Initially a sceptic, Robert Skinner now believes there’s more to client behaviour than just that “touchy-feely” stuff.I’m a rational and analytic person. So the concept of psychology and client behaviour was initially challenging to me. As a planner, I learned seven years ago of a concept about understanding deeper client preferences and behaviour; and to be honest I found that area quite “fluffy” and potentially hard to work with. My hesitation was around how this could benefit my clients and my financial planning business at the time and what were the practicalities. I was of the opinion that I did the best financial plan I could and the client preferences were not really important.
A good plan is a good plan, regardless of how someone “feels” about it. After now working closely for some time with a particular human behavioural tool, it’s funny looking back at my previous client base and seeing some obvious challenges and reasons for the challenges, which were not clear previously. Now that I have more knowledge, I can see people are different, react differently, are driven by different values and are stressed by different things. When I formulated my advice it was logical, as was my client service package. Sometimes it was frustrating to present a plan to a client who just did not “get it”. Now I realise that in most cases it was because they were not “wired” like I was. It is now clear that there are substantial benefits to the client relationship and the planning business in understanding psychological differences and in using psychometric testing.
I use the term “psychometric” and not “risk profile” purposefully. Psychometric testing is not risk profiling. It helps you understand the client, as in the person – what are their values, how do they prefer to create and manage wealth, what stresses them out, how do they like to communicate and, importantly, what will make them avid referrers. It won’t tell you whether they need a conservative or high-growth portfolio. People who are in tune with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Kersey Temperament Sorter or the DISC profiling system know the potential benefits of such tools.
Unfortunately, there can be quite an art to interpreting these results in a money context, particularly when the reporting does not have a wealth flavour. If you are wondering, like I once was, whether there is any benefit in using this kind of tool with a client, then from a personal point of view, I’m happy to say the very material that I almost dismissed as fluffy has ultimately changed my life. I now have a greater understanding of myself, which answers a lot of questions that I struggled with for a long time. It has calmed my life and strengthened my relationship with my spouse, my friends and business associates. You too can do this for your clients if you’re willing to go there. It need not be difficult; you just need to decide that helping your clients understand themselves and their personal preferences for the way they manage and deal with money is good for them, and good for you.
