Listening Skills

by Catherine Court, Head of Training & Competence

If you’re reading this then it’s likely that you’re an adviser who has been working for a good number of years, and has a loyal client bank that you know quite well and who are not afraid to ask questions of you.

In fact, you might even be thinking that you prefer potential clients who do ask a lot of questions, as it shows their interest in their situation and what you can do to assist them.

There’s one adviser, let’s call him Fred, I know who is like this and he recently got visited by a potential client – one who’d been to see him a number of times before. Fred quite happily sat down with the potential client and said that he’d got all the time in the world to answer any questions that may crop up.

To cut a long story short, it appears that the prospective client had told Fred that although Fred appeared to be the most logical, patient and knowledgeable adviser he’d ever come across, he’d actually bought a product from another adviser.

It’s difficult to define whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. However, bear in mind that, sometimes, some potential clients (or even some existing ones) will see an adviser as being an ‘educator’ not necessarily a ‘salesman’. This can have a different result from that which we intend.

Commissions are basically rewards for selling a product. Fees are linked to the work involved in advising the client and transacting the product. In a time when all advisers, not just investment advisers, are looking to find the most cost effective way of charging clients, whilst still bearing in mind the principles of TCF, this is something to take into account. The TCF angle is, of course, an important one. Consumers need to have sufficient information to be able to make an informed assessment.

The question is therefore not whether we, as advisers, give ‘sufficient information’ but whether we sometimes give information in excess of this, and how detrimental could this be? Does it take time (time is money, after all) to provide this information and how much benefit does it give the client?

Many of us are also at a stage where we’re contemplating the qualifications we have and the knowledge we possess, and trying to increase this by taking examinations and the like.

A wise man once said that there is nothing wrong with knowing as much as possible about what you’re selling. It is, however, a mistake to demonstrate to every prospect and customer the extent of your knowledge.

One way round this is to answer questions with questions. When a client or prospect asks you a question, unless it’s a simple matter of a yes or no, ask them to explain what it is they really want to know. Sometimes, there can be a degree or two of difference between the question asked and the knowledge required. The whole process works better when a client or prospective client tells you what exactly it is he wants and why. The only way this will happen is if they talk and you listen.
cathi.court@financial.ltd.uk