Do you want to create massive value financial planning meetings at every opportunity?
One of the challenges in any long-term financial planning relationship is keeping it fresh, inspiring, and avoiding it becoming stale.
In this article I explore how value is created and 4 ways you can add massive value to any client relationship.
Where does value exist?
It is essential to realise that value can only be experienced internally. An external goal or outcome has no inherent value to it. So, we want what we want because of what we think it will give us.
For instance, if your client wants to plan for and go on the trip of a lifetime it is because of the feelings they think it will give them.
There are only two basic emotions
Imagine for a moment there are only two basic human emotions. Love and fear (click here for more on this). As far as our biology is concerned this is true and all other feelings and emotions fall under one or other of these.
What people want is to experience more love and less fear.
We all have our own unique language for this but, as examples, we want to move away from worry, anxiety, and insecurity and towards joy, happiness, and peace of mind.
4 ways to create massive value financial planning meetings
These 4 ways give you endless opportunities to create value at every client meeting.
So, let us look at each one:
Create an environment for insight
An insight is literally a sight from within. It is an ah-ha moment, epiphany, or realisation that brings with it a new, fresh feeling. Never under-estimate how valuable a new insight can be for someone. It can change a person’s life.
I have seen people who have worried about money for decades suddenly drop all that worry because they see insightfully that it has done nothing good or positive for them ever. Instantly, their quality of life improves.
One of the keys to creating an environment where insights are more likely to occur is your own level of curiosity. Instead of making assumptions, ask more questions so you can understand how your client sees their world.
When you hear something that does not add up or make sense then be willing, with permission, to challenge your client so that they get reflective.
Open up new choices and options
The late scholar and scientist Alfred Korzybski coined the term, ‘The map is not the territory.’
Our map of reality is not reality. It is only ever a partial view of reality and yet until someone points this out to us it is easy to assume we know what all our options are.
One of the most significant values of financial planning is helping a client open up more choices and options. In other words, expanding their map.
For example, many times I have had advisers share stories about clients who have financial security and yet are afraid to spend their money it through fear of poverty.
Another example is people staying in jobs or careers because they are afraid of change and the financial consequences.
It is not an adviser’s job to tell a client what to do but it can add massive value to show clients what is possible. In that way they can make better decisions that improve their life.
New perspectives
It was Albert Einstein who famously said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Yet this is so often what we try and do, which is why the same problems tend to occur repeatedly in a person’s life. A new perspective is looking at something in a new and different way, which can be incredibly liberating.
Listen out for a client’s limiting beliefs, which can often be disguised in throw away comments. For example, many times I have heard people jokingly say, “Money is the root of all evil.” Yet many people do have very negative attitudes towards money regardless of what they earn and how much they have.
Resilience
Resilience is an essential quality in accomplishing anything worthwhile. It is also true that many people abandon their goals, dreams, and ambitions because of setbacks and feeling discouraged.
Having helped many clients achieve significant goals I know that we can come off track very quickly. So, to be there for your client when setbacks occur may be the difference between them staying on track or losing hope.
You can help them refocus upon what they want rather than all the made-up reasons they think they cannot have it, are not good enough, or do not deserve it.
There are always opportunities to create massive value
Massive value financial planning meetings are the result of a shift in a client’s thinking and feeling. Once you are tuned in to this then endless opportunities will present themselves to you.
P.S. You can download my FREE report, ‘Magical Client Meetings Every Time! by clicking here.
