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Clients in the Dark
The more knowledgeable you become about how human brains work, the simpler but more effective your client communications will become. This is just the opposite of what many people would expect. Usually, the more people know about a given topic, the more complex and detailed their explanations become, which is why we often fail to truly connect with our clients. We have presented over their heads––and that causes mistrust.
In exit interviews with clients and potential clients we asked, “Did you walk away with a clear understanding of what your financial advisor was talking about?” We often heard, “No, some things confused me.” When we asked their advisors how the consultation went, they would often remark, “I think it went pretty well.” The only opinion that matters here is the client’s.
What mistakes do we make that cause clients to walk away confused and in the dark? Some advisors purposely use complex language, thinking they elevate themselves in the eyes of the client. “Isn’t he or she intelligent?” is the thought they are hoping for, but what this approach often produces is intimidation and confusion. As a retired executive told me after visiting a “real smart” advisor, “He intimidated me with all his industry jargon and complex strategies. I took my business elsewhere because I don’t feel comfortable entrusting my fate to people who intimidate me.”
Other advisors unwittingly confuse and intimidate clients by:
Suffice it to say that too many advisors are using jargon as a crutch because they have not learned more effective means of communication.
When we bring up the issue of simplifying presentations, there might even be some who buck up and say, “I’m a professional. I don’t want to appear simplistic or average. Clients come to me because I know more than they do.” When we encounter this type of mindset, we’re reminded of the Australian who said, “You’d be six foot tall if you weren’t five foot up yourself!”
Of course you are a professional. So are doctors and lawyers, but we still prefer the ones who can come down off of their eight-syllable soapbox and speak to us in a way that illuminates rather than confounds.
When pondering the pure intelligence of simplicity, think about some of history’s greatest minds. Jesus explained complex spiritual matters with simple parables like “The Lost Coin” and “The Mustard Seed.” Ben Franklin dealt with the complex issues of independence with stories from Poor Richard in his yearly almanac. Einstein knew how to explain complex scientific principles in ways everyone could relate to. Consider this gem from Einstein on the theory of relativity: “When you place your hand on a hot stove for a second, it feels like an hour. When you sit on a bench with a pretty girl for an hour it feels like a second––that’s relativity!” It was also Einstein who said, “Things should be made as simple as possible but not any simpler.”
Excerpted from StorySelling for Financial Advisors by Scott West and Mitch Anthony. (©2000 by Dearborn Financial Publishing.
Mitch Anthony is the founder and president of Advisor Insights Inc. and The Financial Life Planning Institute, training companies serving advisors and the financial services industry. He is the author of several books for advisors including the StorySelling for Financial Advisors. His newest book, From the Boiler Room to the Living Room: What the Coming Revolution in Financial Services Means to You and Your Clients will be published by John Wiley & Sons later this year. Anthony is a contributing editor for Research magazine and his column “Financial Life Planning” appears in Financial Advisor magazine. He has been a named a “Mover & Shaker” by Financial Planning magazine and is frequently quoted by the media as an expert on financial life planning. His radio feature, The Daily Dose, is heard every day on approximately 200 radio stations nationwide. Contact him at mitch@mitchanthony.com © 2008 Mitch Anthony |
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