The value of relaxing when speaking with clients

Every advisor, whether early in their careers or just having one of those days, might arrive to a client meeting and feel especially chatty. They might pose questions and then keep talking, not giving clients a chance to respond.

Rick Jones, CFP, a 20-year MDRT member from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wishes it hadn’t taken him so long to realize that is not the way to go.

“What I used to do was ask my client/prospect the questions, and then I would answer them myself! Because I was the guy who knew the answers. But the problem was that they were my answers, and they didn’t matter to the client or prospect,” he said. “I think it’s right around the time I started making Court of the Table and then Top of the Table that I would just ask the questions and be quiet. And it’s an amazing thing — if you ask the right questions and really listen, they’ll tell you what they want to do.”

Harpreet Singh Atwal, Dip FA, BSc(Hons), a six-year MDRT member from Solihull, England, has also seen the benefit from relaxing during client meetings. Remember, he says: You’re there to help them.

“Often in the car on the journey to an appointment, I just breathe deeply for five minutes and think, ‘I’m coming in as a professional financial advisor to sit with you as a client, and I’m going to help you,’” he said. “So just walk in, relax and listen.”

Hear more in the November episode of the MDRT Podcast.

Written by Matt Pais, MDRT Content Specialist