One of the main challenges for financial advisors when it comes to applying behavioral finance is as simple as this: it’s a lot easier to construct a financial plan than to deconstruct your client’s emotions.
Graeme Newell has been helping financial advisors better understand what goes on in their client’s minds by literally putting them in brain scanners for most of his career.
And he takes the insights he learns and turns them into practical advice to improve client’s decisions and behavior.
Research shows asking great questions builds trust, establishes likability and uncovers valuable information.
Which is why asking great questions forms the foundation of a successful first meeting that converts a prospect into a lifelong client.
This episode is meant to be a guide for advisors to hone your question-asking abilities, so you can enhance client outcomes and forever change the trajectory of your business.
For a list of the best questions to ask and links to the research mentioned in the article, visit this page.
Ask any financial advisor if behavioral finance plays an important role in delivering ideal outcomes to clients, and you’ll get a resounding “Yes.”
Ask those same advisors if they know exactly what to say and do to seamlessly apply behavioral finance, and you’ll get a resounding “No!”
Knowing someone is suffering from loss-aversion helps explain why he or she behaved a certain way. But the effective application of behavioral finance tells you what to do about it. That’s where change occurs.
Jay Mooreland, founder of the Behavioral Finance Network, has been helping advisors apply behavioral finance in their practice for the better part of a decade (even before “behavioral finance” was cool!).
In this episode, we discuss:
How to use a “Behavioral Plan Policy Statement” to facilitate ideal behavior
What effective behavioral coaching looks like and what most advisors get wrong
The often-overlooked benefit of differentiating your business when applying behavioral finance
The importance of coaching on one principle in every meeting
How proactive communication instills good behavior and ways to use it with clients
*For anyone interested in joining The Behavioral Finance Network, Jay is offering a $75/month discount on his memberships for our listeners. Go to the membership page, and apply the coupon code “HSOM” at checkout.
To join a community of like-minded advisors and planners around the world looking for top-notch insights and information on how to leverage behavior, psychology, communication, and emotion to master the human side of money, visit Wired Planning.