One of the biggest ways MDRT members achieve the success they do is by respecting and valuing client needs.
Simon Olive, BSc(Hons), a senior management consultant for AXA Distribution Services, offered four misperceptions that less successful advisors may have in mind — and how that mentality brings the client-advisor relationship off-course.
Notion 1: Some clients just don’t know what is good for them
“We think they will understand we have their best interests at heart, eventually (it’s a great product, they will get it in time).”
Notion 2: Client needs can screw up an otherwise excellent process
“We are too wedded to our processes and want to force them into what we want (but this works for us/makes our life easier), or sometimes we only hear what we want to hear!”
Notion 3: Clients are not always able to articulate their needs
“It is just too time-consuming to hear them out and help them articulate what they want (we are in too much of a hurry to get on to the next client)”
Notion 4: Frustratingly, client needs are always changing
“If we kept listening to our customers we would spend more time changing things than doing things, as they constantly change their minds!”
By avoiding these myths, advisors put clients’ needs first and foster a successful, balanced relationship that works in everyone’s best interest in the long-run.
Read more from Olive’s 2008 Annual Meeting presentation. Here are some other resources about client service that may be helpful as well:
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