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Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
Dear Readers,
A recent medical experience gave me pause to consider how often advisors are likened to doctors in the way they diagnose and solve client problems and interact with their clients.. My daughter noticed a tiny bump on my leg and pushed me to have a dermatologist look at it. I thought it was all over-reacting and the doctor, when examining the bump, said, “It’s nothing to worry about, but if you want we can biopsy it.”
While she made me feel a bit like a hypochondriac, I figured I was already there, so why not just get rid of it? Soon after, I received a call informing me that the bump was cancerous and needed to be removed right away.
I’m fine now and on the other side. However, the experience made me think of how often financial advisors also might be too quick to solve a problem without understanding the underlying root cause, or might overlook something important for a client. Here are some ways to avoid delivering a poor bedside manner when clients need help:
1. When a client presents their issues, in too many cases a financial advisor will hear only the surface issue rather than asking the deeper open-ended questions that involve “Why?”, “How?” and “What?” Sometimes clients are not sure of the exact issue they need to resolve. Many people need someone to help them probe more deeply to get to the root issue.
In training I often share with advisors how the best therapists, those who make hundreds of dollars an hour, don’t very often “solve” anything right away. Instead, they ask question after question so they can help the client reveal what’s lurking underneath the surface concerns. Advisors can learn from this strategy and be patient in their need to solve by continuing to engage before they provide an answer.
2. Financial wellness is inextricably linked to health and mental wellness. Financial advisors who simply establish a retirement date, understand the client’s goals and then create a portfolio to meet timing and dollar amounts are missing opportunities to deepen relationships by learning more about what really matters to their client.
Have you ever wondered – besides having a lot of money – what makes your client happy? What brings them down or gets them discouraged? Why they have a chosen career? What their relationship is like with their children and how they envision it could or should be? Depending on the nature of the person and the relationship the advisor has with them, these can be tricky to engage on. However, once you do, there is a great deal of information you can gather about what matters to your client.
3. Ask the “elephant in the room” questions. I’m always struck by how often a client will drop a nugget of information, something potentially very meaningful to them, and how often an advisor will gloss over it. Perhaps it is the fear of opening up something that is difficult. Perhaps it is not wanting to offend the client by probing. Perhaps it is the feeling of being unable to help or solve what’s wrong.
Whatever the obstacle might be, the advisor will let the moment pass and then go on to the next subject. That nugget could have been the difference between a good relationship and a great relationship. Don’t let the opportunities pass even if, in that moment, the conversation seems daunting or difficult.
4. Keep asking the open-ended questions even when the client seems unwilling to share. If you frame something in an open-ended manner (i.e. it cannot be answered with a yes or a no), it’s hard for someone to completely ignore your question and move on. Yes, sometimes a person might say “I don’t want to talk about that,” or even “That’s none of your business.” But generally when you approach people with a true interest in helping them and a curious nature, they can’t help but respond.
If you do have clients that are resistant to engaging, don’t give up. While someone might be hesitant to share too much today, next month or year or at some other point in the future, they might be much more open. For some people it takes time to trust the ability to reveal themselves. Be patient and keep asking the questions in a supportive and professional manner.
5. Explain your role is helping them solve the right problem and making sure you are giving thorough and well-rounded answers. It’s important to give a client the “WIIFM” (what’s in it for me?) perspective when you are asking questions or trying to understand them more deeply.
The truth is that you can do a better job as their advisor if you more deeply understand who they are and what they really care about. This goes beyond filling in a risk questionnaire or establishing a retirement date; it means listening with empathy and working hard to understand who they are and what truly matters to them.
6. To relate back to my original story of the bump on my own leg, don’t stay at the surface level and assume all is well because you have addressed the surface issue. Care about your client, care about your professionalism and care about being a financial “doctor” who wants to make the client feel at ease opening up about anything. Clients can be embarrassed, afraid, worried and concerned about so many things. Your job is to provide a safe space to help them own their emotions while also using your technical skills to help them get to a better place.
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry, in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. The firm has won the Wealthbriefing WealthTech award for Best Training Solution for 2022, 2023 and 2024. Beverly is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. She is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
