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USA Today reported that many people suffer from “financial advisor anxiety”—nervousness that makes them reluctant to share the intimate and important details of their finances with an advisor.
What’s behind this anxiety? Fears that are so deep-rooted that it can take years before you get to fully know and understand your client. Since fears can keep your client from providing the right information to build a trusting relationship, another important question must be explored.
What makes a prospect or new client divulge the necessary information in a relatively short period of time? Trust.
So while you are building trust by asking all the right open-ended questions with the prospect, they are assessing you to see if your answers address their fears.
The Three Hidden Fears of Clients are:
1. Does the advisor really care about me?
Interestingly enough, this has a lot to do with both trust and instincts. As an advisor, if you are not innately a trusting person, that will come across unless you are behaviorally aware and can modify your style. Overlay that with the clients innate level of trust and depending on the conversation, you could have an uphill battle to win over the trust of the prospect.
2. Am I good enough? Will the advisor think I am a failure or not making the right decisions?
Prospects that are very goal and task driven will be acutely sensitive to this. But on the surface, they can come across as very decisive and successful individuals. Vulnerability and giving away control will come very slowly with this type of person.
3. Does the advisor have enough experience both technically and with people like me?
They can ask you about degrees and designations but they might be looking to speak with current clients. Prospects that are much more outgoing and relationship driven can seem to be only interested in the people side of the business, but don’t be fooled. They can have an even blend and quickly turn to your technical competency.
Don’t forget that while you are choosing the prospect to be a client, they are choosing you as well. You need a quick, well-crafted system to capture a client’s personality from the first time they meet with you.
It’s only when a client can get past their fears and share all their financial details, goals and dreams that you can create a financial plan and relationship that your clients will be committed to for life. As an advisor, awareness of these client fears will lead to better, trusting, and long-term relationships with your clients.