Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Financial Advisor?
Top financial advisors almost always possess the same traits and skills. Not only do they have a great work ethic and a determination to succeed, but their interpersonal skills are second to none. In particular, elite advisors ooze charisma – a charisma which they use to influence people.
In this post we’ll look at what it takes to be a Financial Advisor and some skills successful advisors share.
#1. Being a financial advisor takes likeability
When they meet with an advisor for the first-time, prospects are looking for clues as to whether they should like and trust that advisor. Successful advisors make full use of their outgoing, open and friendly personality – giving prospects good reasons to like them and want to do business with them.
Life dictates that some people are more naturally charismatic than others. If you feel you currently lack sufficient charisma, there’s no need to worry – there are plenty of techniques that can help you develop charisma.
Start by practicing the traits of elite advisors – maintain good eye contact and take a real interest in what people are saying. In fact, listen – far more than you talk. Allow prospects to understand the kind of person you are by sharing personal details with them. Let them see that you’re a genuinely caring human being.
#2. It takes an outstanding work ethic to succeed as a Financial Advisor
Top advisors understand they won’t become successful overnight, and that they’ll only achieve success after years of hard work and commitment. To help them persevere they set themselves clear goals – with regular achievable targets to hit along the way, be these daily, weekly or monthly. They also allocate a regular time to prospecting every day – and stick to this religiously.
#3. It takes superb communication skills to be a successful Financial Advisor.
Prospects don’t buy what they don’t understand. That’s why top advisors are proficient at making the unfamiliar familiar by using metaphors, similes and analogies. They know how to tell great stories, and are adept at painting word pictures in prospects’ and clients’ minds. To provoke an animated response in prospects, they ask rhetorical questions like ‘I bet you paid more for your last car than your first house, didn’t you?’.
Elite Advisors let people know they understand their pain points and set high goals for their clients. They communicate their passion and commitment towards making these goals happen. They get across the fact that, once hired, they are on a retainer for life – always there when a client needs them.
#4. Being a Financial Advisors also takes an ability to overcome set backs
Good advisors manage to keep their emotions on an even keel. They keep things in perspective – understanding that, in the same way one good day won’t assure success, neither will one bad day lead to failure.
If you are to succeed as a financial advisor, you will encounter frequent and repeated rejection. Top advisors see rejection as a necessary part of the job and that, when someone rejects them, it’s not a personal rejection of them as ‘people’. When someone say ‘no’ it’s not that they don’t like them – they just don’t need financial advice right now.
Successful advisors can weather rejection and carry on regardless. They also see ‘failure’ as part of the learning process – if they start to feel they’re making the same mistake over and over again, they change things. The most important aspect is to get back on track as quickly as possible.
To help you see why failure is not the end, it’s worth considering that Coca Cola only sold a couple of hundred cokes in their first year, 23 publishers initially rejected Dr. Seuss, and Henry Ford’s first two companies went under.
Successful advisors don’t become successful by accident. They don’t allow themselves to drift through life. They have self-belief, determination and optimism – they develop a plan and follow it. If you have the drive and commitment to succeed and are prepared to put in the effort to upgrade your soft skills, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy a successful and rewarding career as a financial advisor.
Make the first step to perfecting your soft skills – join Don Connelly 24/7.
After being in the financial advisory industry, I learned a lot about how it works and what you should know before getting a job as a financial adviser.
Thanks for joining the conversation, Jamie, I’m glad you found the post useful even though you’re experienced in the industry. Have a great day!
~Diana