Four Tactics to Secure Financial Advising Clients

Clients seek the advice of financial advisors for many reasons: retirement planning, investment, insurance, and other financial endeavors. While every client has different needs and countless concerns, you can implement four key tactics that help provide a sense of security with clients to build lifelong business relationships.

Keep Things Simple

Clients rely on financial expertise as they are often overwhelmed with the idea of long-term retirement planning and find the often-dizzying array of investment opportunities confusing. While they want an advisor who understands financial investments, you must talk in terms that they understand, avoiding verbiage such as "sector rotation" and "market segmentation." Using simple terms to describe financial outcomes reassures your customer that the process is easier than expected and builds their trust in you.

Prioritize and Track Long-Term Goals

Clients nervous about growing their assets may worry because everything seems abstract. Where, they may think, is their money actually going? Calm their fears by reassuring them of the validity of their course of action with highlights of major milestones. For instance, if someone is saving for an education fund for a child, let them know when they have enough money to pay for the first semester of college. If someone wants to buy a home, calculate when they will have enough money to make a down payment. These reassurances give confidence to the client that they are making progress towards major goals and that you are instrumental in making that happen.

Empathize

When it comes to finances, there is an interesting link between low income individuals and those with six- and seven-figure incomes: they are both starting to feel the economic crush on their lifestyle. According to an Elevate survey, over three quarters of the country identify as middle-class, with 51% of respondents with incomes of $100,000 or more identifying as such. And, for reasons ranging from a stagnant economy to rising health costs, 80% of these "middle-class" respondents believe it's much harder to survive in the middle class now than it was 25 years ago. Even those whom many would imagine as being financially secure feel themselves being torn away from that security and thrown into an unknown future.

What does this mean for a financial advisor? It's important to approach each client with an open mind and heart. While the six-figure client may very well be in a more secure place than someone making a fraction of his or her income, every client stresses about the future. Take the time to reassure them that you understand and can address their fears. Letting them know you view them as people first and clients second helps individuals from the entire financial spectrum breathe easier; their future now feels less uncertain when they know you will be a part of it.

Be Concrete

Just as clients appreciate concrete goals, they like concrete numbers. Every advisor knows what it's like to have a client that barely knows how to manage a checkbook, much less invest. If possible, take the time to help the client understand the numbers of his daily, monthly, and annual finances. Once you have a hard delineation between money spent on bills and luxuries, you can better advise the client on allocating funds to savings, retirement plans, and other financial vehicles. Along the way, you'll be shaping them into a more responsible and financially aware consumer.

For more ways on providing that extra level of customer service that builds your business, download our guide: 6 Ways an Advanced Financial Designation Helps Grow Your Practice!