Most people hire a financial planner because they have a problem. A problem that you have to solve for them. Many financial planners think that their client only wantw their advice. But your clients also have another problem. If you ignore that problem you’re missing a huge opportunity. Chances are that you don’t take this into account. You should. Because you can miss sales if you don’t.
Before I tell you about this other problem of your client, let me tell you a short story. Some time ago I met the CEO of a very successful company. It was my first encounter with him. I was well prepared for that conversation. I knew exactly what questions I was going to ask to get his personal goals clear. After I had poured him coffee and talked about the latest news, I asked him the following question: “What is it that you want to have accomplished at the end of our conversation?” His answer surprised me big time. He told me immediately everything about his total financial situation, his expectations and his problems. I didn’t expect that he would be so open. I hadn’t even asked him so!
What I’ve learned from that conversation, is that clients initially don’t want my advice. What your clients do want, is that they are finally able to tell their story. The big problem with your clients is, that they can’t tell anyone about their success and the wealth they have earned because of that. They have worked really hard for many years to achieve their success. And now they want to share their success with someone.You must know that everyone likes acknowledgement for what they did in their life. But they can’t tell their success story with anyone! Their family? No, they often do not want to brag. With their friends? No, because that’s too private. The one to whom they can tell is their accountant. But can you imagine how much fun it is to tell your success story someone who doesn’t know and wants to learn from you? Your client knows that he can tell his story to his financial planner. You are his trusted advisor. It is therefore a missed opportunity if you do not ask for the success story of your client. Your customer is happy because finally he can tell his story. And you have solved a problem for him.
