Key Client Engagement Strategies for Financial Advisors
Financial advisors are no strangers to the challenge of keeping clients engaged during planning sessions. There’s nothing worse than when clients start seeming disconnected or passive in sessions. Once you lose interest, it can be difficult to regain.
Client engagement is critical to the financial planning process because it directly impacts plan adherence and client satisfaction. Certified Financial Planners (CFPs) and advisors must intentionally build strong client relationships to support engagement.
This guide provides actionable strategies for encouraging clients to collaborate actively in creating and maintaining their financial plans. Read on for nine client engagement strategies to help unlock better planning sessions.
The Benefits of a Collaborative Approach
Why does client engagement matter for financial planning? A collaborative approach to financial planning ensures clients understand why you suggest specific strategies and encourages them to rely on your guidance.
Increased Client Understanding and Buy-In
One of the primary benefits of client engagement is that increased understanding and buy-in lead to stronger adherence to financial plans. When clients actively participate in planning session conversations, they are more likely to understand the financial plan. Clients are more likely to commit to implementing the plan when they fully understand its reasoning. Getting clients involved in meetings allows them to ask questions, provide context, and improve financial literacy.
Stronger Advisor-Client Relationships
Collaborating with clients helps build advisor-client relationships over time. Collaboration fosters a sense of partnership and strengthens the long-term relationship. Working closely with your clients enables you to build rapport and mutual trust. Strong client relationships support collaborative planning and create better experiences for both parties.
Improved Client Outcomes
Engaged and informed clients are more likely to achieve their financial goals. Client involvement encourages greater feelings of responsibility to uphold financial plans. Clients with close relationships with their financial advisor often feel more comfortable asking questions, expressing concerns, and thinking collaboratively, all of which lead to better financial outcomes.
9 Client Engagement Strategies to Boost Collaboration
Now that you understand the benefits of a collaborative approach to financial planning, let’s discuss key strategies to achieve high client engagement. We’ll highlight nine tips to promote a more collaborative financial planning experience.
Laying the Foundation for Engagement
These first three tips focus on laying a solid foundation for client involvement. It’s essential to start your relationship with these key strategies to set the stage for successful collaboration.
1. Active Listening and Empathy
As a financial advisor, it’s critical that you hear and understand clients' goals, values, and concerns. Actively listening to clients ensures you can provide the best, most relevant financial advice. Some ways to show you are actively listening include:
Asking relevant follow-up questions
Repeating back to the client what you said to ensure understanding
It is also very important to demonstrate empathy by taking a step back and considering what it’s like to be in your clients’ shoes. Empathy shows clients you are providing financial advice in their best interest. You can connect with clients while remaining professional to provide a tailored experience they’ll enjoy.
2. Transparent and Clear Communication
It’s part of a financial advisor’s role to explain complex financial concepts to clients. It’s vital that you communicate this in an accessible and jargon-free manner. You want to help clients understand financial concepts and strategies to the best of their ability. Simplify your language when possible and use analogies to break down complex topics.
Additionally, providing educational resources can help clients learn about financial topics outside of your time together. Financial advisors can build rapport by focusing on clear communication.
3. Building a Relationship Based on Trust
You can foster trust through consistent communication, reliability, and genuine care. Financial advisors should set realistic expectations with clients on communication channels, frequency, etc. Additionally, you should always follow through on tasks you promise to work on to build and maintain trust.
By building a relationship based on trust, you can expect your clients to respect you and provide transparent communication. Clients appreciate when financial advisors set clear expectations for what the relationship and planning process will look like.
Empowering Client Participation in the Planning Process
Once you’ve laid the foundation, it’s time to empower clients to proactively participate in the financial planning process. These tips will help you encourage clients to participate in the process.
4. Shared Goal Setting
Shared goal setting involves clients in defining their financial goals to create a sense of ownership. Setting shared goals is essential to getting clients to follow through. You can conduct collaborative goal-setting exercises, such as worksheets or a walk-through of 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year financial goals.
When you discuss goal planning, listen actively to your clients’ wants, needs, and aspirations to help them create realistic financial goals. Don’t just set goals for them—they need to be at least somewhat involved if you expect them to uphold them.
5. Using Visual Planning Tools
Help clients see their financial landscape and actively participate in identifying opportunities and challenges using tools like Asset-Map. Asset-Map provides financial advisors with clear and engaging visualizations of client financial data to promote in-depth conversations. Our visual aids boost client understanding and engagement so you can create collaborative financial plans.
Visual representations can help you break down complex strategies into impactful conversations. Using visual planning tools like Asset-Map empowers clients to be active participants in financial planning sessions.
6. Presenting Options and Seeking Input
You should always present several planning options and actively ask for client feedback. This encourages clients to participate and gives them a bit of autonomy when choosing their preferred strategies. You should base financial plans on client preferences, risk tolerance, and time horizons.
Advisors can frame choices as important steps towards reaching clients’ goals and encourage them to ask any questions they may have. Seeking input shows that you care about their participation and makes it clear that you want to work together.
Maintaining Engagement Through Ongoing Collaboration
Ongoing collaboration ensures that you can maintain client engagement over time. Clients should feel just as engaged after many meetings as in the initial planning stages. Here are some tips on keeping clients engaged in the long term.
7. Regular and Meaningful Reviews
Conduct consistent review meetings that are interactive and focused on the client's progress and evolving needs. Review meetings should be focused on highlighting successes and finding ways to continuously move towards reaching client financial goals.
In review meetings, you can use visual aids to monitor progress and keep clients engaged. Ask clients about how they feel about their financial plans and make adjustments accordingly. The most productive meetings are those spent having meaningful conversations.
8. Utilizing Technology for Continuous Communication
Facilitate ongoing dialogue and information sharing through technology like portals and secure messaging. Asset-Map offers a client portal that provides secure, on-demand access to reports. Communication tools such as Slack can also be used to give clients more direct access to you when not in meetings. Clients can share updates, and you can check in on them in between sessions to keep financial goals at the forefront of their minds. Continuous communication creates opportunities for collaboration.
9. Adapting to Client Preferences
Tailor communication methods and engagement strategies to individual client preferences. Some clients may prefer phone calls, and others may prefer texts or emails. Ask clients about their preferred communication styles to keep them in the loop.
Advisors can show respect for their clients by adapting to their preferences. It doesn’t take too much effort, but adapting to preferences can go a long way in client relationship-building.
Unlock Client Potential Through Partnership
Enhancing client collaboration doesn’t need to be a struggle. Foster client engagement using the nine strategies we outlined to achieve better financial outcomes. A collaborative approach increases client understanding, builds relationships, and improves outcomes.
Collaboration tools like Asset-Map are key to getting client buy-in and increasing involvement. Learn how Asset-Map can elevate your practice. Schedule a demo today.