Why you should be an educator instead of a seller

As financial advisors, we should help educate clients to make informed decisions. The internet is a powerful tool, but it must be interpreted. For example, you may be able to read about how to do surgery on yourself, but it is not recommended you actually do it.

Ask questions

Our job as advisors is simple. It’s to ask questions to make our clients think, to make them pause. Yes, that powerful, purposeful pause. Some advisors think it best to do most of the talking; however, we should listen twice as much as we talk.

If we ask questions of our clients to make them think, we can only help them if we listen to their answers. I was told a long time ago that the answer is in the question. So, as educators versus sellers, listeners versus talkers, it’s our job to assist our clients in making informed decisions. Decide for yourself which one you want to be.

Visualize success

How do you get to that decision process? You do it through visualization. You visualize success, not only for yourself but for your client family. Just like we are part of the MDRT family, we have client families. And there’s nothing like celebrating success with those we care about the most.

What does success look like to your clients? Wealthy thoughts, wealthy ideas, wealthy decisions. It is very important that they make the right decision at the right time. Visualization techniques enable us to recognize and appreciate success when we see it.

Being a financial advisor is a commitment to walk with your client through life. It’s not one and done, but rather a pledge to be with them as challenges arise. Let’s make educating clients a priority.

Ellis Liddell, of Southfield, Michigan, has been an MDRT member and Top of the Table qualifier since 2013. He’s the Chair and CEO of ELE Wealth Management Inc and authored Wealth Management: Merging Faith With Finance. This blog post is an excerpt from his 2020 Top of the Table Annual Meeting presentation, “Holistic planning and navigating your clients through life’s challenges.” (For Top of the Table and Court of the Table members only) 

Find MDRT member-exclusive ideas for client questions to help you understand clients better:

• Ask the right questions
• Great relationship-building client questions