Matt Linnert says if you truly engage a client, they’ll subconsciously find your services more valuable.
When meeting with clients, don’t let your mind wander and think about all the other things you want to get done that day. The more focused you are on your client when meeting with them, the more likely you’ll both enjoy the interaction, leading to heightened engagement and all the benefits that come with it.
Here’s nine tips to help you improve your attention in client interactions.
1. KNOW YOUR CLIENT. While this has become a compliance requirement, it’s important to recognise that genuine and authentic inquiry into what is important to your client can be deeply engaging. Sure, some clients won’t let you go there, but those clients are flight risks and the ones unlikely to give all their business to you.
2. ASK GREAT QUESTIONS. While fact finders and risk profilers have their place, you can go much further with inquisitive questioning. Be willing to listen to your intuition, and ask questions because you have a hunch. For example, if you get a hunch your client is not as engaged in your conversations as they were in the early days, talk about it. It’s much better to have the conversation than to find out they are moving on without you having the opportunity to discuss it.
3. RECORD THE UNIQUENESS. Diversity is all around us, yet we look to build heavily systemised businesses to deliver a consistent product, service or package, to everyone. While administration costs always need to be considered, look for that quirky uniqueness about your client that enables you to differentiate them from others. It will help personalise the experience for them and for you.
4. OBSERVE MODELS. Different people prefer to operate in different ways. For example, if a client sees the world as a place where they can be creative and tactical, then making short-term tactical investment decisions is not irrational at all; it’s fully aligned to their model. It’s only once such behaviour is assessed against a theoretical model, as opposed to a human behavioural model, that it can be considered irrational. Work with your client’s model of the world, not against it.
5. IDENTIFY AND HIGHLIGHT VALUE CONTRASTS. With uniqueness and diversity, we have differing values. Some people value order, some flexibility. Others value logic, others more so empathy. Don’t expect your clients to value the same things as you; highlight what’s similar and different and how you intend to use the differences to your mutual benefit.
6. TAILOR YOUR COMMUNICATION. Presentation scripts may be useful to process clients; however, there are many cases where they create a clunky and manufactured experience for adviser and client alike. Be willing to tailor your communication on a case-by-case basis, even between husband and wife, if you want to engage both parties to your service offer.
7. BALANCE IQ AND EQ. While many advisers are intellectually and analytically oriented, most appreciate the influence of emotions on people’s behaviour. Understanding how your client feels about a recommendation provides great insights into their likely advocacy and commitment to your recommendations. If you don’t do so already, consider adding the question, “how do you feel about that?” to your repertoire.
8. PRACTISE LANGUAGE WHOLENESS. Or in other words, be open and honest about how you feel and what you think. For example, “I’m really sorry your portfolio is off 20 per cent this year. Even though the whole market has been hit hard, and we have outperformed it by 5 per cent, I still don’t like any of my clients’ portfolio values coming off like this. Are you worried about how things are going to be in the future?” The inclusion of emotive language creates an element of wholeness to the conversation. You can still deliver the “facts”; however, you are now facilitating a more complete conversation with your client.
9. KNOW WHAT YOUR CLIENT WANTS. By being more open with your client, you create an environment where they can be more open with you. As a result you can find out your client’s wants, such as physical (what they want to own), activity (what they want to do), emotional (how they want to feel), mental (what they want to think). You may not be able to help at every level; however, by identifying the want, you can refer them to the appropriate person, further delivering value.
These nine steps can help to get you away from client processing, and to create deep engagement. While working on value propositions and fees, keep in mind that an engaged client will subconsciously use confirmation bias to find increased value in your services – whatever they are!
Matt Linnert is a co-founder of www.moneypersonality.com.au and www.innergi.com.au
