YOUR BUSINESS
for how to do exactly that — and then use that knowledge to differentiate your service offering .
1 . Ask the right questions . You must dig deeper into the ways your clients define success by asking open-ended , probing questions about what they value in life and want from it . You should also ensure you ’ re practicing active listening as they respond . Pay close attention to what clients say , without interrupting or imposing your own ideas of success . Focus on comprehending their values , goals and aspirations .
2 . Understand your clients ’ most important family relationships . To effectively serve your clients , you must understand who matters most to them — and while this will often be their children , it could also be a beloved grandnephew or even the child of a close family friend . Don ’ t assume ; ask questions about key relationships during your initial and ongoing discovery .
3 . Practice inclusive communication . You want to make sure you ’ re setting up your married clients for long-term success by proactively including both spouses in meetings , on calls and in email correspondence . This way , if one partner passes in the future , the other isn ’ t caught completely unaware of their financial situation . To empower both partners , you should educate both about financial concepts , investment strategies and long-term planning . You can offer resources that cater to their different learning styles and encourage both spouses to actively participate .
4 . Tailor services to different wealth levels . Your clients with a net worth of up to $ 5 million likely have different ideas of what makes for a life of success and significance than clients with a net worth that ’ s higher . You want to make sure you ’ re adapting your services to meet your clients ’ changing net worth and needs .
5 . Use specialized services . To effectively provide your clients with a full range of services aimed at helping them achieve their vision of success , you should create and maintain a network of high-quality specialists — attorneys , accountants and
EXHIBIT 1
The Likelihood An Investor Will Move More Assets To An Advisor Who Asked About Nonfinancial Definitions Of Success ( By Age )
Total
Millennial
Gen X
Baby Boomer
Make sure you ’ re setting up your married clients for long-term success by proactively including both spouses in meetings , on calls and in email correspondence .
■ Extremely / Somewhat Likely ■ Neutral ■ Somewhat Unlikely ■ Very Unlikely
17.6 % 46.5 % 14.3 % 21.7 %
5.8 % 38.4 % 53.5 %
13.5 % 45.3 % 16.0 % 25.2 %
2.3 %
34.6 % 44.7 % 9.6 % 11.2 % others — who can provide your clients with expert guidance .
6 . Perform ongoing client-centered discovery . You should go beyond surface-level information gathering , asking questions to uncover what truly matters to clients about their money , their aspirations for success and the underlying values that drive their decision-making . Talk to them about their concerns and feelings , aiming to understand the factors that affect their relationship with money and their most important goals .
7 . Ask clients to transfer assets . You should also be aware of triggers that tend to prompt clients to consider transferring assets — such as major life events , portfolio changes or shifts in tax laws — and regularly offer to perform diagnostic reviews of all your client ’ s assets , including those managed by other advisors .
8 . Position referral requests as a secondopinion service . One of the things you can do when you want to ask your clients for referrals is to position these as an opportunity for a client ’ s friends , family or colleagues to get a second opinion from you on their financial goals , strategies and overall wealth management .
Move Beyond The Money
Success isn ’ t simply about accumulating wealth — it ’ s about life outside of the account statement or investment balance sheet . Investors are looking for advisors who care about their life beyond their financial accounts . Younger investors , such as millennials , are ready to shift their assets to advisors who really “ get ” them .
You can help those investors — and yourself — by ramping up client engagement and identifying both financial and nonfinancial ways to boost success as your clients define it . Advisors who are willing to look beyond wealth and ask about their clients ’ nonfinancial dreams and goals have everything to gain and nothing to lose .
WWII 7.6 % 51.4 % 15.6 % 25.7 %
Source : © 2023 CEG Insights . N = 1,270 Investors
GEORGE WALPER and CATHERINE MCBREEN are managing principals with CEG Insights ( formerly Spectrem Group ), leading innovators in wealth management research .
24 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | JUNE 2024 WWW . FA-MAG . COM