Prospective clients have likely considered seeing a financial professional for some time but finally decided to book a meeting, one expert says, noting that questions such as ‘Why now?’ and ‘What has changed?’ can provide much fodder on how to best assist them with their financial challenges.fizkes/iStockPhoto / Getty Images
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For advisors, creating deeper connections with prospects and clients comes down to the types of questions they ask and how they ask them, an industry expert finds.
Advisors need to consider the goal for their initial or early-stage discovery meetings with clients.
“People are afraid … of our financial jargon, of being judged,” says Meghaan Lurtz, senior research associate at Kitces.com, a U.S.-based advanced financial planning blog. Ms. Lurtz, who teaches financial planning at Kansas State University, spoke to delegates at the FP Canada Financial Planning Conference in November.
“The [financial] problem has to be more painful than the idea of talking to an [advisor] about their money.”
Ms. Lurtz notes that the prospective client has likely considered seeing a financial professional for some time, but finally decided to book a meeting. She says questions such as “Why now?” and “What has changed?” can provide much fodder on how to best assist them with their financial challenges.
Meanwhile, reaching for a “closed question” such as “do you feel you are reaching your goals?” may put a prospect or client on the defensive and make them feel anxious.
“When the brain hears a question, it immediately tries to look for an answer,” Ms. Lurtz explains. “The brain believes there is a right answer and will search for one. This will give people a lot of anxiety.”
The brain will answer close-ended questions faster, she adds. “It’s not really thinking about it, it’s giving you a yes or no answer. It requires little to no thinking to ask.”
On the other hand, asking a “statement question” that starts with, for example, “Tell me about your past investment experience” has the opposite effect. It’s more calming and causes the client to reflect more in their responses, Ms. Lurtz says.
“Going from a question to a command doesn’t set the same alarm off in our brain. It lowers the anxiety,” she explains.
Open-ended questions take longer for a client to reply but will provide advisors better insight into their needs. “We want to use commands and questions to activate intrinsic motivation to get something done,” she says.
Scale questions and keeping a positive vibe
Beyond open- and close-ended questions, Ms. Lurtz likes “projective questions” that start with “what if” or “what would” for brainstorming concepts and ideas.
She’s also a fan of advisors asking clients “scale questions” because of the direct, pointed responses received. As the name implies, scale questions address where the client falls on a scale on particular issues, with one representing the lowest point and 10 the highest.
She says advisors are often afraid of a number response of say “two,” because they don’t know how to proceed and break the negative spirit. Ms. Lurtz says to counter with “why not a one?” which she finds helps the client speak about what they are doing well.
“Advisors can capitalize on that and complement the client on showing up for the meeting,” she says, “and then ask them what it will take to raise their scale number to 2.5.”
Like all relationships, it takes work to keep those positive vibes going with clients, she adds.
“What they enjoy when they first meet you is going to look different. It’s about meeting with your clients, learning about their current needs and choosing to learn about them again and again,” she says. “The only way to grow together is to learn together.”
The last two years of pandemic restrictions, work transitions and perhaps the loss of loved ones, for example, serve as opportunities for advisors to re-engage with clients as their values, goals and priorities have likely changed.
Finally, Ms. Lurtz believes advisors should not ask more than three questions at a time before reflecting on what the client has told them.
“It starts to feel like an interrogation if too many questions are asked,” she says.
She advises that advisors repeat back what they heard from the client. It helps with pacing but also clarifying points.
“If the client corrects you – this is a sign of trust – they want you to know how they really feel and can move forward from that,” she says.
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Deanne Gage