The holiday season is in full swing and the question of the perfect gift for the important people in one’s life is top of everyone’s mind. This is the time for financial advisors to give their clients the gift that means the most – authentic connection. Heading into the New Year, evaluate your current practice and make sure you’re fully equipped to provide clients with the ongoing support that is at the very core of delivering financial advice.
Deepening Relationships with Clients
This time of year is the perfect opportunity for advisors to learn a bit more about their clients and about what’s important to them to plan for the coming year. In planning for 2022, advisors must look for opportunities to get to know their clients better, on a personal level.
One of the key ways to do this is by being an excellent listener when meeting with clients and asking questions that allow them to know their clients better. Then advisors can deliver them personalized messages based on what they learn.
Utilizing Technology to Connect
Many advisors contend with information overload— email, phone calls, text messages, social media, research updates, and more. Having a good CRM system can be a vital component in making sure all this information is easily accessible. An advisor can keep track of meeting notes and call up the data to send personalized messages when desired.
It can also help to use an “external brain” app like Evernote. Evernote makes it easy to capture information via email, web browser, the camera on a phone, and more. Once data is in Evernote, advisors can organize it in ways that make sense for their needs. Another valuable tool is FollowUpThen, which advisors can use to manage incoming emails. FollowUpThen works within a user’s email – so there’s no app to download or install. These are just a few examples of the hundreds of ways advisors can use technology tools to manage their inboxes and organize client information.
Technology also enables advisors to connect and communicate with clients even when they’re not meeting with them. A great way to connect with clients between meetings is through content marketing. Besides blogging, sharing thoughts on LinkedIn or Facebook or recording a short YouTube video are forms of content marketing. It’s a great way for advisors to better connect with clients and a wonderful way to give potential clients a window into who they are and how they think about different financial planning and personal finance topics.
Connecting Beyond Technology
While technology can do wonders in supplementing advisors connecting with clients, it’s difficult – if not impossible – to scale deep human connection. So, before advisors rely on a PDF or online questionnaire to gather clients’ financial planning data, they should consider the opportunity to have an “exploration” or “discovery” meeting in person (even if over Zoom) to capture quantitative AND qualitative information.
This can help advisors begin building trust through active listening and inquiry with their clients. It affords them the opportunity to replace technology solutions with good old fashioned conversations and connections that form a deeper bond with clients.
Financial advice is truly a relationship business, which is why this holiday season connection is the best gift advisors can give to their clients. Whether it be connecting in person or using technology to send them a quick note, advisors should let their clients know that they are top of mind. These are the actions that don’t show up in a client’s portfolio, but have a long-lasting impact nonetheless.