Most Popular ArticlesProductive Client Relationships
October 6, 2009
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Consider two important principles: the more similar two people are, the more easily they communicate, and we all assume others are like us. The reality is that not everyone can be just like us, and the more different others are, the harder we must to work to create a bond.
In our relationship-driven industry, it is critical to understand how to best communicate with each client and prospect. Most people assume that people want to be communicated with in the ways that they prefer. However, different personality types require information to be communicated differently. Understanding how you are similar and dissimilar to your clients and prospects, and then learning to get on their wavelength can mean the difference between a successful client relationship and a failed one.
The problem is that we don't usually have the time or tools to assess our prospects and clients when we meet them, and we may not fully understand our own personality types to boot. That's where learning to Speed Read personality types can be a real asset to your practice. With a quick and easy-to-understand guide, these hurdles may be more readily overcome.
The problem: Divergent personalities
Putting jargon aside, and just using a few simple adjectives, let's consider two very different peopleÂľan advisor and a prospect.
First, the advisor: friendly, organized, analytical, realistic and driven. These are qualities many Financial Advisors have in common.
Now, consider a certain type of prospect: reserved, thoughtful, sensitive, artistic, and laid-back. If it’s helpful to think of this person in terms of their occupation, then imagine her to be a pediatrician.
So, not knowing a whole lot about the prospect, and realizing that he has a limited time with her, the advisor begins by laying out all the benefits and how his expertise can help find the product that will work best for her. Perhaps he talks about his qualifications and his company’s track record, citing plenty of statistics to back up his claims. As he discusses cost, he frames it in the context of return on investment¾which is exactly the way he would want someone to pitch him.
There’s only one problem. The advisor’s prospect is nothing like him!Â
The single most important factor that will determine if she does business with the advisor is how she feels about him (and whether she likes him personally). To communicate successfully with this prospect, the advisor must first make a personal connectionÂľsomething that would probably never occur to him, and something that would probably not work with him were their roles reversed.
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