Distraction-Proof® Advisor Ideas

By including this one question, when you’re talking with prospects, you’ll show them how serious you are about financial planning, while also illustrating to them they need search no longer to work with a great financial advisor.
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When my coach and I were planning for my Olympic swim, we sat down and planned out exactly how we wanted everything to go in an ideal world. Then we went the step further to think about what could go wrong. What could potentially be large distractions that could get in my way and trip me up? What were those things that might happen when I was traveling, when I was dealing with traveling and swimming internationally, that might be problematic, should something go wrong? In every instance that I could control the outcome, we did. We had plans in place for taking care of those issues that I could control if something didn’t go as planned.

Asking your prospect what they see as potentially the greatest distractions or hindrances for them reaching their financial objectives is a great question to show them they’ve got to be aware of what can happen. But it goes deeper than that; it also shows them you are taking into account their behavior. What are the habits they have that could derail their longer-term plans, because their results are going to potentially impact your reputation. And so, you want to show them from the get-go you’re thinking about them and their behavior, longer term.

Be prepared for silence when you ask this question. It’s a very introspective, reflective question, and it often has people really thinking. But we all have weaknesses, including little habits that can derail longer-term plans. They’ll have them, too. So when asking them what they think might be the potential distractions or the potential larger impediments to reaching their goals, be silent before you press them for answers.

They may turn the question around to you because, after all, you’re the experienced one at the table. They may ask you, “What kind of things do you see happening in people’s lives, relative to their plans?”

You could hold up your cell phone and say, “This is one of them. Because there’s so much irrelevant volume coming through in the headlines telling people what they should do and what they need to watch, half the challenge is just keeping people focused on our talking dealing with these challenges, between you and me. So we’ll have a plan. We want to keep talking about it. We want to make sure we understand how best to follow that plan. That includes different choices you’ll have and our discussing them.”

So, to do this most effectively,

1. Dial in that question.. Be prepared to ask them, “What do you see are going to be the biggest challenges for you reaching your financial goals?”


2. Be silent.. There’ll be a long silence after you’ve asked that, because now they’re dealing with their internal selves, and sometimes those bad habits are things we don’t want to talk about.


3. Let them know, here’s how we’re going to counteract that. “You and I are the ones who are going to do the communicating and make the choices. I’m not going to do anything unless we talk about it first. There’s going to be a lot of noise between now and when you want the choices we’ve discussed available—a lot of media headlines and what have you. Let’s stay focused on hitting those goals, with conversations between us along the way. Then we’ll take the respective steps necessary to make sure you achieve your longer-term goals and the choices you want to have.”

I look forward to bringing you another Distraction-Proof Advisor Idea next week.