5: Process
How many times would you like to be in contact with your advisors each year and in what form (face-to-face, by phone, via email)?
What security measures are you using to protect your personal and financial information?
6: Interests
What are your favorite activities, TV programs, movies and sports teams? Do you have any hobbies, like pets, or travel often?
Are health and fitness important to you and, if so, what's your regimen?
Interaction Not Interrogation
Learning about a client is not just about the questions, of course, but the way they're posed and the manner in which the information is compiled and leveraged. The process says as much (or more) about the wealth manager as the content.
Some aspiring wealth managers may think that asking personal questions is intrusive or even offensive. We disagree. In fact, assuming they respect the wealth manager and his or her intentions-an important caveat-the majority of affluent clients are quite willing to talk about themselves because they understand that data informs a wealth manager's approach to their unique situation. As a result, a deft wealth manager should be able to get the information without reading from a questionnaire or the above list. They can instead deduce the information over the course of time by engaging affluent clients in an ongoing conversation about themselves, their needs and wants, and their interests. Above all, the process should put clients at ease by taking the form of an open-ended conversation, not an interrogation.
As for timing, there's no one right answer. Indeed, the process will probably be incremental. Even if one is able to sit down with a client or prospect for an hour or two to ask some of the above questions, information will continue to be added as the client's profile is fleshed out in subsequent meetings and as the relationship advances. Regardless, the Whole Client Model is exceptionally powerful at fostering the consultative approach that's central to wealth management. That is, in the course of developing a detailed understanding of a client as a person, the advisor and client can get to know one another in a more personal and meaningful way that can only enhance the relationship and the client's confidence.
In any event, as can be seen by the nature of the sample questions, the discovery process is not just about assets. Of course, a wealth manager has to learn all that he or she can about a prospect's finances before being able to offer viable options. But it's just as important to know who they are-their goals and objectives as well as their interests and relationships-as it is to know about their portfolio holdings. That kind of personal probing, facilitated by the Whole Client Model, will be less familiar territory for some advisors (and even some clients) but it makes for fertile ground when it comes to building a relationship.