management they have or how many wonderful accolades they’ve received.
The advisor’s conversation with X’ers and millennials should be future-focused on the client, or the potential client, and not history-focused on what the advisor and his or her firm did in the past, Marston said.
Similarly, advisors should take a different approach with baby boomers than they did with the boomers’ parents.
Boomers, Marston offered, will be the healthiest and longest-living generation to date. Unlike their parents who viewed retirement as “stopping,” many boomers view retirement as “starting” a new active phase in their life.
“Always appeal to their values, not to their age or their life stage,” Marston said.
Regarding technology, he noted some boomers are starting to push back against too much technology in their advisor relationship because they still want to see their advisor’s eyeballs and hear their voice versus getting another encrypted PDF document to sign.
In short, personal relationships still matter for many boomers, Marston said.
But boomers won’t be around forever (despite what they might think), and eventually they’ll pass down their assets to their children. And that’s when things could get tricky for advisors who want to capture the business of their boomer clients’ children. The key is to hone the message specific to that particular age group.
Marston posited that Gen X’ers—his age bracket—tend to be cynical and pragmatic, and are big into researching financial-related matters online before taking the plunge, including when it comes to choosing a financial advisor.
“They stalk products and services, which means they’re checking out advisors and finding out as much about them as they can before the first meeting,” Marston said, adding they often already know a lot about an advisor before they even meet them. “The first meeting happens online.”
Gen X’ers aren’t looking for, nor do they trust, so-called “experts,” Marston continued. “Instead, they’re looking for someone to teach them. Become a solution to the noise [in the financial advice marketplace]. Offer options that demand your explanation and allow you to teach them.”
Regarding Gen Y, Marston said this demographic can be categorized as people with a group orientation who are generally optimistic and have been well cared for. They’re not adults and they’re not adolescents—they’re in an in-between stage, he explained, adding that delayed adulthood is symptomatic of affluent societies on the whole.