The following is an excerpt from our new book, Best Practices of Elite Advisors, co-authored by Stephen Boswell andbased on three years of Oechsli Institute research on elite advisors.It contains a real-life illustration of the power of affluent relationship management.
Building and nurturing relationships is innate to all but the most dysfunctional people. But doing this with strategic intent requires a unique set of skills, including interpersonal skills, sales skills and discipline. All of these can be learned and refined.
The following example was shared by a participant in one of our live events: “I went with one of my top clients, husband and wife, to a social function at our club. My intention was for the husband to introduce me to his associate. He gave me a little background on his associate, so when he introduced me I was able to develop rapport by getting him talking about his son’s tennis. He introduced me to his wife in the midst of talking about their son’s tennis—a conversation she was eager to join as a proud mother. Not a word was mentioned about business until his wife finally asked how I knew Bob (the client). My response was simply, ‘I help Bob and Mary oversee their family’s financial affairs.’ That grabbed her attention, so I added, ‘Just guiding them through this mess.’ She looked at her husband, and suggested that we meet.”
This scenario, as simple as it might appear, contains seven “Elite Advisor” relationship marketing insights.
Excerpted from our new book Best Practices of Elite Advisors (pages 12 – 13) by Matt Oechsli and Stephen Boswell (© 2013 by Matt Oechsli and Stephen Boswell. All rights reserved. Published by Wealth Management Press)