Do top financial advisors have better technology, products or services than average advisors? Likely, they don’t. The key fundamental difference for successful financial advisors is offering emotionally compelling advice to their clients.
How many advisors communicate is uninspiring, offering clients financial plans that look like instruction manuals or, worse, spreadsheets.
Most high-net-worth clients, 84%, want to engage emotionally first and logically second, according to 2018 research by CEG Worldwide. Elite advisors understand that it’s about advice, planning and inspiring clients, which is the opposite of what average advisors do.
Average advisors communicate from the clearest thing to the blurriest thing. So, they talk about products or performance first because it is the clearest thing for them to talk about. Elite advisors focus on the blurriest thing because they understand that the No. 1 item people want is clarity about their future. They talk about the opposite of what many other advisors talk about.
To provide emotionally compelling advice, start with your client’s purpose. People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. The goal is not to do business with everyone who needs your products; the goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.
Believe in the value of advice and have the language to support it. Uncover wealthy clients’ key values through questions such as the following:
Key value questions
Clarity: Would it be valuable to get clarity around your philanthropic goals for the future and put it on paper?
Complete: Would it be valuable to get your complete family estate plan in writing and keep it updated?
Transparent: Would it be valuable to get clarity around your legacy for the future and put it on paper?
Quality: Would it be valuable to have a comprehensive financial, tax and investment plan? What is the probability of success in reaching all of your goals currently?
Team: Would it be valuable to have a coordinated team of professionals for the succession and transition of your business and your wealth?
I have found that when working with the high-net-worth, they are looking for more planning and advice, as they have excess capital, income and cash flow. Help them solve these questions.
These are the serious conversations that people need to have with their advisors. It is emotionally compelling and helps people get the No. 1 concern in their lives on paper, directly in front of them.
Grant Hicks is a practice management expert and author. He helps financial advisors grow their practice and get ahead of the curve of industry changes. This was excerpted from the 2019 MDRT Annual Meeting presentation “Future-ready practice management strategies.” (MDRT member exclusive)
For more about discovering what’s important to clients and emotionally connecting with them, watch:
- “Use a financial checklist to uncover clients’ goals”
- “Questions to convert suspects to prospects to clients” (MDRT member exclusive)
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