3433-vol. 6 issue 2-3.pmd - iarfc

20
Journal of Personal Finance
• Incorporating Financial Life Planning material into the practice gives
the advisor literally a lifetime of in-depth topics for client meetings. A
quality Financial Life Planning process provides dozens of formats
and hundreds and hundreds of available, effective questions that
can be used year after year to track the client’s current state of
satisfaction and progress.
• The process gives the advisor a great opportunity to ask for
introductions to other prospects by asking, “Who else would benefit
from this process?”
A consistent, structured Financial Life Planning process also
provides the advisor with a more operationally efficient environment and
increases the value added benefit to the client. Think about the benefits of a
process that offers clients the opportunity to fulfill their dreams and to have
increased peace of mind. Think about the benefits of an approach that
increases communication to get both spouses “on the same page.”
In Conclusion
Andrew Sobel (n.d.), an industry expert on building client relationships,
retention and loyalty, states that “client loyalty boils down to three
basic factors:
• All clients in this market are loyal to people who continue to add
tangible value
• Clients are loyal to the people with whom they have built trust
• Clients are loyal to advisors who go the extra mile for them, who
really care about them as clients. These ideas may sound simple, but
each has subtlety and complexity.”
The issue in financial services, as in other professions, is that this
commitment to clients must be consistently demonstrated with every prospect
and client. In terms of adding value, financial professionals have to go
beyond basic client expectations and they have to do it consistently.
Clients have needs they are not yet aware of. These “latent needs”
are real, but not yet in most clients’ awareness. If a provider understands such
a need and fulfills it, the client is rapidly and uniquely delighted. Consider
this example offered by Bob Veres (2006/2007):
“One surprising theme of the messages I received was
how much work advisors were having to put into helping
their clients make the transition from accumulating to
consuming their portfolios. Much of the work involved
helping clients translate a lump sum into an income
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