Overcoming the Age Bias Prospects Have About Young Advisors

Overcoming the Age Bias Prospects Have About Young Advisors

For young financial advisors, nothing is more challenging than overcoming the age bias that older clients have against them. I hear it often from advisors who come through our training programs—that feeling as though they are viewed more like a child or grandchild than a financial advisor. It creates a perceived impression that young advisors don’t have the experience, skills, or knowledge to appreciate the circumstances of older clients, let alone guide them in making critical financial decisions.

That may be understandable and, in some cases, deserved. Older prospects are right to question a young advisor’s experience and depth of knowledge. But the problem may not be with the perceptions of older clients as much as it is with the mindset of younger advisors. Most advisors have gone through that painful period of not knowing what they need to know and feeling embarrassed to meet prospects who may sense that.

The primary difference between where they are now compared to where they were back when they knew less and lacked experience is confidence.

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The Slippery Slope from Empathy to Role Reversal, and How to Avoid It

The Slippery Slope from Empathy to Role Reversal, and How to Avoid It

Successful financial advisors know that expressing empathy is critical in helping them to connect with clients and solidify their relationships. Clients need to know you understand their circumstances and what they may be going through at any given time. However, empathy taken too far can backfire when advisors find themselves sharing the same emotional distress as their clients, which can threaten their objectivity and compromise sound planning advice.

At the extreme, this can lead to advisors relinquishing control of the relationship to their clients and acquiescing to their desire “to fix the problem” in the short-term at the expense of their long-term plan. This type of role reversal is not uncommon for advisors who become emotionally vested in their clients, wanting to do what they can to ease their pain. Suddenly, the relationship is no longer being guided by rational, objective advice; but rather the behavioral impulses advisors are supposed to prevent, such as selling into a steep market decline, or abandoning the long-term strategy just to alleviate the immediate suffering.

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Three Challenges Advisors Face in the Post-Pandemic World

Three Challenges Advisors Face in the Post-Pandemic World

At the height of the COVID crisis, financial advisors were confronted with unthinkable challenges. All things considered, the industry has been resilient in the face of unprecedented headwinds. But, as the other side of this crisis begins to come into view, the industry faces a significant shift that will shape the way advisors operate long after the pandemic wanes. Advisors who get in front of that shift and adapt to the new paradigms quickly will not just survive; they will thrive.

If you could capture clients’ general mood today in one word, “anxiety” would probably say it best. In their hearts, minds, and souls, it’s a very different world from just a year ago and, as much as we all hope for a return to normal, there may be no going back for clients. Their perceptions and priorities have forever changed, much like they did during the 2008 financial meltdown. Only this time, it’s different because it involves both financial and health risks.

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The Importance of Your Storytelling Skills in Building Trust

The Importance of Your Storytelling Skills in Building Trust

Now and then, financial advisors must be reminded that they are in a relationship business and that what they have as a clientele is a direct by-product of trust.

The cold hard reality is that people need to trust you before they will engage with you. Especially these days, people are almost instinctively cynical, overly careful to approach others they don’t know with a heavy dose of skepticism. So, when we want to connect with any group of people, our first task must be to break through their defensive shells so we can build trust. Without trust, there can be no connection, no relationship, and no channel through which vision and ideas can flow.

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How to Succeed at Giving Financial Advice

How to Succeed at Giving Financial Advice

So, you want to be in the business of giving financial advice. That’s understandable because not only can the career of a financial advisor be financially rewarding, it can also be very fulfilling. Through a relationship that can span a lifetime, you become the essential source of advice in one of the most important aspects of your clients’ lives. There’s just one problem. You don’t have any clients—yet.

As a new financial advisor, your number one job is to find new clients. That has always been advisors’ biggest challenge but more so today due to the trust deficit that exists in the financial services industry. According to a CFA Institute survey, only 57 percent of retail investors trust the financial services industry, which is up from a few years ago, but it’s still a wide chasm to overcome. The same survey found that retail investors listed “trust” as their top consideration when hiring an advisor. Prospective clients simply won’t work with an advisor they don’t trust.

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Communication in a Post-Pandemic World: How to Connect with Prospective and Current Clients

Communication in a Post-Pandemic World - How to Connect with Prospective and Current Clients

All of us are affected by the coronavirus and the shutdowns. The virus is slowly running its course but social distancing will be with us for a very long time to come.

That means most of us are going to have to change the way we market and sell our services. “Meet and greet” networking events will be out of the picture for a while. When they do come back, they’ll be different. They may look more like ‘show and tells’ with slide shows than mingling sessions.

Even walking into businesses and asking for the owner is going to be fraught. The small ‘handshake’ ritual that has been with us since antiquity will be changed as we figure out our new forms of etiquette and social conventions.

So, what’s the best path forward?

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How to Make The Most of Your Value Proposition

How to Make The Most of Your Value Proposition

Too few advisors know what a value proposition is or why they need one. Others understand the importance of identifying their unique value, but don’t know how to articulate it.

This is a serious mistake, because unless a prospect understands what you do and why you do it, they’ll remain unconvinced about your worth. In fact, without a strong value proposition your business won’t even get off the ground – it’s the first step in building your financial advisory practice.

Here are some tips on creating and expressing your value proposition.

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Why You Need a ‘Why I Am Here’ Story

Why You Need a ‘Why I Am Here’ Story

We all know that everyone likes a good story, a fact that’s backed up by science. When we hear a story that resonates with us, our levels of the ‘feel good’ hormone oxytocin rises. This motivates us to work with others and has a positive impact on our social behavior.

Stories can also help to build connections and create empathy with prospects and clients.

So, it’s no surprise that story form is great for illustrating to prospects that you are there for the right reasons – that you’re not in this business simply to make money but to add value to people’s lives.

Here are a few ways developing a ‘Why I Am Here’ story will help you grow your business.

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