What kind of experiences have your clients had with money and investing? What have been their worst and best experiences? What kind of experiences, good or bad, have your clients had with other financial professionals? What kind of financial vicissitudes have they witnessed with their families and friends? How have these observations influenced their current perspectives? These are the types of queries I recommend for enabling dialogue and building client narratives around their personal experiences and observations. I call it the “Fiscalosophy” dialogue—seeking to understand their perspectives on key financial issues.
C. Emotional Connectivity
Are your clients certain that you “get it” and “get them”? Everyone in the financial services profession purports to be in the “relationship building” business, but let’s step back and examine how relationships are built: They are developed over time and through trying circumstances in which people are able to demonstrate their commitment to others. Relationships are also built through the honest exchanges of our stories. My stories reveal what I’m about and yours reveal the same. In that exchange, we find common ground—sometimes we stand on it for a lifetime.
It’s not enough to be on “friendly terms,” which doesn’t require emotional connectivity; a smile from a distance doesn’t equal a firm and friendly handshake. Our gestures can mean the difference between “I can tolerate you” and “I’m really thankful for you.” Far too many professionals are content with a peripheral comprehension and superficial rapport when much deeper and more profound connections are available. To expand our range, we need to be willing to go deeper into the dialogue.
As an advisor recently told me in Johannesburg, “When I make clients my focus and not their money, and do everything in my power to understand them, their situation and their future challenges, they don’t come into my office and tell me they found something online that does what I do for one-third the cost.” This advisor understands the three-ball, and she added it to her game before she had to.
We are at a historic inflection point in the arc of financial planning and advice. What got us here will not take us forward. The machine-like advisory functions are no longer as profitable. The human functions hold far greater promise amid intensified scrutiny and advancing technology. The game isn’t going to slow down in order for you to catch up … it’s time to take your game to a new level.
Mitch Anthony is the author of the industry best seller StorySelling for Financial Advisors and the groundbreaking The New Retirementality (now in its fourth edition). A highly sought-after speaker, Mitch is widely regarded as a thought leader and pioneer in Financial Life Planning.