mastering client relationships Archives - Page 5 of 6

5 Things That Could Ruin Your Clients’ Trust in You – in Seconds

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

It can take many years before clients come to know you and trust you, and during this time you’ll need to work hard to win them over. In order to earn their trust, you’ll need to demonstrate exemplary behavior and deliver a service that goes above and beyond.

But that’s not where it ends. It may have taken you years to build up trust but it takes just seconds to break it down. Just one slip and all that hard-won trust is gone forever. Make sure this doesn’t happen to you by avoiding the following behaviors.

Best Practices for Letting Go of a Client

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Saying goodbye to clients often seems counter-intuitive to new advisors, whose primary concern is to grow a customer base. But failing to ‘weed out’ unprofitable clients is a bad idea for any advisor’s business. To succeed in this industry, you need to spend your time servicing your most profitable relationships and this necessitates dropping unprofitable accounts from time to time.

There can be many reasons why certain clients are no longer a good fit for you. Perhaps you’ve identified a need to downsize your business because it’s become impossible to serve a multitude. Or maybe you’re working with clients who ignore your advice, are too needy or blame you for poor market performance.

Whatever the reasons your focus should be on providing great service to your most valuable clients – which means you need to let the others go.

Every Financial Advisor Needs to Tell Great Stories

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

Human beings have an innate desire to tell and listen to stories. Good stories grab the attention and inspire people to act, which is why storytelling should be an essential tool in your armory. If you become a great storyteller, prospects and clients will leave your office remembering both you and your message.

Stories are also a great way to help make the unfamiliar familiar – they promote the understanding of complex issues. Plus, they’re effective at creating an emotional bond between storyteller and listener.

3 Types of Clients You Should Want to Attract and Retain

/ by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 0 comments

It’s surprising to find that certain broad sectors of the population still remain underserved in certain instances.

If you, unlike other advisors, can devise a strategy to attract and retain these potentially valuable clients, you could vastly improve your business.

Let’s have a look at three types of clients you should try to attract and retain.

5 Ways to Develop Accountability

/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments

Accountability is a trait many advisors lack, but one that elite advisors always possess. No matter how great your talent you won’t get ahead unless you become accountable for your actions and the actions of your clients. Without accountability you won’t develop the self-discipline you need to take charge of your career and make changes for the better.

If you need help to develop accountability, here are five ways you can get started.

5 Costly Mistakes That Could Lose You Clients

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

When a client takes you on, they’ve decided they’re comfortable getting into a long-term relationship with you – and that’s a huge compliment. If you want to retain them, you must work hard to maintain the integrity of that relationship over the long term.

Don’t make one of these errors, or you could end up in the firing line.

5 Signs That It’s Time to Let Go of a Client

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

Signing up a new client – any client – feels like an achievement, especially for new advisors. Keeping money coming in is after all the number one priority. Over time however you’ll find that you have two types of clients: Clients you actively look forward to speaking to i.e. those who are pleasant to do business with, make realistic demands on your time, and are fully onboard with your ideas. And then there are the others – the ones you come to dread dealing with.

As a financial advisor you should aim to only work with clients who are enjoyable to deal with and profitable. It’s not only acceptable to prune out bad clients – but essential to keep your business healthy.

So how do you know when it’s time to let go of a client?

5 Things Financial Advisors Should Do to Make the Most of This Holiday Season

/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments

As the year draws to a close it’s the ideal time to reflect, regroup and make plans for the New Year. What went right and what went wrong? What things can you do to make sure your career is in great shape going into the next year?

Here are five ways to help you hit the ground running next year.

How to Connect with Clients Emotionally

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

As financial advisors we’re objective thinkers. We use the left, logical, side of our brains, to work out the technical aspects of financial planning. But simply being able to do the math won’t differentiate you from the competition – even robo-advisors are pretty good with interest rates and algorithms. The way to stand out is to make an emotional connection with people.

Your clients won’t make big decisions based on the numbers. They will base them on how they feel about you, using the right (emotional) part of the brain. To form a connection with clients you need to work out what it is you have to offer them on an emotional level.

Here are three suggestions to help you connect with clients emotionally.

Telltale Signs That a Prospect Is About to Waste Your Time

/ by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 0 comments

Your time is precious so it’s essential that you spend it productively by prospecting to the right people. Some prospects are not worth spending time on – maybe expressing an interest when they’re not really committed to investing – and despite all your best efforts you won’t be able to do anything to change their minds. The problem is these prospects can be difficult to identify.

Here are a few telltale signs that someone is not about to do business with you.

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