Financial Advisors, How Believable Are You?
When a client, a North Carolina financial advisor we’ll call Dave, interviewed his clients, they revealed how they saw him as a trusted advisor.
Here’s what they said: “When it comes to money, I ask Dave.” “Dave protects my interests.” “I feel as if I am always first in line.” “Dave takes the initiative and stays in close contact.” “Dave does what he says he is going to do.”
How about you? Would your clients say the same about you?
Dave has integrity. He sets high moral standards for himself. It’s not about paying lip service to his values but being guided by them day in and day out.
How To Become Believable
We’ve long been advocates of “believability” as a vital marketing tool. In our action guide about “Believability Boosters,” we explain it like this: A key concern for prospects is, Can you be trusted? You can prove it with client relationships that are deep and meaningful, like Dave’s. Do you put your clients’ needs first? Or is the relationship about what you can get out of it?
Recently, Ameriprise linked integrity with advisor success.
Sure, concerns about integrity have dogged Ameriprise Financial.
Last year, a laptop was stolen with personal information including client names and Social Security numbers. More recently, Ameriprise was fined $225,000 by the Georgia Secretary of State when an investigation revealed forged customer signatures on financial documents.
This time the firm took the high road by sponsoring a study linking various advisor traits (12 in all) with investment results. Guess what? According to the “Investor’s Business Daily” article, integrity came up number one. Acting on your beliefs and doing what you say is also good for your bottom line.
Ameriprise is offering a one-year training program to help its advisers improve their level of integrity. That includes helping them perform comprehensive planning “in the client’s best interest.” That ““can only be done with integrity,” an Ameriprise spokesperson said.
What Is In Your Client’s Best Interest?
It may be, as Ameriprise states, “building a portfolio that beats the market.” But that may not be a goal for your clients. For example, a successful financial advisor, a client gearing his practice to women, asked his 6 Advisory Groups of women what they wanted.
They never mentioned “beating the market.” Instead they wanted: “a conservative philosophy in analyzing investment opportunities,” and “the most important benefits are security and safety.” They wanted “peace of mind,” and “someone to take my worry away.”
What is in your client’s best interest? It’s not necessarily what you want, and it may not be “beating the market.” Zero in on your top clients and do what it takes to understand who they are and what they want from you.
Practice with integrity and do what you say you are going to do. That way you can gain the loyalty of your clients and more referrals. Such a practice can be good for your bottom line, too.
P.S. Free access to our own “7 Client-Attraction Secrets of Highly Successful Financial Advisors” is at http://www.marketingplanfinancialadvisor.com
Add comment October 23rd, 2007
