Ask financial advisors what it takes to attract and retain clients, and you’ll get answers such as “above-average returns,” “preserving capital in tough markets” and “strong communication.”

Those are all true. But there’s one other factor that’s often underestimated — and that’s likability.

In my interviews with clients, I’ve often heard them say they’re a bit disappointed with recent returns or that they haven’t heard from their advisor quite as much as they’d hoped, but they really like him or her and just don’t see themselves leaving.

Clients who have selected a new advisor often tell me they had spoken to several advisors, all of whom seemed competent and interested, then ended up selecting the one they liked the most.

It’s really quite simple: everything else being equal, we like to work with people we like. Some advisors believe that likability is innate – we either have it or we don’t. That’s true, to a point. But there are specific things you can do to make you more likable:



> Strategy 1: Keep A Positive Attitude

The first thing that makes people likable is being upbeat, positive and optimistic.

No one likes to spend time with someone who is constantly down in the dumps and who sucks the energy out of every room.



> Strategy 2: Boost Your Energy

One way to convey a more positive attitude is to radiate positive energy. It’s hard to look upbeat if you’re slumped in a chair at the end of the day.

Exercise can play a big role in boosting energy; starting the day with a workout or a brisk walk can help. Fresh air and sunshine can help as well. Even taking five or 10 minutes before an important meeting to get some fresh air will increase your energy level.

Or you can do what one advisor does to be more upbeat when talking to clients on the phone. He has put a sign on his wall that read: “Be positive.” And he stands up while talking. Just by doing those two things, he has raised his energy level while on the phone.



> Strategy 3: Smile

When going out to greet a client in the lobby, make a point of smiling. It may feel a bit funny initially, but it’s amazing the impact a smile alone can have.

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 4: Demonstrate Interest

This strategy is a simple one — to demonstrate real interest in the clients you’re talking to. 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 No. 1 priority is always to ask questions to get clients engaged.

People who drone on about their views are the opposite of likable. We all know paragons of pomposity who dominate every conversation. These are exactly the people everyone avoids at a party.



> Strategy 5: Give Your Undivided Attention

It’s not good enough just to get clients to talk; they have to feel you’re listening to them. You need to focus all of your attention on what clients say. One way to do that is to make eye contact, looking away to make notes.

It has been said of Bill Clinton 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 other person in the room. You want your clients to feel the same way.



> Strategy 6: Give Genuine Compliments

The key to seeking out opportunities to compliment your clients is to be sincere. Being phony will work against you. But looking for opportunities to say, “I truly admire the job you’ve done with your kids/your house/your business” will all make you more likable.

One advisor I have talked to says that in every meeting, his goal is to make one genuine, sincere compliment. He has been struck by the positive response from clients.
@page_break@> Strategy 7: Seek To Help

When I entered the financial services industry many years ago, I came across the expression “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Trite and hackneyed as that expression may seem, it’s absolutely true. Note that just caring isn’t enough; clients have to see you as being caring.

Something else that makes advisors likable is letting clients know you’re there to help — 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:

1. You can commiserate and say, “I’m sorry to hear that” while secretly hoping this doesn’t mean your client will cash in some investments to help him.

2. A better response is: “Please let me know if there is any way I can help.”

3. The best response is to say you have another client whose child went through a similar process before landing another job. Offer to call the other client to see if he or she would be willing to meet with your client’s son.



> Strategy 8: Remember The Little Things

A while back, I interviewed a woman client in her 60s who went on about the fact that every time she went to her advisor’s office for a meeting, her advisor remembered how she took her tea and had her favourite cookies on hand.

This advisor’s assistant made a point of recording these kinds of details in the database, and made a special trip to the store if an important client was coming into the office.

It does make a difference if you remember small details about clients — how they like their coffee or tea, where they went to university or the names and ages of their kids.

The key is to capture this info in your database and then make a point of referring to it before meetings, incorporating the info into conversations in an appropriate fashion.

Again, you can go over the top and come across as phony. It might be OK to say, “The last time we talked, you had just shot 93 and had a quadruple bogey on the last hole; how have you done recently?” But if you start reeling off the client’s golf scores before every meeting, you’ve crossed the line.



> Strategy 9: Follow Up And Surprise Your Clients

A client, while meeting with his advi-sor, casually mentioned that his 85-yea-r-old mother was going on a tour of Egypt. A couple of days later, the client received delivery of a book — a memoir by an author who had travelled to Egypt. The package was accompanied by a personal note from the advisor wishing the client’s mother a great trip.

This client said: “How could I not like my advisor when she is that thoughtful?”

In a previous article, I mentioned an advisor who had a stock of Disney World guidebooks in his office to send to clients who were taking their children or grandchildren to that attraction for the first time.

What’s important is to look for opportunities in every conversation to follow up with something that really demonstrates your interest and goodwill — and how much you value the relationship.



> Strategy 10: Let Clients Know It’s Not All About You

None of us likes people who are self-centred and wrapped up in themselves.

One way to build likability is to let clients know subtly what you’re doing to give back to the community. For many successful people, sharing part of their wealth with those who are less fortunate is a priority. And, given the choice, they want to work with people who share their values.

The key is to do this in a low-key fashion, without blowing your own horn. One way is to use holiday greetings as a means to let clients know that you’ve made a charitable contribution on their behalf, and to talk about what you and your team are doing to give back to the community.

Or if you’ve received awards from a local charity, you can hang them in your office or mention your charitable activities in your newsletter.

Chances are that you’re already reasonably likable — it’s hard to be successful otherwise. That said, few of us can’t improve on this
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Dan Richards is CEO of Clientinsights (www.clientinsights.ca) in Toronto. For other columns, visit www.invesmentexecutive.com.