Your Client's Money Personality - You have to Know it to Grow it!
Learn the 8 money personality types that are at the root of your clients' money mystery or mastery. Help them advance their financial behaviors in healthy ways by knowing what underlies their decision styles and historic preferences. You will gain comfort in introducing money personality concepts and elevate trust with greater connection in your client relationships.
Your business grows when no more time is wasted guessing at what is going on inside your clients' heads or hearts. Let the natural discussion that flows from this tool lead the way with the money personality continuum to guide you. Clients will gain insight into their unconscious rules that have guided (or misguided) them in their past, so you can help them make directional adjustments that improve their financial destination.
The process is brief, but it spares you the grief. The money personality discussion takes a few minutes and gives you back hours. It prevents the grief of lost time that can happen when your work gets stuck in limbo because of client reluctance to move forward. You gain time because the most relevant issues are aired and handled rather than covered up. You discover your clients' true motivations and readiness for change, improving efficiency in your preparing your recommendations.
When Couples Clash - Find Peace on the Money Front
"Opposites attract!" It's true on many fronts, including money. If one is bullish, the other is bearish. If one has the urge to splurge, the other will crave to save. One says long term the other, short. Usually couples did not openly discuss money issues before they married or made long term commitments for spending their lives together.
Does it take a SWAT team to resolve financial differences? Yes, but it's not about weapons! It IS about learning to communicate about money in new ways and rediscovering common values and aligning those with financial decisions. The art of validation, mirroring, and empathizing can bring money harmony into financial decisions.
Behavioral Finance Findings: Surprise! People Do NOT Act Rationally
Academic experts and researchers studying investor behavior discovered that contrary to earlier economic and financial theory, evidence showed that individuals do not act rationally in their decision-making process. The relatively new field of behavioral finance attempts to comprehend the emotional workings that guide investor decisions. Susan calls this "knowing what makes them tick." When beliefs are irrational or inaccurate, psychologists call it cognitive distortions.
Regardless of what any research or science names these patterns of distorted thoughts leading to poor investor decisions, an advisor needs to be prepared for them. What matters is knowing how to identify them and communicate with clients to help them move toward rational decisions that improve their outcomes. This increases client satisfaction, not only because of better investment results, but because of improved peace of mind.
What's Fair to an Heir: Mindful Guidance for Money's Afterlife
You have helped your clients be mindful of financial planning so they can enjoy financial peace of mind during their lives. Even if clients joke about wanting to "die broke" by spending their children's inheritance, it is important to discuss the direction of their afterlife money to prevent problems that can arise with heirs. Mindful guidance in this area clarifies client objectives for inherited money including their definition of fair, and what to share via charitable giving and money harmony for heirs.
Good Grief! Client Communication in Times of Loss
What should you say? What shouldn't you say? When clients experience the death of a loved one or other difficult change such as divorce or job loss, it is important to know how to appropriately communicate sympathy and caring. There are some common experiences of bereavement that can help guide you in your choice of words and timing of advice. Saying the wrong thing can damage or end a relationship because of clients' heightened sensitivity and diminished ability to process ideas during grief. Learn to identify what stage your client is in to more comfortably guide your conversation. You can be one of the rays of hope for your clients that helps them navigate through this tough terrain.
How to Use Genograms to Engage Client Loyalty
Therapists use genograms often to draw a picture of a client family tree and get a feel for decision dynamics. Key questions give them a quick picture of important factors about home environment growing up, parental or cultural influences, and personality factors that influenced belief systems.
The genogram is a powerful tool for financial and estate planning as well. When consultants add this method of gathering family history with simple descriptors to prompt insights and priorities, strategies are executed much more efficiently. Client trust and ability to ask relevant questions is enhanced and the advisor relationship is strengthened.
Advisors will wonder how they ever got along without the genogram! It is an excellent way to get an instant birds-eye view of the client's family and important estate and financial life planning issues.