curse of knowledge Archives - Don Connelly & Associates

Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Good “Who I Am” Story

/ by Don Connelly / Storytelling, analogies and power phrases / 0 comments

Human beings are storytellers. We tell stories because we respond to stories. It’s been so since the dawn of history.

In western civilization, we have received many of our great stories, myths, legends and cultural archetypes from stories memorized and passed down from generation to generation around campfires, dating back to pre-literate times.

How to Be a Financial Advisor

/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments

Working as a financial advisor is one of the highest ranked business careers according to a recent U.S. News & World report, advisors rating it highly for job satisfaction and prospects. As a financial advisor you can make a real difference to your clients’ lives, making this a rewarding profession to aim for.But if you want to be a financial advisor, you need to have two quite distinct skill sets.

Firstly, you’ll need to pass the relevant industry exams. Financial acumen is a must.

Secondly, and indeed more importantly, you should have a real desire to help people and have an ability to understand their goals and concerns.

4 Behaviors to Avoid if You Want to Allay Client Concerns

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

In the first meeting with you, prospective clients may be unsure if investing is the right thing to do. They may also have concerns about whether you are the right person to advise them. How you behave in your first meeting will dictate what happens next. You need to act to allay not only their objections around the investment process itself, but to eliminate any concerns they may have about working with you personally.

To make sure you leave them in no doubt about your ability, never do the following four things.

What Not to Do in The First Client Meeting

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

It takes hard work and perseverance to set up a first appointment with a potential client. Don’t waste this precious opportunity by approaching the meeting in the wrong way – because it’s unlikely you’ll get a second chance.

There’s no ‘first meeting rule book’, however there are some things to avoid if you want to move things forward. Here are a few.

Common Mistakes New Advisors Make – Ones that Could Ruin Your Business

/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments

There are many pitfalls to face when you’re first starting out as an advisor and mistakes are easy to make. Look out for these potential mishaps because they could halt your business in its tracks before it even gets off the ground.

Effective Communication Is an Acquired Skill

/ by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments

Effective communication occurs when the listener understands everything you just said. You made the complex simple. That’s not an easy thing to do.

It takes a long time and a lot of practice to become simple.

The effort is worth it. There is nothing more important to a Financial Advisor than being understood. After all, if everyone understood everything you said, you would be one of the highest paid and most influential people in the world.

Fortunately, effective communication is an acquired skill, not an innate skill.

Overcome The Curse of Knowledge

/ by Don Connelly / Presentation Skills / 0 comments

Financial Advisors know a lot about finance, economics, interest rates, taxes, estate planning, investing, the stock market and many other things. A whole lot. That knowledge comes with a price. When an Advisor knows his stuff, it’s hard to imagine not knowing it. So when an Advisor speaks to a client, the Advisor often forgets that he or she is drawing from an enormous reservoir of knowledge and speaking to someone of lesser knowledge.