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

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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 control, confidence, and autonomy. When you can provide these three things, it paves the way to behavior change and implementation of advice.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

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

Here’s what you’ll learn:

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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.

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.”

Here’s what you’ll learn:

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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.

Everybody knows how important trust is. But, very few people know 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.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

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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.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

*This episode originally aired in January 2021.

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The Human Side of Money in 2023:

Inside those 35 episodes and 2,517 minutes lie countless ideas, insights, and nuggets that will do two things: Enhance and enrich your clients’ lives and 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.

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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.

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.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

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Lack of follow-through and implementation of advice is a widespread 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.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

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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.

We discuss:

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