/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
Most advisors believe they are good listeners. And many are. After decades of client meetings, market swings, and late-night planning sessions, they have learned to catch the tremor in a voice, the hesitation before a number, the glance that says more than words. They nod at the right moments. They remember the names of children and the dates of retirements. They guide conversations with a competence that feels earned and effortless.
But listening rarely disappears overnight. It fades over time. What begins as authentic engagement gradually shifts to something smoother and more efficient. The very experience that makes advisors valuable, the thousands of conversations that teach them patterns, pitfalls, and probabilities—can also dull their curiosity. We start to see clients not as new stories unfolding in real time but as familiar variations on themes we’ve already mastered.
The danger isn’t that you stop caring. It’s that you start assuming.
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Common Listening Mistakes Advisors Make When They Start Assuming
/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
Most advisors believe they are good listeners. And many are. After decades of client meetings, market swings, and late-night planning sessions, they have learned to catch the tremor in a voice, the hesitation before a number, the glance that says more than words. They nod at the right moments. They remember the names of children and the dates of retirements. They guide conversations with a competence that feels earned and effortless.
But listening rarely disappears overnight. It fades over time. What begins as authentic engagement gradually shifts to something smoother and more efficient. The very experience that makes advisors valuable, the thousands of conversations that teach them patterns, pitfalls, and probabilities—can also dull their curiosity. We start to see clients not as new stories unfolding in real time but as familiar variations on themes we’ve already mastered.
The danger isn’t that you stop caring. It’s that you start assuming.
Read more