Three Challenges Financial Advisors Face in Their Daily Work
A recent post on this blog outlined three challenges Financial Advisors face when acquiring clients. This week I’ll outline three more chief challenges you are probably facing in your daily work, along with some tips on how to overcome them.
#1. Providing clients with reassurance when the markets take a downturn
Keeping clients on track when markets take a dive is a situation many advisors find tricky. But It’s essential to know how to keep clients invested for the long term.
Your clients are bombarded with information from the media when markets fall and their perceptions immediately change. They see a loss of momentum and a market that has nowhere to go but down. They start to see a downturn as a sign that they’re doing the wrong thing.
This is when you need to step up and control your client expectations. Don’t let short-term market fluctuations shift their focus from their long-term plans. Remind them that you have provided them with a plan based on their needs, goals and risk tolerance – and instill into them the fact that it makes sense to stick with it.
When markets fall, comfort is what your clients crave. They need to be reassured that there’s no reason to panic. Your job is to manage their behavior – to get them through downturns and get them to where they want to go so they can reach their financial destination on time. They hired you to take over the worry, and although the plan may get adapted along the way – you will get them to that destination safely.
And in fact, client expectations are often more modest than you think. The majority of your clients don’t expect you to make them rich – they want you to stop them from being poor. Your job is to ensure that once they retire they will be comfortable financially and they won’t have to think about anything else.
#2. Keeping existing clients happy while growing your client base
It can be a difficult balancing act when it comes to keeping your existing clients happy whilst attempting to grow your business. Time is a precious commodity so you need to ensure you apportion adequate resources into managing your existing clients – as well as prospecting.
Many financial advisors don’t spend enough time building relationships with their existing clients but this is an essential in order that they don’t drift away. You need to show them you’re a caring advisor. So call clients on a regular basis to say hello and remind them of why they invested. Ask them if there’s anything you could be doing better. Keep the relationship strong and make it your aim to become friends with your clients – because people don’t fire their friends.
This is a win-win for growing your business in any case – by providing superior service you will stand out and become referable so you can get new and better clients. Advisors run the risk of getting fired when clients feel the Advisor’s service is no longer personalized.
When it comes to prospecting for new clients make sure you’re spending your time wisely. Don’t take on new clients unless they are a good fit for you. Draw up an ideal client sheet with all the attributes your target market should have (maybe base this on your present clients – those you love to work with) and hand this out when you’re out and about. This will give you the best chance of connecting with and making appointments with likely candidates.
#3. Selling yourself
Many advisors feel they’re not doing a great job of marketing themselves sufficiently. In order to address this thorny issue, there’s no shortcut – you simply need to get brilliant at the basics. This means you need to:
- Prospect every day and work on your client acquisition skills.
- Tell great stories.
- Emanate enthusiasm.
- Get a mentor to help you project a great image and overcome objections.
- Always strive to get better at working on client relationships.
- Perfect your presentations.
- Have great organizational skills.
The above should all be in your toolkit. Hone your skills with constant repetition and ply your trade for years. Then apply them in the face of all kinds of markets.
We recommend PLATINUM membership with Don Connelly 24/7 to become brilliant at the basics.
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