client relationships Archives - Don Connelly & Associates

5 Priorities Financial Advisors Must Have to Succeed in Our Business

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As you might already know, financial advisors need to be good business people to succeed, which entails having a solid business plan, creating an ideal client profile, developing project management skills, and acting and thinking like a CEO. Those are critical foundational elements for any financial advisor with ambitions of growing a successful business.

However, on a day-to-day basis, success in the financial advisory business requires a constant blending of priorities such as strategic focus, interpersonal skills, and industry knowledge. Here are the five top priorities financial advisors must focus on to thrive in their careers:

Financial Planning Challenges for Financial Advisors

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In today’s saturated market, financial advisors must offer holistic financial planning for several reasons: It’s a sure way to differentiate themselves from those who only offer investment management. It can build deeper, more trusting relationships with clients, and it leads to better financial outcomes for clients. It can also attract a broader client base and retain those who might otherwise seek these services elsewhere.

Financial planning should unquestionably be a cornerstone service offered by financial advisors. However, performing the service is not without its challenges, particularly as it relates to communication and relationship skills. Awareness of and overcoming these challenges through focus, practice, and sound execution is critical to providing effective guidance and building enduring relationships with your clients.

Unearthing the Buried Treasure: How Financial Advisors Can Uncover Hidden Objections

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Financial advisors play a crucial role in securing a client’s financial future, but beneath the surface of numbers and charts lie unspoken anxieties and reservations—hidden objections that can derail even the most meticulously crafted plan. Unlike their vocal counterparts, these objections can linger beneath the surface, hindering progress and leading to missed opportunities.

However, by employing specific techniques and fostering a trusting environment, advisors can unearth these hidden objections and build stronger, more successful client relationships.

The Non-Salesy Way to Finding and Attracting Your Ideal Clients

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Financial advisors’ success hinges on building trust and long-term relationships. To do that effectively, they need to target the right audience—individuals who value their expertise and require the specific services they offer.

Successful advisors know how to identify a niche that represents their ideal client. More importantly, they know how to reach out in a way that leads to a connection without resorting to pushy sales tactics. The key is to create a sustainable and repeatable process that positions you as an expert in a particular niche to the extent that they are drawn to your message.

Here are the steps to follow:

Why You Need to Encourage Your Clients to Ask Questions

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As a financial advisor, you occupy a position of trust, guiding clients through complex financial landscapes. While knowledge and experience are crucial assets, an advisor’s success hinges on another critical factor: fostering a culture of open communication where clients feel empowered to ask questions. This often-overlooked attribute can unlock a multitude of benefits, leading to more effective financial planning, stronger client relationships, and, ultimately, a brighter financial future for the client.

The Paradox of Financial Education: How Too Much Knowledge Can Cost You Clients

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Financial advisors constantly walk a tightrope between empowering clients and overwhelming them. While financial literacy is crucial for informed decision-making, overeducating prospects and clients can backfire, resulting in the loss of an account. This phenomenon can be better understood by examining the psychology of financial decision-making and the delicate advisor-client relationship.

The Perils of Lacking Empathy: Why It Matters for Financial Advisors

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

Nothing can form a human connection quite like the genuine expression of empathy. That human connection, which is the basis of trust in a relationship, is what clients want from their advisors. Failure to make that connection quickly can drive clients into the arms of a more empathic advisor.

Why empathy is so powerful

Empathy is the ability to see the world through someone else’s eyes, understand their emotions, and connect with them on a deeper level. But to your clients, it’s much more than that. When you express genuine empathy with a client, they feel like they are the most important person in your life at that moment. You took the time to step inside their shoes, walk around, and make them feel understood without judging them.

Winning Over the Children of Wealthy Clients

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As evidenced by the great wealth transfer of $30 trillion currently underway from the baby boomers to the next generations, wealth is generational, with far-reaching impacts beyond any one client. For financial advisors, it could be an unprecedented opportunity to grow assets or the greatest threat to their survival.

Why the disparity in outlook? Because some advisors will be better positioned than others to capture the attention and trust of the next generations. Advisors who fail to connect with the children of their baby boomer clients stand a better than even chance they will lose the assets upon their transfer.

The failure to realize that, when working with a client, you are also working with everyone dependent on them leads to advisors losing an average of 70% to 80% of a client’s assets following their death.

Why Mediation Skills Matter for Financial Advisor Success

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When most people think of mediation and negotiation, it typically refers to lawyers or third parties who facilitate dialogue between two or more parties to help them reach an agreement. In practice, financial advisors sometimes find themselves in the same position, having to resolve conflicts between a client’s family members or within their advisory team, where it’s essential to find win-win solutions.

Disagreements about money are common among married couples. Money conflicts are often rooted more deeply in people’s attitudes and beliefs about money, or, in some cases, money is not even the primary issue. However, in almost all cases, it involves two or more people who don’t know how to engage in productive financial conversations.

Thought Leadership May Be the Only Edge for Financial Advisors

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Clearly, the financial advisory industry is undergoing a major transformation. Technological advances and the democratization of investing has virtually commoditized financial advice to the detriment of advisors who continue to languish in brand obscurity. Until financial advisors can differentiate themselves as authorities in their field, most struggle to gain the attention of new clients or keep the attention of existing clients. Advisors who establish themselves as true thought leaders hold a distinct advantage in the race to add new clients and grow assets under management.

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