While Kristin is on vacation in Montana, we’re re-posting some of the ‘oldie-but-goodie’ Integral Advisor blog posts. Kristin will be back with new content at the end of July!
Well, of course what your clients expect from their advisors is important. And, it’s a worthwhile exploration for any advisor worth his or her salt. But, is it the most important?
Recently, I had a conversation with a favorite colleague and friend of mine, Justin Anderson (JSA Advising), that has continued to intrigue me. The question of the conversation was, what do clients expect from their professional advisors?
A worthy question, no doubt. Yet, I think that even more compelling (and courageous) is the question, what do clients value from their professional advisors?
What Your Clients Expect
When your clients hire you, they expect that they are hiring the best. They expect that you are the most technically proficient, the smartest in your field, a respected advisor among your peers.
They expect that you’ll deliver on time. They expect you’ll have the right tools and systems to do your job. They expect that you’ll operate with integrity.
What they expect is what you’ve put on the table as your offer. It’s the intellectual, left-brained reason behind why they hired you in the first place. But the reason they retain you for years and years? The reason they proudly refer you to their friends?
It’s because of what they come to value in you.
What Your Clients Value
What your clients value is what they didn’t expect when they first hired you. It’s what delights them when they think about what’s happened in their lives as a result of their work with you. It’s the differentiators they talk about when they proudly refer you to their friends.
What they value is someone who isn’t afraid to tell them the truth. Someone who is courageous enough to take a stand. Someone who has enough faith in the abundance of their own practice that they drive to the best solution for their client, even if it means the end of a project or engagement.
What they value is someone who is willing and able to be a role model. To illustrate leadership from the front, from the middle, and from behind. What they value is when you show up clear-headed, confident, and present – as if they are the only client you have (because, when you’re with them, they are).
They value someone who is innovative in their own practices and can expertly navigate the roadmap of innovation for their clients. They value someone who is willing to be wrong in the short-term in order to find the right solution for their clients long-term.
When you deliver what your clients expect, you look the same as every other advisor.
When you delight them with what they value (and maybe didn’t even know it), you quickly shift from a “commodity” to “indispensable.”
Do you know what your clients value?
Kristin, what a powerful expression of the ideal of the indispensable advisor.
I will add a few quick comments…none of which are going to be as eloquent or powerful of the gift you have presented us with.
I believe they value that deep and abiding sense that you have their best interests at heart.
I believe they value you for the gifts that you bring to them through your commitment to 1) listen carefully, 2) ask inciteful questions that unleash their vision and imagination for the results they would like to attain, and 3) present concepts to them in way that they stick.
I also believe they value you for being a great collaborator, for not competing with their owner advisors but rather supporting a team of serving professionals and advisors.
JohnA-
Thank you for adding your insights — I couldn’t agree more with everything you’ve written. I’m particularly struck by what you write about being a great collaborator. The idea that we as advisors could stop competing and could instead find the most authentic way of bringing their gifts to the table — trusting that they will be seen, valued and appreciated — is a powerful one. Imagine what would open for ourselves, and our clients, if the space we work in is one of abundance and possibility, not scarcity and competition? Just one more reason your Purposeful Planning Collaboration is an invaluable resource and gathering place.
“Let your light shine for all to see, and those who can, will… “