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 Readers,
I received a call this week from a very good friend who has amassed a great deal of money and has been working with an advisor. But her family is very unhappy with the performance and, more importantly, they are unhappy with the way they have been treated. I happen to know the advisor well and was asked by this family to give a couple of references to other advisors who would be good alternatives.
Listening to the experience this family has had through their lens of being a client, I decided to give some broad-based coaching on areas advisors consistently overlook.
So here are Bev’s five best tips for improving your relational skills with your clients.
- Learn to self-reflect in a meaningful way. While most human beings can quickly point out their foibles and areas for improvement, I’ve consistently found with advisors that – in many cases – they believe themselves to be excellent listeners and communicators, when (in surveying their clients or talking to COIs) the truth is that the people on the other side do not perceive them as so. It can be hard in a client survey to ask whether your client perceives you as a good listener, but you certainly can have someone outside your firm do a qualitative interview to find this out – or ask your clients directly. Or ask team members. Or ask someone close to you. Seek to understand where you can improve. This isn’t about beating yourself up or uncovering more to work on, but it is about being honest about what might be holding you back.
- Use every opportunity to deepen the relationship. Your life is busy. Client relationships, investment management, planning, running the practice, networking, administrative things all take time. It can be very easy to get lulled into a sense of “that client is happy, no need to worry until next year’s meeting…..” with many of your clients. And, for the most part, this might be very true. But do you know if the ground is solid should the market take a sucker punch? Are your clients insulated from another advisor who might listen well? Do your clients understand the value you provide, or could a cheaper index fund look appealing? Are you doing holistic planning and reviewing their taxes, estate planning and philanthropic desires? It’s important to step back and examine how you interact with clients, and how you conduct your business on a regular basis. Take stock and force yourself to find somewhere you can improve.
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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Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here. 
