Soft engagement skills will win clients says CoreData

Soft engagement skills have emerged as the critical must-have for financial planners looking to acquire new advice clients, CoreData’s latest Financial Planning Shadow Shop has revealed.

The most successful financial planners in the industry from a customer acquisition perspective are those that demonstrate an ability to influence prospects, and enthuse them to take up advice. These factors have overtaken value of the planner’s services, the key determinant of advice take-up in 2012 as the biggest drivers of whether a client proceeds to pay for financial advice.

Value is still important, however, remaining the third biggest driver of customer commitment, just ahead of ability to build relationships and trustworthiness.

The CoreData Financial Planning Shadow Shop Report details financial planners’ ability to engage real buyers of investment, superannuation and insurance advice, as well as deliver services within the framework set out by all relevant legislation.

Kristen Turnbull, head of financial services at CoreData, said: “Selling has become a dirty word in financial services, but with so much focus in recent years on compliance and regulations, there is the danger that first appointments become a tick-a-box exercise. First impressions are critical and planners need to sell themselves to prospects, by appealing to them on a personal level and engaging them in the advice process.”