5: Andy Hart | Focusing on Managing Humans Instead of Assets to Deliver Better Outcomes

Research consistently shows that >90% of clients are satisfied.

At first glance, it sounds like a good thing.

But, if over 90% of clients are satisfied, then client satisfaction ceases to be a differentiator. It's now tablestakes.

Which then prompts the question: "Should we be aiming for something more than satisfaction?"

Julie Littlechild suggests we move the bar from "satisfied" to "engaged."

Satisfied clients are happy but passive.

Engaged clients are happy and tell the world about what you do.

In this episode, Julie explains everything you need to know to turn satisfied clients into engaged clients.

You'll Learn:

• The 4 drivers that create engaged clients
• The curse of the agenda and how to use it effectively
• The #1 thing clients say they want but aren't getting from advisors
• The top mistakes advisors make when gathering feedback and input
• What clients say about discussing non-financial goals with an advisor

The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals.

*For more resources discussed in this episode --> Go Here.

*To receive the monthly "Wisdom Round-Up" newsletter full of practical ways to apply the human side of advice --> Go Here.

*Follow Brendan for insights on mastering the human side of advice:

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If you want your clients to actually follow-through on the advice you give, you have to shift your approach.

You have to shift from "Advisor-Driven" to "Client-Inspired" advice.

Client-inspired advice provides the client with:

1) Control

2) Confidence

3) Autonomy

And, when you can provide these three things, it paves the way to behavior change and implementation of advice.

In this episode, we'll look at:

• The psychology and research of giving advice
• The three essential elements of client-inspired advice
• Questions and scripts on how to deliver client-inspired advice

The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals.

*For more resources discussed in this episode --> Go Here

*To receive the monthly "Wisdom Round-Up" newsletter full of practical ways to apply the human side of advice --> Go Here.

*Follow Brendan for insights on mastering the human side of advice:

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Your success in this profession and the quality of your relationships are directly correlated with your communication skills.

Think about the communication you have with clients and prospects. It's almost always "spontaneous communication."

It's not planned, prepared or scripted.

For example, you're meeting with a prospective client and they say, "These fees seem high."

That comment wasn't on the agenda, yet here you are needing to think on your feet.

And, how you respond in these spontaneous situations will oftentimes dictate the outcome of the entire interaction.

Fortunately, Matt Abrahams is the foremost authority on how to be more confident and eloquent in the moment.

And, in this episode, he reveals the secrets to communicating with confidence in any situation.

Things You'll Learn:

• Why small talk is important and the mistakes to avoid
• Why you (ironically) have to prepare to be spontaneous
• Two ways to buy yourself time on the spot before responding
• The "Pace, Space, and Grace" framework to be a better listener
• The "What-So What-Now What" structure to use in almost any situation

The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals.

*For more resources discussed in this episode --> Go Here.

*To receive the monthly "Wisdom Round-Up" newsletter full of practical ways to apply the human side of advice --> Go Here.

*Follow Brendan for insights on mastering the human side of advice:

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Most financial advisors' meetings are underwhelming.

They typically include a mix of small talk, dialogue, fact-finding and a less-than-riveting display of numbers and charts.

It's the main reason why prospects leave your office and don't respond for months (if ever), despite the fact that they need help. And you knew you could help them.

It's also the main reason that you won't find clients excited and eager to come to their review meetings.

Sten Morgan felt this in his meetings and decided there had to be a better way.

He wanted to do two things:

1. Create authority and help prospective clients clearly understand the value of working with him
2. Create urgency by highlighting big problems that actually inspire clients and prospects to act

In this episode, Sten shares how he's leveraged the power of communication to create a meeting experience where clients leave saying: "That's different than any meeting I've ever had."

Things You'll Learn:

• The "Quantify and Multiply" approach to create urgency
• A formula to answer "What do you do?" in a compelling way
• The meeting-altering power of whiteboarding (and how to do it)
• The average things most advisors do that lead to boring meetings
• Why the "trust gap" is the main thing keeping prospects from moving forward

The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals.

*For more resources discussed in this episode --> Go Here.

*To receive the monthly "Wisdom Round-Up" newsletter full of practical ways to apply the human side of advice --> Go Here.

*Follow Brendan for insights on mastering the human side of advice:

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Trust is the foundation of success in financial advice.

You need trust to get prospects to become clients.

And you need trust to get clients to follow-through and do the things you ask them to do.

Without trust, you have no business.

But, if you know how to consistently build trust with both prospects and clients, it will take your relationships AND your business to places very few things can.

There's only one problem.

Everybody knows how important trust is. But, very few people know how the secrets to consistently building high-trust relationships.

Fortunately, Herman Brodie does.

Consider this episode the ultimate guide for everything you need to know about trust.

Things You'll Learn:

• The 3 different types of trust
• How to continue building trust with long-term clients
• The only type of trust that serves as a competitive advantage
• The intangible factors that lead investors to choose asset managers
• The non-obvious benefits trust has on your clients and your business
• The "Trust Game:" The role of similarity when it comes to building trust

The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals.

*For more resources discussed in this episode --> Go Here.

*To receive the monthly "Wisdom Round-Up" newsletter full of practical ways to apply the human side of advice --> Go Here.

*Follow Brendan for insights on mastering the human side of advice:

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The perfect plan is rendered useless in the absence of execution.

Or, as Dr. Moira Somers says: "What's the point of technically proficient advice if the client won't act on it?"

You would think that providing someone a step-by-step plan to accomplish their goals would be all that's needed to spur someone into action.

But, anyone that works with people and their money knows that simply isn't the case.

Dr. Moira Somers author of the book Advice That Sticks, provides a blueprint for improving the "stickiness" of your advice to help create better outcomes for clients.

Things you'll learn:

• The most common reason clients fail to follow through on your advice
• What medical research can teach us about the challenges of implementation
• A proven method to help get through the friction of the data gathering process
• How much responsibility falls on the advice-giver when advice isn't implemented
• How improving follow-through benefits your clients, your business, AND your well-being

*This episode originally aired in January 2021.

The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals.

*For more resources discussed in this episode --> Go Here.

*To receive our monthly newsletter full of practical ways to apply the human side of advice --> Go Here.

*Follow Brendan for insights on mastering the human side of advice:

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The Human Side of Money in 2023:

• Released 35 episodes
• Crossed over 100k downloads (and almost 200k!)
• Delivered 2,517 minutes of content on the human side of advice

Inside those 35 episodes and 2,517 minutes lie countless ideas, insights, and nuggets that will do two things:

1. Enhance and enrich your clients' lives
2. Forever change the trajectory of your business and career

But, there were certain ideas inside each episode and conversation that delivered more impact than others.

Certain insights and nuggets that move the needle a little bit further.

In this episode, I go back through each conversation from 2023 and extract the most impactful ideas and insights advisors need to know.

The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals.

*For more resources discussed in this episode --> Go Here.

*To receive the monthly "Wisdom Round-Up" newsletter full of practical ways to apply the human side of advice --> Go Here.

*Follow Brendan for insights on mastering the human side of advice:

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There's a critical mistake made by almost every advisor around the world every single day.

We focus more on the plan than the person.

More on what we do than what they need.

Our natural approach is plan-centric. Meanwhile, the industry is shifting towards human-first financial guidance.

Fortunately, Ross Marino embraced this shift long ago and built a firm that specializes in human-first financial guidance.

And, he's also leading the charge to help advisors around the world do the same.

He tells us what led to him embracing the shift to human-first financial guidance and provides a simple framework to apply with prospects and clients.

Things You'll Learn:

• The "staple question" to start every meeting
• The two questions he asks in his "Re-Discovery" meetings
• Why the industry is shifting towards human-first financial guidance
• Why Ross decided to do "Re-Discovery" meetings with every client
• The Transitus Process: 4 questions to spark meaningful conversations

The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals.

*For more resources discussed in this episode --> Go Here.

*To receive the monthly "Wisdom Round-Up" newsletter full of practical ways to apply the human side of advice --> Go Here.

*Follow Brendan for insights on mastering the human side of advice:

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Lack of follow-through and implementation of advice is a wide-spread problem.

One study revealed this gut-wrenching stat:

70% of clients implement less than 20% of financial planning recommendations.

There are a number of reasons to explain this.

A primary reason is that advisors deliver advice that looks good on a spreadsheet, but it doesn't fit into real life.

If you can design your advice for the person rather than optimizing for a spreadsheet, you'll watch your implementation problems disappear.

After all, the best advice is the advice that actually gets implemented.

In this episode, we'll look at:

• A client story demonstrating doable over optimal advice
• One of the primary barriers that prevent clients from implementing
• How to optimize advice for spreadsheets but design it for real-life
• Three questions to ask that will drastically improve follow-through

The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals.

*For more resources discussed in this episode --> Go Here

*To receive the monthly "Wisdom Round-Up" newsletter full of practical ways to apply the human side of advice --> Go Here.

*Follow Brendan for insights on mastering the human side of advice:

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In 2012, Shaun Erickson founded Single Point Partners because he wanted to do something different.

As a solo advisor at the time, his primary focus was on building a process with one main focus:

Building it around the client's agenda (a.k.a. - the things that matter most to the client).

Fast forward to 2023, and his focus has shifted.

Now, he's focused on building a human-first approach into the fabric of an entire firm.

Whether you're a solo advisor trying to embrace a human-first approach or a firm owner wondering how to build an entire firm with a human-first approach, you're in the right place.

Shaun Erickson takes us inside Single Point Partners to share exactly how to build a human-first approach into the fabric of your entire firm.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• A question to put a prospect's mind at ease
• Why you should follow up with clients 3 times
• How they train advisors to learn the human side
• The "Pebbles vs Boulders" approach to improve follow-through
• A story where asking one question forever changed the relationship

The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals.

*For more resources discussed in this episode --> Go Here.

*To receive the monthly "Wisdom Round-Up" newsletter full of practical ways to apply the human side of advice --> Go Here.

*Follow Brendan for insights on mastering the human side of advice:

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LinkedIn