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In talking to hundreds of people over the years about why they don’t see an adviser, I have come to realise that many of their reasons are tied up in feelings, rather than thinking or logic.
These emotions range from embarrassment – due to their lack of understanding or control over their finances, to fear – that someone is going to tell them what to do with their money and their life.
Money is one of those topics that rouses strong emotions in people, and part of an advisers job must be to address those emotions and allay their fears.
To me, this feels more like psychology than financial planning, but I have no doubt that the advisers who are most successful have built ways into their planning processes to acknowledge people’s feelings.
While most people talk about the particular needs of women when it comes to advice, a lot of the time it is men who also have strong motivations around seeking advice. They may want to appear in control, and to be providers for their families, which can mean that men have strong emotional barriers around coming to advice also.
A way for advisers to overcome these barriers is to create case studies that consumers can relate to. These stories need to focus just as much on the feelings of the person as they do the financial strategies that you put in place to help them.
For example, you can have a case study that starts with:
“Jim has his own self-managed super fund. His balance is $150k and he suspects he is paying too much in fees to maintain it. His wife has left the workforce to have their second child and super is way down their list of things to contribute to.”
Or, you can say:
“Jim feels worried. He is scared he has made the wrong decisions about establishing a self-managed super fund – he only did it because all of friends and neighbours were talking about it. He is feeling vulnerable because he does not understand it, but wants to make sure his wife is not worried about the decision he has made.”
Which story do you want to read? Do you want to know how Jim feels after getting advice from you? Of course you do – I do too! This is because the power of emotional storytelling takes people on a journey with you, where they can relate to the characters and emotions, making them feel that, maybe, it will be okay to seek advice and admit how they feel.
Advisers have a tough job taking clients on a journey that is highly emotional and often requires changing years of ingrained thinking to be successful. Building trust and changing behaviours is no easy feat, but when you do, the results can be life changing.
I urge you to keep telling your stories of success: on your website, your blog, on social media and in newspapers (even your community paper). Remember to address the emotional side of the story and talk about how you felt too. It goes a long way in building trust and empathy with your readers, who could turn out to be your future clients.
The opinions expressed in this content are those of the author shown, and do not necessarily represent those of No More Practice or its related entities. All content is intended for a professional financial adviser audience only and does not constitute financial advice. To view our full terms and conditions, click here.
