Marco van Basten
When I think of people who made the biggest impact in my life, it was not their expertise or their accomplishments that provided me with direction, guidance and reassurance I needed to accomplish my goals.
It was their sincere belief in me. They let me know through their words and actions that I mattered.
Your clients want that same validation.
In fact every single person you meet, shares this common desire. As I wrote last week, the largest part of a financial planner’s target audience want to know they matter. Mattering is a universal human need. And it’s one you have the opportunity to satisfy.
But it’s not only the people who believed in me which had an impact in my life.
There’s one other person who totally influenced me. He didn’t believe in me. Actually, he doesn’t know me.
But although he doesn’t know me he still means the world to me. He mattered to me in the past and he matters to me now. No matter what he does or doesn’t do, I believe in him.
This person is Marco. Marco van Basten.
It was quite hard not to like him. Even if you hated AJAX or AC Milan, the clubs he played for. His goals were unimaginably beautiful, his style was like a ballet dancer (media named him ‘The Dutch Swan’) and his success was like what Microsoft is to software. He was a technical player with a remarkable body control. Has was fast (100 meter in 11 seconds), two-footed and had a left-right feint in his arsenal.
Back in 1987 he was transfered to AC Milan, together with Ruud Gullit. At first Gullit proved his value with a magnificent first season. While Marco van Basten was mostly injured.
That damn ankle.
But when he recovered, the real Marco van Basten stood up. With football from another planet and Marco as the star player of AC Milan, he won two European Cups and two World Cups. And several times he won the title for best European Football Player of the Year (’88, ’89 and ’92) and in 1992 he also won the title World Football Player. Even with the national team of Holland he won the first national title. In 1988 WE won the European Cup in West-Germany. It was a fantastic time.
But it’s not the great football, the titels, or the won finals that matter to me.
Not even his beautiful goals like the bicycle kick against FC Den Bosch or his unimaginable goal in the European Final in 1988.
I knew that Marco mattered to me when he announced that he was never going to play football anymore. During 2,5 years I was hoping that he would recover from his ankle injury. That ankle who had suffered so many tackles and surgeries by so called specialists.
I was hoping for his comeback. That he could show his art again.
But in 1995 he announced that he was forced to stop because of his destroyed ankle. He was only 30 years young. He played his last game at the age of 28. I was devastated.
I never forget his goodbye game where 75.000 heavily emotional AC Milan supporters gave him a standing ovation in his San Siro Stadium, while his coach Fabio Cappello was crying in the dug out for the loss of one of the greatest players of all time.
Some people say: He’s only a football player. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona.
To me, Marco matters. Back then, now and forever.
Now, my goal is to make financial planning matter to you, your clients and the rest of the world. Like Marco matters to me.
So that your clients become raving fans of you as a financial planner, now and forever.
To matter like this, is not easy. It takes time.
Yet, there are simple things you can do to really matter to your clients. And therefore your clients must matter to you.
You have to let your clients feel that you are giving them all the best of yourself. Just like Marco gave me, the supporters and the rest of the world his beautiful goals, you have to give your clients your best.
I want to help you with that. So, please answer the following question
What is your biggest problem to matter (more) to your clients?
Leave your answer here below in the comment field. Thank you.
Let’s make financial planning matter,
Ronald Sier
