Every financial advisor knows how crucial it is to effectively build trust and connection with prospects and clients.

Study after study and story after story will tell you that’s what clients look for when choosing an advisor and it’s why they stay with their advisors.

But, is it even possible to build the same level of trust and connection virtually? Is it reasonable to expect the same level of comprehension and follow-through from the client (or prospective client)?

Dr. Sarah Asebedo and her colleagues conducted a study to help financial advisors and financial planners better understand the keys to building trust and connection in virtual meetings.

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Connect with Brendan Frazier: 

• RFG Advisory
• LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier
• X:@jbrendanfrazier

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As the value and future of advice continues to shift towards the intersection of technical knowledge and the human side of money, it has coincided with the rise of financial therapy.

Financial Therapy is focused on improving how clients think, feel, and behave with money to improve their well-being.

Nathan Astle, founder of Relational Money, helps advisors who don’t want to be full-fledged financial therapists develop and hone the most critical skills from financial therapy that lead to better connection, and ultimately, better outcomes.

We discuss:

• “Financial Flashpoints” – what they are and why they are so critical to changing behavior
• The “Money Timeline” exercise to help clients uncover their own financial flashpoints
• Why money issues are rarely about money and the importance of finding the real issue
• Two simple phrases you can use to facilitate communication and connection
• How to effectively identify and label someone’s emotions

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Connect with Brendan Frazier: 

• RFG Advisory
• LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier
• X:@jbrendanfrazier

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We’ve all been inundated with information showing how behavioral biases impact financial decision making. But far less attention has been given to the fact that these same biases can undermine the identification and prioritization of goals.

Research shows that there is indeed a gap between the goals clients think are important to them and the goals that are actually important. And that gap is forged by our biases and mental blind spots.

Samantha Lamas and her colleagues at Morningstar have conducted the research for us and explains the impact these biases have and what advisors can do to help clients uncover their most meaningful goals.

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Connect with Brendan Frazier: 

• RFG Advisory
• LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier
• X:@jbrendanfrazier

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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.

To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here

Connect with Brendan Frazier: 

• RFG Advisory
• LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier
• X:@jbrendanfrazier

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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 their question-asking abilities, so they can enhance client outcomes and forever change the trajectory of their business.

To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here

Connect with Brendan Frazier: 

• RFG Advisory
• LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier
• X:@jbrendanfrazier

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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!).

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

To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here

Resources:

• 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. 

Connect with Brendan Frazier: 

• RFG Advisory
• LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier
• X:@jbrendanfrazier

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For most financial advisors, the idea of work/life balance is nothing more than an illusion. Especially for those who started, survived, and thrived in the profession based on a mindset that success was simply a numbers game.

Survival and success relied upon activity. There was a direct correlation between the amount of work you put in and the reward you received.

Travis Parry used to live this life. But, now, he’s using his research-backed method to show advisors how to, not only, achieve work/life balance, but thrive both at work and at home.

We discuss:

• Regaining more time by conquering the three myths of time management
• Why “balance” is misleading and a better way to think of it
• Prioritizing your time according to your goals and values using a Business Ideal Calendar
• The surprising results from his research on a crucial element to goal achievement and behavior change
• How work/life balance better equips you for the human side of advice

To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here

Connect with Brendan Frazier: 

• RFG Advisory
• LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier
• X: @jbrendanfrazier

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Financial planning without any regard for the person’s dreams, values, and life they want to live is nothing more than numbers on paper.

A person’s dreams, values, and life they want to live without any regard for money is nothing more than a fantasy.

Life planning is simply connecting the client’s dreams and values with the strategies of financial planning that create the life of freedom that person has always envisioned.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• The two pieces of advice that George gives to anyone that wants to become a great listener
• “The Pause” – the one skill he said every advisor should know and learn
• The two things they train advisors to listen for to enhance the conversation
• A deep dive into the famous three questions and the best practices for applying them
• “Lighting The Torch” – the key step in the life planning process that ignites behavior change

To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here

Connect with Brendan Frazier: 

• RFG Advisory
• LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier
• X:@jbrendanfrazier                   

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There is zero correlation between the size of your bank account and the overall contentment and happiness of your life.

If you’ve worked with people and their finances long enough, you’ve seen it time and time again. But, once you can align money with meaning, you have the foundation of a happy, meaningful life. 

Financial advisors excel at financial strategies but often fall short at helping clients illuminate the ingredients of a meaningful life. Brian Portnoy has spent decades writing, speaking and teaching on how to map money to meaning on the path to funded contentment.

We discuss:

• A real, tangible definition of financial wellness or well-being
• Using the “Four C’s” of contentment and the “7 Dimensions of Money Life” to map money to meaning
• The conversations to have with clients to uncover their meaning
• The behavioral and psychological challenges inherent with goals-based planning and why most advisors aren’t equipped for it
• The dimensions of behavioral coaching beyond keeping your client invested in the market
• And more!

To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here

Connect with Brendan Frazier: 

• RFG Advisory
• LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier
• X:@jbrendanfrazier

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The greatest barrier for every client isn’t lack of information. It’s their own mindset and behavior.

Whether it’s someone who overspends, someone who under-spends, someone who wants to sell out at the worst possible time, or even the person who never sends in the data you need, the key to changing their behavior starts with understanding their money mindset.

Sarah Newcomb, Director of Behavioral Science at Morningstar, joined the show to discuss how to better understand a client’s money mindset.

We discuss:

• The framework she and her team developed to assess a client’s money mindset
• The important distinction between financial and emotional well-being
• The #1 predictor of savings behavior and how to help clients with it
• Using a “What-If Journey” to help clients overcome their fears
• How role models can play a powerful role in changing behavior and overall well-being

To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here

Connect with Brendan Frazier: 

• RFG Advisory
• LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier
• X:@jbrendanfrazier                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

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