/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
There’s no doubt about it: The past six months have changed our business. It’s not just because those of us in the financial advisory business have changed. Our markets and our clients have changed, too. Their habits and behaviors are different.
Case in point: Those of us of a certain age remember closing lots of sales at the kitchen table – often late at night. But with the pandemic, few people are going to invite a salesperson into their home. That way of doing business was disappearing even before the pandemic. Now it may be gone forever.
Here are four communications challenges your peers are facing – and a few words on some possible solutions. We’ll have more in depth content on each of these topics in the future. But here are the basics to get you started.
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Winning the “Why Do I Need a Financial Advisor” Argument
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
Long before it became a field of academic study, legendary investor Benjamin Graham knew a thing or two about behavioral finance. Graham went on to say, “In the end, how your investments behave is much less important than how you behave.”
For financial advisors, understanding how emotional and intellectual processes combine to influence investors’ decisions offers the opportunity to help their clients avoid costly mistakes and optimize investment outcomes.
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Convincing Clients of the Futility of Market Timing
/ by Don Connelly / Investing Wisdom / 0 comments
We will probably never admit it, but most of us are lousy timers, and, of course, none of us can predict the future. How often have you tried to shift your way through stop and go freeway traffic to end up in the slowest lane again? For investors who try to time the market, the actual costs of underperformance and lost opportunity are invariably greater than the potential benefit.
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4 Challenges Financial Advisors Face in the New Digital Environment – And Solutions
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
There’s no doubt about it: The past six months have changed our business. It’s not just because those of us in the financial advisory business have changed. Our markets and our clients have changed, too. Their habits and behaviors are different.
Case in point: Those of us of a certain age remember closing lots of sales at the kitchen table – often late at night. But with the pandemic, few people are going to invite a salesperson into their home. That way of doing business was disappearing even before the pandemic. Now it may be gone forever.
Here are four communications challenges your peers are facing – and a few words on some possible solutions. We’ll have more in depth content on each of these topics in the future. But here are the basics to get you started.
Read more
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.
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What Really Is The Job of a Financial Advisor?
/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
To be an elite advisor you obviously need technical knowledge and expertise. But, just as importantly, you must possess superb soft skills. Your role is to change your clients’ lives for the better and you can only do this if you can effectively communicate with them. To do your job properly you need to get across to people the importance of investing, and why you are the perfect advisor to oversee their investment plan. Here are three aspects of your job as a Financial Advisor that should never be overlooked.
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Get Involved in Your Clients’ Decision-Making Process
/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
To win new business, earn loyalty and get referrals, you need to focus on what your prospects and clients are thinking. We all have our own particular ‘mental model’ or way we see the world, based on our beliefs and experiences. According to classic consumer behavior theory we tend to follow similar thought processes when we make a decision whether to purchase a certain product or service.
By understanding this consumer behavior, you can tap into your prospects’ thought processes early on and influence decisions in your favor.
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Understanding Your Clients’ Behavior Is Key to Your Success as a Financial Advisor
/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
The more you understand what motivates your prospects and clients, the better your chances of success when it comes to attracting and retaining them. When you begin to see things from your clients’ and prospects’ point of view you can start to influence their decisions and help them make good financial decisions.
So break out of your own mindset. Step into their shoes: Then you will be able to build strong client relationships, anticipate your client needs and manage their expectations.
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