As a financial advisor, you will encounter different types of clients. Depending on your target market, those clients could range from pre-retirees and couples to business owners and companies. You might work with individuals with plenty of cash flow and a high net worth, or you may help a husband and wife that want to create an emergency fund and save up for their child’s college education.
But no matter your niche, every kind of client will come with emotions. Some might come to you anxious and uneasy, feeling uncertain and fearful about their financial future. Others may be excited and optimistic, looking forward to figuring out their finances. And wherever they fall on that spectrum, it’s your job to show you care about helping them achieve their goals.
What can you do as a financial advisor to connect with your clients? Let’s look at seven ways to convince clients that you understand their circumstances and have genuine concern for their wellbeing.
1. Ask Open-ended Questions
How can you know what your clients truly need if you don’t give them time to talk? Furthermore, how can you offer personalized solutions if you don’t present opportunities for your clients to open up?
You show your clients you care when you invest time into learning about them. Yes or no questions provide limited information. Open-ended questions allow a client to speak, and in turn, the client feels like you have a desire to get to know them.
2. Listen and Learn
Understanding starts with listening. Even all the right questions won’t do you any good if you don’t make a conscious effort to listen to the answers.
Don’t worry, you will have a turn to talk. The information you gather will help you as you present recommendations.
But during the first meeting or two with a client, it is imperative to listen. Do all you can to gain an understanding about your client and what they need from you as their financial advisor.
3. Confirm that You Understand
Show you listened through confirming actions. As your client speaks, make eye contact. Nod or shake your head at appropriate times. Be aware of your facial expressions and body language.
As you give advice, refer back to what you know about the client. Let them see that you based your financial recommendations based on X,Y, and Z learned from your conversations together.
Most importantly, exhibit sympathy and empathy. Console their fears. Address their concerns. Calm their worries. Feel what they feel, and portray through your actions that you understand those feelings. Sharing a personal story or two can be helpful, too.
4. Remove Distractions
When you have a client in front of you, make them your top priority. Incoming texts, emails, or calls can wait. Even a quick glance down at your vibrating smart watch is off-putting.
Do not let distractions interrupt your client meetings. Nothing screams disrespect like a financial advisor that will not set apart interruption-free time for their clients.
5. Use Uplifting Language and Easy-to-understand Terminology
Your clients are entrusting you with their heartfelt issues, which means some of your clients will come to you with a doom and gloom perspective. After all, finances can be a stressful topic.
As a financial advisor, be encouraging and uplifting. Use language that makes your clients believe you’ve got their back. Leave no doubt in their mind that you want them to succeed.
Additionally, you don’t need to tout all your fanciest finance terms in order to convince your clients that you know what you are talking about. To some, financial terminology can be as hard to understand as a foreign language. Connecting with your clients is all about meeting them where they are and creating conversations that are comprehensible and natural.
6. Continue to Communicate
Always follow up with your clients. Financial matters are one of those never-ending adult responsibilities. Even when you think a client no longer needs your services, keep in contact with them. By doing so, you are showing that you are committed to their long term financial success. Do not put a timeline on your care and concern.
Not to mention, continual communication often leads to continual workflow. Making your clients feel valued is a form of job security.
7. Invest in Yourself
When you work to improve yourself, you become a better financial advisor for your clients. Take educational courses that will further your financial knowledge. Do not be stagnant. Rather, remain up-to-date on the latest financial happenings.
Developing new skills is another way to invest in yourself. Seek to increase your emotional intelligence. Strive to improve your interpersonal skills.
Moreover, consider partnering with a financial advisor business coach that can offer an outside perspective on your connectivity capabilities and what you can do to improve your financial advising services. Top financial advisor coaching programs are available to help new or veteran financial advisors become their best selves.
Working on your own ability to create emotional connections is a roundabout way of showing your clients you care. The best financial advisors connect with their clients by appealing to their emotions.