January 19, 2010
Strategy Three: Smile
When going out to greet a client in the lobby, make a point of smiling. It may feel a bit funny initially – but the impact that doing this and this alone can have js amazing.
Not only will clients see you as more positive – but you’ll feel better as well. Ultimately, the goal is to make smiling a habit – so you don’t have to do it consciously.
Strategy Four: Demonstrate interest
The next strategy is a simple one – and that’s to demonstrate real interest when you talk to clients.
The best way to do that is to ask questions to get clients talking. The more questions you ask, the more clients will talk. When meeting with an existing or prospective client, the number one priority is always to ask questions to get clients engaged.
People who drone on about their views are the opposite of likeable – we all know paragons of pomposity who dominate every conversation; these are exactly the people everyone avoids at a party.
Strategy Five: Give your undivided attention
It’s not just good enough to get clients to talk – they have to feel that you listen. You need to focus all of your attention on what they say. One way to do that is to make eye contact, looking away only to take notes.
One of the things that’s been said about Bill Clinton is that when people talk to him, they feel that they have his undivided attention – for that moment or two, as far as he’s concerned they are the only people in the room. You want your clients to feel the same way.
Strategy Six: Make genuine compliments
Strategy six is to seek out opportunities to make genuine compliments.
The key is to be sincere – being phony will work against you. But looking for opportunities to say that I truly admire the job you’ve done with your kids, your house, your business, your commitment to charity – these will all make you more likeable.
One advisor I talked to said that in every meeting his goal is to make one genuine, sincere compliment – and has been struck by the positive response from clients.
Strategy Seven: Seek to help
When I began working in the financial industry many years ago, I first came across the expression “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Trite and hackneyed as that line may be, it’s absolutely true – just caring isn’t enough, clients have to see you as caring.
Letting clients know you’re there to help makes advisors likeable – especially when there’s no revenue attached to it for you.
Let’s say a client says that her son has lost his job.
You have three choices.
You can commiserate and say you’re sorry to hear that, secretly hoping this doesn’t mean your client will cash in investments to help him.
Better is to say “Please let me know if there is any way I can help.”
Best is to offer that you have another client whose child went through a similar process before landing another job – and offering to call them to see if they’d be willing to meet with your client’s son.
One way to be liked is to seek out every opportunity you can to help people – without regard to whether there’s anything in it for you.
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