The statistics in Rod Bertino’s article are quite frightening. To think that more than half of advised clients, don’t have a will, and only 15 per cent are prepared with agreements in their business tells me one thing about human nature – nobody really wants to think about the end.
Death, of course, is inevitable. We all know it consciously, and like taxes, acknowledge that it is part of living.
Subconsciously however, we all move toward pleasure, and away from pain.
Acknowledging the end of our life is a confronting, uncomfortable process. One in which an adviser becomes many other things if done well – a life coach, marriage counsellor, psychologist and confessor.
This is a lot of pressure for any one person to bear, especially if they have not been in trained in all of these professions. Experience is a brilliant teacher, but it seems some advisers are better at taking their client on this journey of preparation than others.
In my own experience, there have been two big barriers to getting the whole checklist sorted – from wills to estate planning, and insurance.
The first was getting through the research and scoping phase with our adviser. By having magnets on a board that represented our family they actually made it fun. These magnets then were moved around, matched up and turned upside down, depending on the situation we were discussing. The second part was actually following through. For months I managed to duck and weave on signing documents and finalising the advice. If I am honest, I believe this avoidance was not just because my husband and I, like everyone else who works and has children, are ridiculously busy, it was also because putting a signature on paper and finishing the process was like an admittance of what could happen. Or inevitably, what will happen.
The only way we did get across the line was the gentle and consistent reminders from our adviser, following up – never pushy, never rude, always encouraging.
This consistent approach was the right one to get our affairs in order.
Which tells me that one of the best skills a good adviser must have is the ability to follow up with potential or existing clients more than once, and the capability to care about an outcome.
Today I sat in a meeting where an adviser told me he was not interested in clients with $100-200k to invest.
I thought “what a shame. You have lost the potential for that client to become so much more over the years.”
And then it struck me – it is those advisers who do have a 20 year view of their business that are prepared to go the long and hard yards with their clients, because advice is a long-term process And so too are trusted relationships.
A good question to ask is how far are you willing to take your clients on the journey?
