Getting Clients / Keeping Clients

I recently chatted with an advisor who complained of difficulty getting clients to buy into his recommendations.

We all know the expression “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

This speaks to the fact that we can talk to existing and prospective clients all we want about our recommendations, but a couple of well chosen graphs and charts can dwarf the impact of any number of words. Read the rest of this entry »

The investment landscape has altered fundamentally since last fall.

One of the important changes is a basic shift in what investors look for  in terms of communication from their advisors.

In my October column in Investment Executive, I outlined four new imperatives for client communication that advisors ignore at their peril. Read the rest of this entry »

Ask just about anyone these  days whether they’re busy and the typical response is “SWAMPED!”  - that’s true of advisors and clients alike.

Being busy is good to a point – as long as it’s not the “hamster on the wheel” effect  –  where the faster we go, the faster the wheel we’re on turns (the source of the expression “spinning our wheels.”)

And being busy is also good provided it doesn’t get in the way of periodically stepping back and thinking about our business – that’s the only way we ensure we’re working smart as well as hard.

In fact, research shows that consistently committing the time to think critically can lead to a dramatic boost in overall productivity.

So how do we go about ensuring we’re “working smart”? Read the rest of this entry »

In early September, I hosted a round table lunch in Vancouver with eight successful advisors.

A key topic was the frustration  most were experiencing in attracting new clients.

In discussing this further, consensus emerged that for almost everyone in the room, the number one objective for this fall is developing prospecting momentum, so that they hit the ground running in January.

 Three things need to happen to build prospecting momentum this fall. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s article  is a guest contribution from a leading online publication for U.S. advisors.  The article outlines how an advisor in a midwestern American city has overcome that city’s negative economic trends to build a growing practice – last year using client appreciation, recognition and education events to obtain 65 introductions that translated into almost 50 new clients. Read the rest of this entry »

Lots has been written about what advisors can do to create outstanding client relationships.

What’s often missed is the role that clients themselves play – quite simply, there are some clients whose mindset and behaviour make a deep bond impossible. In many regards, it’s clients themselves that more than any other single factor determine whether a strong connection is possible.

The fact is that advisors aren’t powerless victims when it comes to the clients you deal with – advisors do have a choice on this matter. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve all walked away at the end of a busy day, wondering where the hours went – and discouraged because we didn’t get everything done we’d hoped to.

 Last week I’d talked to an advisor who had invested $2 to make a small change in his routine – and immediately began feeling better about his progress at the end of the day as a result. Read the rest of this entry »

Last fall I began posting quarter end letters that advisors could adapt for their own use.  Many advisors have told me that they have received an outstanding response to the letters they sent as a result.

There are five qualities to an effective client letter. Read the rest of this entry »

Making meaningful changes in how we work is one of the hardest tasks we can attempt.

Change is possible however – recently I had a conversation with an advisor on a large team that had succeeded in implementing some significant new initiatives since the beginning of the year. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s often the little things that build deep bonds with clients.

For most students entering college and university, this fall is at the same time an exciting and scary time … and that’s equally true for their parents.

This past Sunday, the New York Times published a series of nine short articles titled: “College advice from people who’ve been there awhile”, featuring advice from some of America’s best known and most respected educators. You’ll find links to those articles below. Read the rest of this entry »

A recent post contained a warning from a top producer about the risks of being seen by clients as dismissive of their losses – I got lots of positive comments on this article.

Last week, I talked to a thirty year veteran of the business who’s consistently ranked among his firm’s top ten producers.

I asked him about the single most important thing he’d learned over the course of his career – he answered with four words. Read the rest of this entry »

In his introduction to the Intelligent Investor, Warren Buffett wrote that it only takes two things to invest successfully – having a sound plan and sticking to it.

He further said that of those two, it’s the “sticking to it” part that investors struggle with the most.

These themes were tackled in two recent columns in the Globe and Mail Report on Business – these  have received an excellent response from investors and may be helpful as something to send clients. Read the rest of this entry »

Experienced advisors know the importance of identifying and responding to the emotions that drive client behavior – of tailoring the way they interact to each client’s hot buttons.

 I recently interviewed an investor who talked to three different advisors before selecting one to work with.

 ”I asked all three of them about the most important thing they focused on and what set them apart” he said.

 ”The first two gave me the standard bumpff about understanding and responding to client needs” he said.

 The third advisor – and the one he went – gave an entirely different response. Read the rest of this entry »

Only a few months ago, doomsday scenarios for the economy caused widespread concerns that we were about to revisit the Great Depression.

The consensus view on the economy has shifted remarkably quickly, with a much more positive outlook for the immediate period ahead.  For example, see this article in last Saturday’s New York Times about a meeting of global central bankers: World Bankers Suggest Rebound May Have Begun  

With a lessening of near term worries, the focus of concern for many investors is now shifting to prospects for mid and long-term growth.  

Two recent cover stories in the Economist and Business Week provide ammunition to reassure clients thrown off balance by some of the alarmist rhetoric about depressed economic growth for the foreseeable future. Read the rest of this entry »

At one time, companies could antagonize customers with impunity – the worst that would happen is that they’d leave and perhaps tell a few friends.

Last year, a musician flying United Airlines had his guitar smashed by luggage handlers. 

When his complaints fell on deaf ears, he retaliated with two hilarious and devastating You Tube videos, the first went viral with over five million views. The links are below; if you enjoy these, you may want to consider forwarding them to select clients. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s common to see people we work with achieve success way beyond ours – often without any apparent reason. The logical response is to wonder what they have that we don’t?.

This was the topic of the recent book Talent is Overrated, by Fortune editor Geoff Colvin – with some important messages for anyone looking to ramp up performance.

 Here are three lessons that every advisor can apply: Read the rest of this entry »

Last week’s post with articles to send nervous clients got a great response.

In light of that, here are more articles from this weekend’s Barron’s , New York Times and Wall Street Journal that might reassure anxious clients. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, I was talking to a successful advisor who met with one of his top clients – and made a mistake that he vowed never to repeat.

Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the more positive tone to markets, anxiety is still high among many Canadians.

Here are three articles from this past weekend’s Barron’s, New York Times and Wall Street Journal to reassure nervous clients. Read the rest of this entry »