Helping clients build new bridges

Gao joined Investors Group as a financial consultant in June 2006 and became division director for its Toronto Central region, serving the booming community of North York, in May 2009. She now supervises 15 advisors and provides them with ongoing training and support.

Gao works primarily with members of the Chinese community; her client base is about 200 and her book is slightly less than $20 million. Says Gao: “I have always believed that building long-term relationships with clients is the best way to help individuals and their families explore the financial planning options at each stage of their lives.”

Gao makes her initial connections with newcomers through referrals and by working with various government-sponsored programs for newcomers. These programs offer her the opportunity to host frequent seminars for newcomers that are typically attended by 10 to 20 couples.

As well, Gao participates in community events, such as Chinese New Year celebrations where she often has a booth, and advertises her services in community-based newspapers.

Gao’s language skills also help her build bridges. “I am fortunate to speak Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghainese,” Gao says, although she notes that many of her clients communicate well in English.

Although many of Gao’s clients have adapted readily to Canadian culture, there are instances when she has to deal with specific cultural nuances: “A lot depends on the individual.”

In one instance, Gao had a 42-year-old client with two children whose wife had passed away. Gao sold the client a life insurance policy, which had the system generated numeral “4” in the account number. The client refused to accept the policy because four is considered an unlucky number by some Chinese. Gao had to get her head office to treat the policy as a “special case” and override the original account number to replace it with one that included the numeral “8,” which is a regarded as lucky.

@page_break@ Gao says one of her main challenges working with newcomers is “getting them to understand the system here; it is very different from what they are used to.”

She does not try to sell products but focuses more “on comprehensive financial planning.” Accordingly, educating her clients is a crucial part of the process: she must go through the entire process and show clients how they can benefit over the long term.

Also important, Gao says, is the need to “select clients who are a good fit.” If potential clients do not believe that what an advisor is providing is what they want, she says, then the relationship will be strained.

Developing trust is crucial. Typically, the bank is one of a newcomer’s first stops upon arriving in Canada, says Gao. Often, she says, it is the small, personal things that you do – beyond the financial relationship – that make it easier to earn a newcomer’s trust and persuade them that a long-term relationship with you will provide a high level of customized service.

Once trust is earned, newcomer clients typically bring in additional assets and provide referrals to other family members, Gao says: “Depending on the client, you may be introduced to the whole immediate family.”

Gao approaches her role as a financial planner with the dedication and discipline of a marathon runner. She has completed several marathons across North America, including the Toronto Ma ratho n, t he S c otia b a n k Toronto Waterfront Marathon and the New York City Marathon. She spends her spare time training – up to 10 hours per week.

The married mother of one, who is studying economics at the University of Toronto, is an architect by training. She has a degree from Tongji University in Shanghai, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China. After moving to the U. S., Gao worked for several years as a software engineer.

Gao sees tremendous potential in building her book of business by working with newcomers. But doing so is like running a marathon, she says – it takes time, careful preparation and perseverance.

“At the end of the day,” she says, “you can get clients for life.”

© 2012 Investment Executive. All rights reserved.