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It’s a sad fact that good news doesn’t sell newspapers. In fact, bad news can travel around the world at light speed, while good news limps along behind, usually confined to small pockets.
It has occurred to me that this phenomenon is true in our industry also. How many times have I seen an email containing negative news that I could not resist opening? It is, I am afraid to say, human nature to want to see the worst.
Why? Maybe it’s because we can then be grateful it’s not happening to us? Perhaps our morbid curiosity gets the better of us? Or maybe like gossip, the sheer titillation of something bad happening to someone else is like a drug we want more of?
Whatever the case, while the newspaper headlines remain negative, a large proportion of the population is going to live in some state of fear.
While it varies from person-to-person, this state of fear translates to bad things for our industry, and for Australians. The recent campaign by Industry Super Australia showing a fox in the hen house is a classic example of stirring up more fear, which in fact, does nobody any good, around retirement savings. ‘What big bad fox is coming to eat away your nest egg?’ the ad asks viewers. Rather than getting people worried about that, it would be great if there was a large-scale campaign getting people engaged with their super, and what it could do for them in the long-term.
While it is a sad fact of life that bad news receives more attention, I don’t think we can afford to sit here and let it happen and accept it as the status quo. While I don’t want to be a Pollyanna about the situation and ignore what’s going on around me, I do believe that all of us that are part of the industry have an obligation to share good news regularly.
Why? Because it will repair much needed trust, give people a sense of wellbeing, and show the benefits and outcomes of great financial advice and sound investing.
So the next time a client of yours gets an amazing outcome from sticking to a plan, why not share it via a blog on social media? You don’t have to say names or details, but rather focus on the feeling it gave you to see a client get the right outcome.
As for investing, rather than talking about a stellar period of performance, equate that performance to what it means for investors, and the actual changes it could have on their lives.
Here at No More Practice, we are working hard to create good stories around the financial advice and investing spaces. Our new TV show that goes to air in October will focus on one person’s journey towards a great financial plan and the transformative process of better understanding the power of investing.
I encourage you to head to our client tools section of the site and see if there are any good news articles or videos that could help your clients. These are free and will help you spread some good news at little effort and no cost.
We all need to be responsible for sharing the good news as bad news does bad things to the reputation of industry: and that means we are not able to reach more Australians with great advice.
It’s worth each of us taking a small amount to do our part to turn the tables.
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.
