In a rapidly changing wealth management landscape, referrals remain the number one way for advisors to grow business profitably. Generating referrals organically, however, requires a solid foundation of trust with existing clients. This white paper by SS&C Advent, an advisory firm, explores some of the skills and techniques advisors can employ to help engender trust and loyalty and turn clients into advocates.
Wealth management today is a different ball game than it was just a few years ago. What was once a sleepy corner of the financial services industry has now become a hotbed of new technology innovation, increased competition and tighter regulation—all driven by a focus on helping the millions of retiring baby boomers meet their financial goals in a world without company pensions, declining government support and a much more volatile global market environment. This generation and the generations that follow will need financial advice and guidance more than ever, yet most are confused as to whom they can truly rely upon.
What can advisors do to stand out in this new environment? For top advisors and firms, one common contributor to their success through the years is a focus on the client. Everything they do is designed to reinforce the advisor-client relationship. By doing so, they cultivate a high level of trust that leads to client loyalty, satisfaction and a most welcome by-product: increased referrals.
For advisors, this underscores the need to leverage referral networks as the pipeline for future growth in a more competitive environment. Industry studies show that referrals are the predominant source of new business for advisors.
This generation and the generations that follow, will need financial advice and guidance more than ever, yet most are confused as to whom they can truly rely upon.
So how can you build this trust? The report shows the top four trust building skills which advisors should follow.
Listen (Don’t just hear) - The key to building trust comes down to that one universal skill that is common to all successful advisors: listening. Clients come to advisors not only to solve their financial and investment planning concerns, but also to be heard about their non-financial issues such as ensuring the happiness of their children, taking care of their aging parents, ensuring their legacy and having a fulfilling lifestyle. Top advisors who excel at listening to their clients and prospects elicit these underlying themes by asking the right questions. In doing so, they nurture relationships and connect at a deeper level beyond just a financial transaction, which translates into building trust over time.
Map recommendations back to client needs - Other key skills and capabilities top advisors have developed include framing their recommendations and providing back-up as needed to show that they have really listened to their clients’ concerns.
Deliver what you promise - On the service front, meeting promises in terms of timing and deliverables also goes a long way towards building trust, as clients and prospects know they can rely on what you say.
Care for the family- Showing interest in and engaging the client’s family is an important way to generate trust and help build a bridge into the next generation.
Translating trust into referrals
The days of developing business through cold calling are long gone. A random call from a stranger at the office or during family dinnertime is more likely to create annoyance than engender credibility or trust. Today’s top firms and advisors are using an educational approach through networking with centers of influence and building their own niche-focus areas of expertise to build their businesses. Key to building credibility and trust with a target audience is to become an expert on niche aspects of wealth management that are either technical in nature (tax efficiently exercising employee stock options, for example) or are tied to a demographic or occupational subsets (developing retirement plans for radiologists).
A niche focus also lends itself to leverage communication channels such as blogs, social media and PR, as investors and media seek out experts on the specific topic they are searching which then turns out to be another key source of referrals for you.
Another way to build trust with clients is your service model. As mentioned earlier, delivering on your promises demonstrates reliability, which in turn engenders credibility and trust. Having a service guarantee, such as responding to all client inquiries in 24 hours or less, or providing progress reports for more complex tasks, helps clients feel they’re being kept in the loop. Beginning conversations or communications with phrases such as, “As promised…” reinforces your trustworthiness when you’ve made good on a promise. Advisors can use these various approaches in combination, leveraging their networks, service models, expertise and deliverables to visibly demonstrate their value and trustworthiness, all of which leads to enhancing the referral process.
Now more than ever, trust matters in the financial services industry and is the hallmark of any profession. With the industry changing rapidly, it’s urgent for advisors to leverage the great work they do for clients and translate it into stories that illustrate what a true wealth management relationship can be.
Reproduced substantially from the whitepaper Building trust to drive referrals
