Moving from Left to Right

Bob Mauterstock, CFP, ChFc, CLTC

Whether you know it or not, most financial advisors are much more comfortable on the left than they are on the right. I don’t mean how they view politics but how they relate to their clients. As you probably already know, the left side of the brain deals with the rational and analytic aspects of decision-making. Advisors communicate with the left side of a client’s brain when they are organizing, managing, detailing, projecting, implementing, and supervising their clients. Advisors spend far less time relating to the right side of a client’s brain where teaching, coaching, supporting, guiding, serving, and sensing takes place.

Why is that? Primarily it’s because that’s how most of us were trained. We learned early on how to put a detailed data questionnaire together and ask all the critical questions. We wanted to know what our clients’ assets were, what their target retirement date was, and how much income they needed. But how often do we ask, “What’s important to you about money? What money messages did you get growing up? What is going on in your life?”

The real reason most of us don’t ask the right-brain questions we should is because they put us at risk. They put us in territory we are often uncomfortable with—how our clients really feel about life, family, career, and their advisor. We’re afraid that we will be accused of being one of those “touchy, feely” advisors out in the ozone. But in reality, it’s the only way we will get to know who our clients are and what they want.

Through this recent economic crisis our clients learned that while their advisors had very extensive knowledge of economics, investment products, hedging strategies, and tax laws, they still could lose money! Even the prestigious institutional investors like Harvard and Yale lost 25 percent! What did our clients learn that they really wanted? Someone who understood them. Someone who would stand by them when things got tough and they were scared. They wanted an advisor that they could trust and talk to––really talk to. So how do you make that transition from the right to the left?

You need to become an expert in communication. Becoming an expert in communication begins by learning how to be a good listener. In his book, The Lost Art of Listening, Michael P. Nichols says, “The essence of good listening is empathy, which can be achieved only by suspending our preoccupation with ourselves and entering into the experience of the other person. Part intuition and part effort, it’s the stuff of human connection.”

During our first interview with a new client, most of us are focused more on sounding like we know what we are talking about rather than listening to what they are telling us. We’ve got to move the focus away from ourselves and to the client. We’ve got to become comfortable with silence, in order to give a client the chance to contemplate a question and answer it sincerely.

The second important part of becoming an expert in communication is asking the right questions. Mitch Anthony brilliantly covers this area in his book, Your Clients for Life. In chapter 5 (Questions about Life), he states that there are four types of questions you can ask a client:

• Data questions;
• Intuitive questions;
• Socratic questions; and
• Biographical questions.

Data questions are the ones we are most familiar with. They are designed to get information. Many of us are not as familiar with the other types of questions. Intuitive questions are designed to reveal values, beliefs, personality, and priorities. Socratic questions cause clients to think about their goals, hopes, and direction in life. Biographical questions help you understand a client’s history and life path.

How do you get started using these questions in your client meetings? Think carefully about the questions you want to ask, write them down, and start asking them. It’s that simple. A perfect intuitive question might be, “What is the most important thing that money provides you today?” The answer reveals that client’s values and priorities. A Socratic question might be, “What would you do differently if you had all the money you would ever need?” Your clients’ answers reveal their most cherished goals. A biographical question could be, “What are your chief information sources regarding financial decisions?” This question reveals your clients’ level of investment sophistication and whether there are any other people in their lives––like a parent, CPA, or another financial professional––who are providing advice.

Introduce several of these different types of questions into your interview. Don’t forget to focus on important transitions that they may be facing now or in the future. We talked about this technique in the March 2010 edition of this newsletter. At first you may feel uncomfortable asking your clients these questions. But soon you will discover that you have shifted your relationship with them from investment manager to trusted advisor. Once they view you as their trusted advisor, their focus shifts from return on investment to return on life.

Bob Mauterstock, CFP, ChFc, CLTC is the Financial Life Planning Institute’s resident financial life planning coach and is available to help financial services organizations and individual advisors make the transition to return-on-life advising. He is a recognized expert in the areas of succession planning, retirement income planning, and long-term care planning. Bob has been a financial advisor to hundreds of families over the last 30 years and has helped them achieve the move from return on investment to return on life. Bob is the author of the ground-breaking book, Can We Talk?  A Financial Guide for Baby Boomers Assisting Their Elderly Parents.  To find out more about the Institute’s Return on Life Coaching Program®, contact Bob at Bob@mitchanthony.com or (508) 246-7564.

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