Be Your Clients Truest Fan

Announcer:

(00:05): You’re listening to the truest fan podcast. And now here’s your host, Rob Brown.

Rob

(00:14): Hello, friends, welcome back to the Truest Fan podcast. Don’t forget, give this show a rating, leave your comment, I love to know what you’re thinking. Let’s get to it. In today’s episode, I want to talk about being a truest fan of your clients. As most of you know, I work with financial advisors. And over the last month or two, the world has changed, it’s become very difficult because we’ve watched inflation go through the roof, the stock market has been crazy people wonder which way interest rates are going. And so, we’ve gone from an environment where the market was really providing a lot of wind to our sails. And now we’re running into some choppy waters into some headwinds.

(01:08): And it becomes even more important to remember that you are your clients, truest fans, especially if you want them to be your truest fans, it’s a two-way street. And in environments like this, it is easy to hide, it’s easy to say, you know, as we’ve been going through the markets, the last bunch of years, every time something bad happens, something good quickly comes behind it. So as soon as I start talking about that, I feel silly, because I’ve talked about, you know, these tough times and how to prepare for them, how to deal with them.

(01:48): And then things really aren’t that bad. Well, that could happen. And I think that does happen. Again, it’s a great way to look silly, but I’m guessing what we’re going through right now is going to last a little bit longer, I’m not going to predict it. You all know the statistics of those things better than I do. But I think it’s really critical that you are intentional about being a truest fan of your clients. It’s essential right now. One of the ways that I like to think about being a truest fan is in a time like this is to create some sort of pattern interrupt, how can you disrupt the pattern of what your clients may be seeing and thinking because of what’s going on in the world around us what they’re hearing from those silly talking heads or reading in the news or hearing from the politicians? How can you interrupt that? But also, how can you interrupt how they hear from you.

(02:49): They get used to your regular routines. In fact, those routines are one of the reasons that they’re fans of you and your business to start with, because you regularly interact with them. But you you’ve got to interrupt that because you know, the truth is many of them may have questions, but they’re afraid to ask them. Sure, there’s that person or two that always complains, as soon as something small happens and they’re quick to point out your shortcomings. And I get that but that’s not most of the people, you know, probably most of the people are saying, you know, I’m pretty sure that my guy and my gal is doing a good job. And they’re busy because things are crazy. So, I don’t want to interrupt them.

(3:33): I remember when I was an active advisor, what are my favorite people, my favorite clients his name was Robert Allen. Unfortunately, he’s gone now. Gosh, just thinking about him brings chills because he was such a wonderful guy. And when we went through some rough markets, I loved it when he would reach out to me and say, Rob, are you okay? Things must be really tough for you right now. I’m okay. But things really must be tough for you right now. And that might be the way that some of your clients are thinking. They’re saying, you know, I know you’re doing a great job, we have our plan in place, you’ve got your portfolio models in place, and everything will be okay.

(04:13): You’re getting lots of questions. And I have some questions. I have some doubts. I have some wonders, but I don’t want to interrupt you because you’re probably busy. Well, in my opinion, you can never be too busy for your clients. If there’s ever a time to put in extra time. It’s when you’re not sure your clients are tracking with you. And that’s why it’s important to have that pattern interrupt. What can you do differently? How can they see you in a different light to know that you’re there to know that you still believe the things that you believe when that client those clients became clients of your practice that is still consistent that nothing’s changed even though the world may seem upside down? What can you do to interrupt that pattern and really get in front of them? And oftentimes, the best way to do it is do the opposite of what you normally do.

(05:08): So, let’s say, for example, that you regularly write blog posts, and that you’ve even been writing about the market. What if instead of posting a blog, you write a letter, it’s the same thing. But seeing that letter in the mail with a little extra sincerity and offering to be available to those clients, if they do have questions can make all the difference in the world. And just them getting that message. And that note that says, you know, if you do have a question, don’t be afraid to ask, I’m not going to schedule an extra appointment with you. But if you need one, reach out to us, we’re happy to put you on the calendar because we’re your truest fans.

(05:53): So that’s one example. Or maybe you normally send out videos once a month to your clients where you give them your regular updates. Well, maybe for a few weeks for a couple of months, you send a new video each week. Again, not something that is constantly reinforcing what’s going on in the market, giving them bad news, talking about things that you wouldn’t normally talk with them about, but taking them back to their plan and where they are, and letting them know that you’re there and available for questions.

Announcer:

(06:31): Are you ready to discover your true purpose, live with impact and build an ever-greater legacy than you need to make time for what truly matters most go to truest fan.com/challenge To begin the free, truest fan seven day QuickStart.

Rob

(06:56): You know, many of us, many advisors have gotten away from doing events the last few years because of the pandemic. And so maybe a great pattern interrupt right now to let your clients know how much you care for them is to put on a quick event just register a room it doesn’t have to be fancy, provide, you know, some coffee and donuts in the morning or some wine and cheese in the evening and just have a quick event where again, you just let your clients know that you’re there for them.

(07:28): If you don’t do events at all, you haven’t done them in the past and you’re not comfortable doing them in person, do a virtual event. I have a client next week who normally does all of his events in person. But next week, he’s holding a virtual exclusive event for his clients. And he’s had a ton of people express interest and thank him for doing it. Even though they may not show up, he’s interrupted the pattern. A last idea. And I’m sure that we could come up with dozens of ideas if you want to. But let me just share one last idea.

(08:00): So, I have a client who is very good at regularly updating his audience on Facebook. But normally again, it’s a recorded video that he does that he posts or a link to a blog that he has on his website. He’s going to do a couple of Facebook Lives over the next few weeks to both get in front of his clients to interrupt that pattern to let them know that he’s there because they do follow him on Facebook.

(08:29): But the other great thing about this is that it’s a way of showing people who don’t work with him, maybe people who are considering working with him how he goes the extra mile because that’s one of the other great benefits of being truest fans to your clients during a time like this by doing something that interrupts the pattern that gives them that sense that you are there, that you are thinking about them, that you’re available for their questions if you have them is that that can also be part of your strategy for letting your future clients know exactly how they would be treated in an environment like this.

(09:09): And maybe just maybe, actually not just maybe, maybe just probably the advisors that they’re working with aren’t taking the time to make sure that they know that those advisors are their truest fans, they aren’t going out of the way to do these different things. I know. You know that could sound a little false and fake and marketing but that’s okay. Because when you’re a truest fan, sometimes it can come across the wrong way. Like you don’t mean what you say because people don’t believe how much you care about them. But in reality, people appreciate it when they understand how much you care and how you express that and going about that and doing it in different ways is extremely important.

(10:00): A couple more points. As you’re doing these updates, as you’re doing these extra things to interrupt the pattern, make sure that you don’t just make it about the market. Most advisors aren’t focused on just how their portfolio compares to the benchmarks, you have plans in place for your clients, and you want them to know that no matter what’s going on, they’re still on track for their biggest goals. So, make part of your communication to re-sell the plan that you’ve already done. Re-sell the plan that you’ve already done.

(10:42): That’s as directly as I can say that they need to know that that thing that they’re trusting in because they’re working with you that they can’t touch, and feel is really real. It really means something and when you told them that there would be times like this, and it would be okay, that plan is proof that there is going to be times like this, and things are going to be okay. And this just happens to be one of those times. So, in your communication don’t share all the craziest statistics. I saw a couple of newsletters this past week with advisors just regaling how every asset class was out of kilter how this market did that, that market did this, bonds have never done this before.

(11:24): It was it was no help at all, it was just more worry. You know, one of the things that your clients have hired you to do, one of the things that they trust you to do very highly is to be there worry for them. They’ve hired you, so they don’t have to worry, be there worry for them. And so, as you reengage, as you interrupt the pattern as you let them know that you’re thinking about them. Let them know that they don’t need to worry re-emphasize the plan and the planning process that you go through so they can feel that they’re on track. And of course, if they’re not on track at this somehow is throwing things out of whack in their situation, you’ve got to address, that don’t put it off for another day, don’t let a problem today become a bigger problem tomorrow.

(12:11): The second thing, or the last thing that I really want to encourage you to do is to not apologize, you can have empathy for the way that your clients may feel. And as much as you tell them that you’re worrying for them, some are still going to worry. So, you need to have empathy, you need to let them know that you understand that they could have some doubts, but don’t apologize. You didn’t make this market do what it’s doing. Just because those excuse makers in Washington want to blame it on each other or blame it on Putin or whatever. No, no, no, no, don’t feel like you’ve got to make excuse, don’t feel like you have to apologize, don’t feel like you have to blame.

(12:52): This is just what happens. It is part of the market cycles that happen through time. And you have those things that you know, and that you believe about market cycles. So don’t apologize. In fact, the only thing that you could potentially apologize for is for hiding. If you’re hiding, if you’re not willing to act as a truest fan of your clients, and you’ve been absence from them during this period. If you’ve not done anything extra, if you’ve not thought about the fact that there could be people who are wondering, and you’re naively believing that because you’ve done such a good job that that nobody is wondering or worrying about things, you’re wrong.

(13:36): There is that and so if you want to apologize for something, only apologize if you’ve been hiding. And hopefully, if you’ve been listening to this podcast, if you’ve been following me over the years, you know not to hide. I mean, I wrote a book several years ago delivering the ultimate client experience. And it’s all about making sure that you do things so that you never have to apologize, so that you never have to hide so that your clients always know that you are their truest fans. It’s critical.

(14:06): So, take action. Walk away from this podcast with at least one thing that you’re going to do differently to let your clients know how much you care about them. Be their truest fan and they will continue to be your truest fans and they will introduce you to others. So hopefully this was a good pep talk for you because I’m your truest fan. I love to see advisors succeed because I know your success comes in other people’s successes. So, it compounds. Take action. Be a truest fan to those people around you. It will make a difference in their lives. Thanks for listening and please don’t forget to give this show a rating

Take Care.

Rob Brown