How to improve your financial planning client relationships

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You can improve your relationships with financial planning clients by encouraging them to communicate honestly with you from the very beginning. 

This is the main lesson I took away from Shari Harley‘s presentation on “How to Say Anything to Anyone: Paving the Way to Powerful Working Relationships” to the annual conference of the Financial Planning Association of Massachusetts.


Ask for honesty
Harley suggested that audience members achieve this by saying, “I want a great relationship with you. If I do anything that violates your expectations, frustrates you or causes you challenges, please tell me. I promise I will say thank you.”

Assuming that your client says “yes” to your request, then you can add, “I hope I can do the same with you.” This sets the stage for two-way communication. If it works, you’ll never be surprised again by a client defection. 

I asked Harley what she’d recommend saying after “thank you” when a client gives negative feedback. Don’t say anything other than “thank you” right away, she suggested, because you’ll feel defensive. Go away and think things over. You can follow up later.


Follow up with questions
Don’t stop with your initial agreement to be honest with each other. Follow up with questions that help you to understand your client better, said Harley.


Here are some of her suggested questions:
1. Who was the best service provider you ever worked with?
2. What made him/her the best service provider?
3. What are your pet peeves?
4. Do you prefer email or voicemail?
5. What do you wish I would start, stop and continue doing? 

I can see how these questions would benefit me as a service provider and a client. It’s time to rev up my courage and start asking more questions.

I believe Harley’s approach could benefit you in your professional and personal life.

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Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

How I’ve benefited from Twitter

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“Has being active in social media helped you grow your business?”

This question from a wealth manager set me thinking. Most of my new business still comes through old-fashioned referrals from people whom I’ve met face-to-face. But that’s changing thanks to social media, especially Twitter. There’s no doubt that my Twitter has helped my business. I see three main benefits.
 
#1 Bigger network of experts
When I’ve got a problem to solve, I can now call on a much bigger network of experts for help. This has been especially helpful with my technology challenges, where @RussThornton, @BillWinterberg, @RussellDunkin, @Blano, and @KristenLuke have been particularly helpful. This is just a sampling of my expert sources. There are many, many other experts on Twitter whom I’ve learned from.

#2 Bigger pool of prospective clients
Twitter has expanded my newsletter circulation, which is an important source of new clients. For example, most of my teleclass students have been newsletter subscribers for awhile. I’ve consistently gained more new subscribers post-Twitter than pre-Twitter.

One of my favorite clients found me through Twitter, got to know me better through my newsletter, and then became a client.

# 3 Convenient way to network and socialize
Twitter keeps me from feeling isolated as a solo entrepreneur. It also suits my style. I can hop off a work project for 10 minutes, read and chat with some folks, and then settle back to work. I don’t need to spend an hour schlepping into Boston on the commuter rail and then an hour coming back.
 
Feeling happier from brief spurts of socializing help me to focus better when I’m doing actual work.

There are other benefits, too. But these three are enough to keep me tweeting.
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Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Financial advisor poll: How do you sign your business emails?

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Email communications with clients, prospects, and referral sources are an essential part of  your private wealth management or investment business. Handle them well, and you deepen your relationships. In How to Instantly Connect with Anyone, author Leil Lowndes suggests an email closing technique that may boost your effectiveness.

Even something as small as your email signature sends a message to your clients, prospects, and referral sources. You set a different tone when you end with “Sincerely, Jane Advisor, CFP, CFA, Senior Vice President” instead of “See you soon, Jane.” 

Lowndes suggests that you forego traditional closings in favor of ending your email with your recipient’s name. For example, “Thanks so much for your help, Samantha” when Samantha is the person you’re emailing.

According to Lowndes’ approach, you can get away with just your first name or initials–or even nothing at all–after such a line. “Hearing their own name unexpectedly as the last word of your message makes them feel an instant connection with you,” she says.

I like Lowndes’ idea. But only in moderation. If you close every email like this, the technique will lose its impact.

The rest of the time, you’ve got an array of more traditional closings to choose from. You need to strike the right balance between formality and warmth. This may mean using different signatures for different clients, depending on  your relationship with them. Signatures may also vary by occasion.

Please answer the poll in the right-hand column of this blog about which of the following closings you use most often. 

  • Best wishes
  • Bye 
  • Cheers
  • Have a great day/weekend
  • Kind regards
  • Sincerely
  • Sincerely yours
  • Thank you
  • Warmly
  • Yours truly
  • –None of the above

I’ll report on the results in my June e-newsletter.

By the way, in these days of blogging transparency, I’m disclosing that I got Lowndes’ book for free. I won it in a Twitter contest when I was the first to reply to a tweet by the publisher.


Related posts

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Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.  

Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Your customers, your inspiration

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“Customer comments can contain pure gold. Many of my most in-demand services came about from a suggestion made by someone who wanted to do business with me.”

What suggestions have your clients made to you? Have they suggested new services? Different ways to deliver your services?  Listen to what they say. You may discover a new way to build your business.

Marcia’s tip has worked for me. An out-of-state client asked if I delivered writing workshops virtually, rather than in person. Her question eventually spawned my first teleclass.
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Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.  

Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Whoa, insurance = spam?

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Insurance can get your email tagged as spam. I never would have guessed.

I saw the following message after I ran one of my e-newsletters through a spam checker.

It looks like there are some words in this email that might send your email to a Spam folder. To make sure your email is delivered successfully, we recommend going back to change or remove the following words: insurance.



Perhaps this happened because there are too many spammer pushing shady insurance schemes.

Fortunately one iffy word isn’t enough to keep your email out of most in-boxes. Look at your overall spam rating before you panic. If it’s low, like the typical rating on my e-newsletters, you should be okay. 

The “open” and “bounce” rates for my e-newsletter mentioning “insurance” were no worse than usual. However, “insurance” was the newsletter’s only element tagged as potential spam.

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Receive a free 32-page e-book with client communications tips when you sign up for my free monthly newsletter.  

Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

How to guest-blog on personal finance or investments, Part II: Blogs that accept guest posts from financial advisors

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Guest posts can launch investment and wealth managers into the blogosphere. This follow-up to “How to guest-blog on personal finance or investments, Part I” gives you names of blogs to target for guest posts.

It has been 10 years since I originally posted this list, so I recently reviewed it to update links and to comment on blogs that no longer accept guest posts.

Investment blogs that accept guest posts

The granddaddy of investing blogs is Seeking Alpha, which you can join as a contributor. Its website says “Over 17,000 people have contributed articles over the years. These include individual and institutional investors, fund managers, analysts, college students, retirees, and all those who enjoy sharing investment insights and ideas with our community.”

Advisor Perspectives isn’t a blog. But it publishes similar content. Its submission guidelines say it publishes

…market commentaries submitted to us by participating fund companies, independent research firms and advisors. Selected commentaries are promoted to subscribers of our daily Research Perspectives newsletter.…We offer two levels of service: our free Basic Commentaries, and our paid Featured Firm Commentaries.

Disclosure: I have occasionally written for Advisor Perspectives.

Enterprising Investor, the blog of the CFA Institute, accepts guest posts from non-members, as well as from CFA charterholders, according to its Contributor FAQs.  Posts should run 600 to 1200 words and be aimed at investment professionals.

Personal finance blogs that accept guest posts

Wise Bread, which reports receiving 1.8 million page Clarifinancial tweetviews monthly, discusses why and how to apply to be a guest blogger on its “Write for ­­­Wise Bread” page. Thanks to Aaron Pinkston of Clarifinancial for bringing this site to my attention.

Jeff Rose of Good Financial Cents likes Wise Bread, too. He also shared the names of Jeff Rose TWEETadditional blogs where he has been a guest. However, as of April 2020, Get Rich Slowly, Consumerism Commentary, and Cash Money Life no longer accept unsolicited guest posts.

Here’s a personal finance blog that still accepts guest posts:

Other blogs worth targeting

Your business niche may also have blogs that will accept your posts and help you educate your target audience.

Through my work with fiduciary advisors, I’ve become familiar with the fi360 blog. The firm told me in April 2010 that guest posts may be possible. However, “I should say that we’d want exclusive content from a guest blogger. We’d rather just link if it’s on their blog as well.” When I followed up in 2016, @fi360 tweeted “We are always interested in guest bloggers. Please feel free to send any posts to fi360@fi360.com.” Here’s a sample guest post, “Good Insurance Decisions Require Appropriate Information.”

FI360 tweets

Interested in getting read by your colleagues? Michael Kitces’ Nerds Eye View has a knack for attracting attention among practitioners. In a June 2011 email, he told me, “My guest blogging posts are not by invitation only. I am open to people contacting me with ideas. However, as you’ve probably noticed, I do have a certain edge and focus to the types of posts I put up, so I am looking for content that is consistent.” Since we originally spoke, Michael has published guest post guidelines.

The Slott Report is open to guest posts. “We already have over 500 articles on IRA, tax and retirement distribution planning on our site. We also accept posts on Social Security and Medicare planning. We don’t post investment related posts, but more on the planning and distribution side,” said The Slott Report’s Jason Trexler when we traded emails in 2016. “All guest posts are allowed a 50-word brief professional/company bio and URL hyperlink at the bottom of the article..” Here’s a sample guest post: “Avoid This Trap When Using a Roth IRA to Pay For College.” Read “Become a guest contributor.”

Another potential target: your local newspaper’s blog. Its reach may be small, but it could yield some great prospects close to your office.

What else?

Have I missed any great tips for guesting between this post and my earlier post on this topic? Please chime in. I’d like to learn from you.

 

Post updated on June 3, 2013; Feb., 8, 2016; and April 24, 2020.

How to guest-blog on personal finance or investments, Part I: Your approach

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Some financial advisors wonder if they can crank out a steady flow of compelling blog posts week after week. Before you make the commitment, consider testing your abilities by writing for other people’s personal finance or investment blogs.

Some blogs publish their submission guidelines, so you know exactly how to apply to be a guest blogger. Others don’t. But there’s a simple process you can follow to propose a guest role.

Step 1. Study the blog to figure out its audience and topical focus.

Step 2. Come up with a topic. Your description of your topic should identify the main point you’re trying to make and why readers will care about it. In “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors,” you’ll get help developing a strong topic.

Step 3. Email the blogger to suggest a guest post. A strong proposal will include the following:

     a. Your understanding of the host blogger’s audience and focus

     b. Your topic and why it will appeal to the blog’s audience

     c. A brief bio to establish your credibility

    d. Your contact information

It isn’t necessary to send your completed blog post right away. In fact, I think it’s better not to send it unless requested by the blog’s owner submission guidelines.

A proposal lets the blog owner give you suggestions about how to adapt your idea to their needs. If you enroll in “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A 5-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors,” you’ll get my personalized feedback on your draft inquiry for guest blogging.

Financial advisors, you will get names of blogs that accept investment and personal finance guest posts in Part II of “How to guest-blog on personal finance or investments.”

Related posts

This post was updated on June 11, 2011, and April 26, 2020.

 

Which blogging platform should I use?

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If you’re not yet blogging, you’re probably wondering which blogging platform to use.

WordPress seems the most popular. If I were starting my blog today, I’d probably go with WordPress rather than Blogger. I’m no expert on blogging platforms, so you’ll find below some opinions from folks who know more than me.

Technology specialist Bill Winterberg told me via Twitter that he prefers WordPress “because if you need new functions, there’s likely a plugin available. Support and forums are comprehensive, too.” Speaking of plugins, Bill told me about Akismet, a spam-blocking plug-in that’s available for WordPress, but not Blogger. By the way, as I understand it, a plug-in is software that expands the capabilities of a larger piece of software–but don’t quote me on that.

The Tech for Luddites blog, written by my friend Elizabeth Kricfalusi, compares Blogger vs. TypePad vs. WordPress in “Picking a Platform for Your Blog.” She also favors WordPress. If you’re a non-technical person with computer questions, you may enjoy her blog, with its motto, “Increase Proficiency. Decrease Profanity.” 

For a blogging platform comparison from another source, check out the “Blogger vs. WordPress Comparison Table 2010.”

WordPress was also the choice of the financial advisors who took my recent class on “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read” (next session starts April 22).
 
I’d be happy to get comments on this post from those of you who are more knowledgeable about blogging platforms.
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Sign up for  “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors“ starting April 22 or join the list for my free monthly newsletter.
Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Guest post: Five Tips for Delivering Bad News to Clients

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Everyone struggles with delivering bad news to clients–and financial advisors have had to deliver plenty of bad news over the past couple years. 

That’s why I felt excited when I discovered that Kathleen Burns Kingsbury, the author of this guest post, can help advisors manage difficult communications with clients.

Five Tips for Delivering Bad News to Clients
By Kathleen Burns Kingsbury, LMHC, CPCC

Delivering bad news to your clients is not easy. It often stirs up uncomfortable emotions–for clients and for you. Learning how to deliver troubling news effectively in conversation and in writing newsletters is the key to maintaining good relationships with your clients in good times and bad. 

Here are five tips for delivering bad news more successfully: 

1. Sandwich the bad news. Use the following analogy to guide you. Think of bad news as the meat in a sandwich that’s surrounded by two pieces of bread and some dressing to make it taste better. Start the conversation with thoughts or facts about what is working in the markets, your company or  the client’s portfolio. Then share the bad news or the meat of the issue. Last, end the dialogue on a positive note. Clients are human. We all find difficult news more palatable when surrounded by some good delicious information.

2. Be direct. Advisors and wealth managers have a tendency to talk too much when sharing bad news with clients. This is often because being the messenger makes you feel uncomfortable emotions, such as anxiety, fear or worry. Talking more may help you feel better, but it confuses the client. So fight the urge to over-verbalize. Just be direct with the client about what is not going well.

3. Make the client feel his/her reaction is normal. A client will experience feelings after hearing bad news about their financial investments. Don’t fight this by trying to convince the client or yourself that there is no reason to feel bad. Instead, take a deep breath and validate that this news is hard to hear and hard to give, so the situation is emotionally difficult. It is surprising how validating a client’s feelings calms them down and strengthens the advisor-client relationship in the long run.

4. Don’t personalize the client’s reaction. Many well-meaning advisors feel overly responsible for the pain caused by the current economy.  It is okay, and even advisable, to have your own feelings, about the ups and downs in the market place. Just make sure you are not trying to control what is out of your control and taking on too much responsibility. Practice accepting your feelings and your client’s reactions without judgment. Only take responsibility for what is truly in your control.

5. Get support. The best way to survive the current economy is to get support from your friends, family and colleagues. Your job is challenging. You need a place to talk, vent and share your frustrations with others. Model this for your clients because this is a great lesson for all of us to learn. Sharing difficult news is never easy, but it is a little more tolerable when you are not alone.

Kathleen is founder and CEO of KBK Wealth Connection, a company passionate about helping financial services professionals and their clients master their money mindset through wealth psychology. She recently released a new audio program called Creating Wealth from the Inside Out.
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Sign up for “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors“ starting on April 22 or for my free monthly newsletter.
Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Poll: Would you hire a ghost blogger for your company?

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Investment and wealth managers have great skills. But writing isn’t necessarily one of them. So what’s a financial professional to do now that blogging is an important part of marketing?

Some companies hire ghostwriters to write their blog posts for them. Ghostblogging can encompass everything from coming up with the ideas, doing the research, writing, formatting posts, and even responding to comments in the voice of the company. Or it can involve a much bigger contribution from the client whose name goes on the post.

Critics say that hiring a ghostblogger is bad. In “The Ghost Speaks,” writer Michael Janofsky quotes communications consultant Shel Holtz, “I’m a huge fan of transparency. My advice to executives is: If you don’t take the time to write yourself, find another channel of communication.”

What do YOU think? Please answer the poll that will run in the  right-hand column of this blog until I replace it with next month’s poll. I’ll report on the results in my May e-newsletter.
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Sign up for the next session of “How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors” starting April 22 or join the mailing list for my free monthly newsletter.
Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved