September 2020
🦃🧊🎢 An Informed View Of Risk
Something that's obvious to anyone who's done this job for more than a week is the need to better educate clients on what the word "risk" means. The way it's currently used is meaningless, like the word "love". I "love" spring weather and I also "love" my iPhone. Two very different things.
I've wrestled with this dilemna for a while, and recently started sharing my thoughts on a better way to frame risk. It seems to have been received well, and I hope it will be a useful tool for other advisers to start having better conversations about the topic.
Many of you would have seen my talks at either HUM SA 2019 or Life20 Summit. Those were aimed at advisers. Since doing those I keep hearing from other advisers about the struggle they have when communicating with clients. We know they arrive with a suitcase full of misconceptions, our job is to get them to empty the suitcase so that we can start educating them on the correct way of seeing the world and investment.
The Turkey, The Ice Sculpture & The Rollercoaster
No, that's not the start of a bad joke. These three items are the key characters in my story about the informed risk scale, my attempt to reframe the risk conversation.
I've recorded a client-friendly version. You're welcome to use it as is or repackage it in your own words. The video can be seen at www.humansundermanagement.com/risk. Let's keep learning and sharing to make this profession better.
🏆 Main Feature
Hacking The Value Conversation [5 minutes].
Being able to communicate the value we provide, without pandering to the client, is one of the most useful skills we can learn. The key is to help the client to see how valuable it will be for them to successfully get to the place they want to go.
Learning from other disciplines is an underappreciated art, we have much to learn from other professionals.
📰 Articles & Blogs
When The Magic Happens [16 minutes]. The most important changes of the last 100 years have taken place during upheavals.
My Life as a Client: Just Listen to Me! [2 minutes]. It's their money, not ours.
Why pre-meeting data requests may be costing you clients [4 minutes]. Are you making it more difficult than it needs to be?
How Mindset Trumps Methods For Financial Advisor Success [29 minutes]. The blocking point is in our heads.
Listening for the stories that drive client behavior [6 minutes]. Is your client the hero, or the victim, in their own stories?
A Little Bit of Friction Can Make Us Better Long-Term Investors [4 minutes]. A little bit of friction can go a long way.
🎧 Podcasts
Defining and Selecting Your Niche with Patrick Brewer [40 minutes]. You need to understand how they think.
Selling Services [34 minutes]. We sell the invisible, but we still need to sell.
Experimenting With Advisor Marketing To Find The (Digital) Formula That Works For You with Taylor Schulte [113 minutes]. Don't be scared to try different things.
📚 Book Recommendations
The Consultant with Pink Hair by Cal Harrison. A wonderful story of fictional management consultants who are trying to understand and position their expertise.
👏 Encore
Enjoying Your Vacation? Then You Should Read This Story [7 minutes]
How a financial planner has semi-retired [6 minutes]
Building a robust client acquisition strategy in five steps [5 minutes]
Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know [3 minutes]
The Powerful Evolution in Fee Structures [6 minutes]
Acceptable risks in a world full of uncertainty [4 minutes]
