According to Allison Maslan, Pinnacle Global Network's founder, CEO, and business scaling expert, there is one trait all 150,000 CEOs and Founders of 8 and 9-figure businesses she’s worked with share: decisiveness.
Likewise, if there is one complaint that advisors share about their clients and prospective clients, it’s a lack of decisiveness.
“I just want to run it by…”
“I want to do a little more research.”
“Let me think about it.”
The lack of urgency can be frustrating.
But then again, most clients won’t have experienced a phone call from a client in the midst of the unexpected, looking for reassurance that the planning was appropriately done, that it accounted for this or that—that it will be enough.
If any of this seems relatable, we hope you’ll enjoy these tips for helping clients be more decisive.
Limit the options. Most clients hire an advisor because they do not have the depth of expertise advisors do. This also means that the complexity and variety of potential solutions can be overwhelming.
Start small. If the larger plan requires a number of decisions, help clients act by breaking them up into smaller decisions to be made on a clear timeline.
Open the conversation. If a client wants to talk it through with someone they trust, offer to join the conversation to speed up answering questions and clarifying options as well as the pros and cons of each.
Share examples. If you have a personal story to share that can help reinforce the importance and urgency of the decision at hand, try sharing it. Vulnerability, as well as genuine care, concern, and support for the importance of the decisions being made, can go a long way.
Get back to core values. If the recommendations support things the client told you were of critical importance to them, go back to that initial conversation, tying solutions back to the problems they came to you to solve.
Christy Charise, Founder & CEO of Strategic Advisor