the job of a financial advisor Archives - Don Connelly & Associates

What Not to Do in Building Lasting Client Relationships

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

For financial advisors, building lasting client relationships is as essential as it is challenging. There’s really no more important aspect of an advisor’s practice to ensure sustainable growth. While many advisors try to focus on facets in their practice to bring more value to the relationship, they tend to gloss over what not to do, which can have an even more significant impact on their relationships – and not in a good way.

Here are four key “what not to do’s” all advisors need to proactively convert into a priority to-do list.

Why You Need a ‘Why I Am Here’ Story

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

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.

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.

3 Things You Should Never Do in Volatile Markets

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

It’s your job as a financial advisor to stop your clients acting on emotion. You need to get across the fact that the financial plan you created is valid in all types of markets. To manage that, there are some things you should never do…

The Greatest Challenge Any Client (and Therefore You) Will Ever Face

/ by Don Connelly / Investing Wisdom / 0 comments

Sticking with the plan despite tough market conditions is the greatest challenge both you and your clients will face. That sudden drop in cabin pressure when the markets fall is the acid test of your relationship building skills. If you aren’t prepared ahead of time, neither will your clients be.

Whether your clients will stay the distance depends on you.

5 Reasons to Always Strive for Excellence

/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments

If you want to become an elite advisor, you need to strive for excellence in everything you do. And this requires an outstanding work ethic. Great advisors ply their trade until they become proficient. They understand that striving for excellence is an ongoing process; that there’s always room for self-improvement and it is excellence that will separate you from non-achievers. Here are some reasons to develop the habit of excellence.

Don’t Let Clients’ Concerns Escalate: Tackle Issues Head on

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

Meeting your clients’ expectations is the least you can do – it’s simply part of your job – so don’t expect to get a pat on the back for it. If you want to retain clients for the long term, you need to step up your level of service way beyond this and be more proactive than other advisors. Offer your clients a heroic standard of service by taking ownership of their problems before they become detrimental to your business.

Here are four ways to ensure you keep things on track.

Be Prepared – Don’t Ever Run and Hide

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

What do you do when the market takes a turn for the worst? Do you wait for the storm to pass and simply do nothing – or do you reach out to clients and reassure them things will get better? According to recent research carried out by Financial Advisor Magazine failure to communicate with clients on a timely basis is the number one reason advisors lose clients. The upshot is you need to be prepared to talk to clients both in the good times and the bad times.

Put Investing in Terms That Clients Can Understand

/ by Don Connelly / Investing Wisdom / 0 comments

Everyone knows that cars go down in value. That’s just the way it is. No matter what you pay for a car, and no matter how carefully you look after it, it’s going to be worth a lot less than you paid for it. It’s never going to bounce back in value, but car owners are okay with that. They are pre-conditioned to the loss. However, clients don’t see their investments this way. They think investments are only supposed to go one way – up. When investments go down, clients feel they have lost money, even if they have not sold out. They will take a hard loss on a car and not bat an eye, yet they can’t stomach a paper loss in their portfolios.

5 Things You Should Do to Successfully Manage Your Relationships with Clients

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

What your clients do this year and going forward will not be dictated by world events alone. It will be dictated by the strength of their relationship with you. That’s why you need to make relationship building one of your top priorities.

Here are five ways to keep your relationship on a firm footing.