Six Relationship Management Tips for Financial Advisors
Did you know Don Connelly has a YouTube channel? He regularly shares his wisdom in audio and video format on various topics which are interesting to Financial Advisors. One such topic is relationship management.
Here are the top six relationship management tips, taken directly from Don Connelly’s YouTube channel.
#1 – Learn what clients want and offer them great service.
Good service doesn’t sell. Great service sells. And to offer a great service, you need to really know your clients, wouldn’t you agree?
This audio episode is a story about the late Mac Cadaret and Art Grant, who have built a tremendous organization, Cadaret Grant. They took the time and the presence of mind to ask clients what top ten things they wanted from their advisors. Check out Don’s video on YouTube to learn what these ten things were.
#2 – Develop emotional intelligence to successfully manage your clients’ emotions.
Financial Advisors like to think of themselves as objective thinkers. You try to put your emotions aside. You live in a world of research and numbers. Investment results are there for all to see. Clients say yes or no. You open the account or you don’t.
Your clients, on the other hand, are subjective thinkers. Every decision they make is fraught with emotion. Should I or shouldn’t I? What if I lose everything? Whom do I trust?
Emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor your emotions and the emotions of others. It guides your thinking and your behavior. The better you control your own emotions, the better you can control the emotions of your client. Head over to YouTube to learn how to stir emotions in your clients.
#3 – Care more than people expect you to care.
As Don Connelly often says, we live in a mediocre world. Good has been replaced by good enough. Exceptionalism is not only quaint, it’s frowned upon. Somehow to feel exceptional about oneself has become synonymous with being worthy of criticism.
When people get poor service, they are not the least bit surprised.
People no longer expect good service except in the very finest of establishments, places where they willingly pay a lot in exchange for that good service. Mediocrity is the new standard.
That opens an enormous door for you. Once people get used to mediocrity, anything above mediocrity stands out. Listen to this audio episode to learn how to stand apart from the crowd by caring.
#4 – Don’t overpromise so that you don’t underperform.
The biggest mistake Financial Advisors make is overpromising. And I don’t mean lying or being deceitful. I mean simple, innocent overpromising like showing somebody a mountain chart. Americans love to win. So when you show somebody your mountain chart, you’re setting yourself up to lose, because they want to get what you’ve shown them.
Every time you overpromise, you underperform because if you ask clients, their goals are pretty modest. In most cases all they want to do is beat the bank. Years ago Don Connelly was involved in a study, where they talked to the top clients of top Advisors. Check out this episode on YouTube to learn more about the study and why overpromising is the biggest mistake Advisors make.
#5 – Go the extra mile to build great relationships with your clients.
In this audio episode Don Connelly talks about the type of relationship you have to create with your clients. He shares two stories about Advisors who do go that extra mile you have to go in order to build great relationships with your clients. Click here to listen to the audio episode on YouTube.
#6 – Learn to deal with difficult clients and let go of bad ones.
When you rid yourself of a bad client, you are losing nothing and you are gaining a lot. Difficult clients are not unique. There are many reasons why clients become difficult. Nevertheless, you always have two options – keep them or let them go. Check out this audio episode on YouTube to explore both options and to improve the way you deal with difficult clients.
