Remember, at this moment especially, your clients may be reassessing their priorities and their answer to your question might be different than if you had asked it two or three months ago. Have their goals shifted in recent weeks? Are there new concerns about supporting family, especially those located in other geographies? Has their business been impacted? What about their health? These are all areas in which a truly trusted advisor can be one of the most valuable people in their life.
2. Trust doesn’t simply mean honesty. It is natural for a client to trust their advisor once the advisor has demonstrated through actions and advice that the client has truly been heard and—in turn—helped toward reaching their goals. You can be honest and truthful about the products that you are selling people for years, with many different clients and prospects, and they can be confident in your track record. This doesn’t mean, however, that you have earned their trust. Trust is a by-product of leading with your values, listening to your client and always putting their wants and needs first.
3. Clients are excited to speak to advisors they trust, but “building trust” should not be your goal. Again, trust is a by-product of values-based advising. If you are a values-based advisor—what we at The Pacific Bridge Companies call an “Aloha advisor”— then your clients will trust you based on how your words match your actions, your character and the extent to which you listen to them and put their hopes and dreams at the center of everything you do.
Regardless of where you are in your career or how you have worked with clients and prospects in the past, if you choose to you can begin to break free of the sales-focused cycle by changing your mindset and your approach—today. I know from experience that you can become your clients’ most trusted advisor by leading with character and listening, and this will help you change their lives, and your own, for the better. What better time to start than when they need you more than ever?
Stephen Kagawa is CEO of The Pacific Bridge Companies, which specializes in helping advisors navigate through challenging cross-border and intergenerational financial planning issues that often require expertise in banking, insurance, investment, tax, and law.