Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
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Dear Bev,
One of our portfolio managers is embarrassing in meetings with clients. He insists on using complicated terms, doesn’t listen to what the client is saying and barges through with frightening concepts even though the client isn’t interested. I’m at my wits end trying to get him to be more interactive and focused on the client. Any tips for me?
Elle, Ohio
Dear Elle,
You don’t say what your role is, but I assume you are the relationship manager or salesperson assigned to work with this PM. Unfortunately, too many very smart people in this industry think that in order to impress the client, or give the investor confidence in the portfolio manager’s abilities, it’s necessary to overwhelm them with jargon, sophisticated concepts and complicated ideas!
As you have found out, this backfires more often than not. Investors want clear, understandable language and they want it to be about them – their needs, their interests, and their lives.
What to do with someone who won’t yield to other’s needs? A few ideas:
- Engage in pre-call planning with this PM. Talk about the type of client you will see, what their background is and their interests. Confirm with the PM the expected outcome of the meeting. What defines success for both of you and for the client, most importantly?
- Put the PM on notice that you may interrupt him during a meeting in order to clarify things for the client. Tell him you can sense when someone doesn’t understand, so you will take charge and make sure the client knows what he or she is being told.
- Then, do it. If the PM starts to go down a path you know is not good for the client, or if the client seems confused, stop right there. Say, “This can be a difficult concept to understand; let’s back up and make sure you have the information you need.” Or, make the connection for the client – why is this information important to them?
- Do a post mortem after every meeting. Be sure to give the PM clear feedback about what’s working and what’s not. Don’t focus only on what he needs to improve; give him some positive feedback, too.
With consistency you will see a shift in his behavior.
Dear Bev
We have been through a great deal of training for working with clients. There is something that bothers me – we have had two different vendors train us. One says, “Just ask for referrals as often as you can.” The other says, “Don’t ever ask for referrals. Create a space for referrals to happen.” These are, obviously, contradictory. Where do you stand on this debate?
Mike, Missouri
Dear Mike,
I don’t know if this will make it easier or more difficult for you, but I’m standing firmly in the middle of these two suggestions!
Clients refer for their own reasons, not yours. They refer because they know someone who needs your help, or a friend asks them for a reference to an advisor, or because they remember you when a family member is talking about financial confusion. They don’t refer because you ask them to.
I often share a story about a carpet cleaner who came to my house – he did an excellent job and I was very pleased with the results. When he was done and I was complimenting him, he put a piece of paper in front of me and asked me to write the names down of five of my friends who might need his services. I balked. My friends are busy professionals and they would kill me if I gave out their names.
Did it mean I didn’t like him or his service? No. Did it mean I didn’t know which friends could benefit and which would be happy if I referred them? Yes. You have to do a great job, be consistent and make room for referrals, but asking for them alone isn’t productive.
Engage your clients and ask them what works – do they need to understand more about who you can help? Do they realize the breadth of services you provide? Do they know your target market and the needs new clients often bring to you? Do you create space for referrals by having lunches, educational events or by sending an audio update or a short informational piece? Do you have a client advisory board in place to help you with the best way to do this for your firm?
It isn’t as easy as “just ask” and it isn’t even as easy as “create the space.” Like investing, it takes consistency, dedication, knowledge and commitment. You have to put a focus on gaining referrals just like anything else in your business.
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995; in 2008 she co-founded Advisors Trusted Advisor to offer dedicated practice management resources to advisors, planners and wealth managers. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate students Leadership & Social Responsibility. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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