There are a lot of advisors who are hunkering down. They remember 08’ and so do I as a coach.
I remember calling advisors from all over the country during the last big market decline. Some were not answering their phones, others were afraid they were going to go out of business, and some advisor literally hid under their desk. Many fired team members; some did not take paychecks for months so they would not have to fire anyone. The main problem was they were not prepared for any of it.
Are the market indicators wrong? Did you prepare last time for another one? Or did you think it was an anomaly? Are you prepared if it happens again?
There will be a lot of money in motion and if you are not on top of it, you will have accounts walking out the door. But it could be a great opportunity for you!
There are a lot of predatory/opportunistic advisors out who will call your clients if you don’t. The promise of higher returns or reduced volatility will get their attention if you don’t get their attention.
This is a great time to have a risk tolerance meeting with your clients. It is a wonderful excuse for a proactive call. Making sure you talk about long term goals and not to focus on the media’s explanation of what is going on, remind them the media’s job is to get eye balls on their stories, not manage their account to their personal risk tolerance.
The main point here is you need to have a communication plan in place. This is not your run of the mill “A” client communication plan; this is your emergency communications plan. Do you have one?