7 Questions Your Inexperienced Prospects Are Afraid To Ask In A Consultation Call
By Hillary Gale
Partnering with a financial advisor, especially for the first time, is an important step in someone’s financial journey. When my husband and I interviewed financial advisors for the first time, we knew what we wanted help with, but we didn’t know if some of our questions – like “How do you get paid?” – would be considered inappropriate during consultation calls.
It turns out that most financial advisors expect questions like that, but we didn’t know it at the time. When you’re an expert in your field, it’s easy to forget that other people don’t know exactly what you do. But because your job is to help people reach their financial goals and solve their financial problems, it’s important that you make prospects feel comfortable to ask hard questions.
New prospects don't know what questions to ask or if it’s appropriate to ask them. You can help by anticipating what questions your prospects want to ask – but don’t, simply because they’re uncomfortable.
When you lessen someone’s nervousness – especially unspoken nervousness – potential clients will be more likely to trust you (which is everything in the relationship between client and financial advisor).
Here are 7 questions that inexperienced clients feel uncomfortable asking, and some tips on how to make them feel more comfortable.
1. How Do You Get Paid?
You know this is an important question, because how you get paid correlates with the services potential clients are looking for. In our journey, my husband and I were looking for a fee-only advisor, and some of the advisors we interviewed didn’t make this clear on their websites.
Our culture teaches us this question is taboo, so inexperienced potentials may not be comfortable asking it. And honestly, you may not feel comfortable when you’re asked this question on the spot, either. However, your clients need to know how you get paid, because this tells them what products you might try to sell them if you’re not a fee-only advisor.
If you are fee-only (or fee-based), this is a great opportunity to showcase to your clients that you have their best interests in mind. Try to answer this question before it gets asked, either on your website (which we recommend), or during the consultation call.
2. How Much Will It Cost Me To Work With You?
This is a big one, but asking this question can be nerve-wracking. Your fees determine who can afford to work with you and who can’t. First-time clients (especially millennials like me), really need to know how much it will cost to work with you, but this question is uncomfortable for obvious reasons.
Stating your fees upfront is a way to know immediately whether your partnership is a good fit. Knowing whether or not clients can afford your serves before a scheduled consultation call can save both of you valuable time.
(And if discussing fees and compensation makes you uncomfortable, too, here are some tips for how to lead that conversation).
3. What Are Your Qualifications?
Your clients should know the qualifications you’ve earned to help them with your finances. (Plus, it’s an opportunity to show off the credentials you’ve worked so hard for.) But this question can feel awkward, especially for a novice client who may not be familiar with financial designations.
Make sure to explain your designations beyond simply stating them. For example, the first time I saw the CFP® designation after someone’s name, I thought “great, they’re a certified financial planner, big deal.” I didn’t realize that a CFP® requires more than just a pass on an examination.
Knowing that a CFP® certification requires years of education, experience, and a commitment to ethical standards places a much greater value on the letters that come after your name. Don’t be afraid to ask if your potential clients would like to know more about your specific designation.
4. What Exactly Do You Do?
Inexperienced clients may not know exactly what it is you do, but don’t know how to ask the questions that will give them concrete answers. Some new clients may have only ever held an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, and never invested the funds themselves. If this is the case, they need some basic explanations of the services you offer.
Novice clients will want to know what exactly is involved in the financial and retirement planning process. These processes can feel vague and out of reach to clients whose financial knowledge might extend no farther than keeping a personal budget. Terms like analysis and projection don’t have specific meaning for inexperienced clients yet, so the more concretely you can explain your process, the better.
5. Can You Help Me Solve X Problem?
When my husband and I first partnered with our financial advisor, we were early in our wealth accumulation stage, but we wanted to partner with someone who would help us optimize our opportunities. We still had vehicle and student loan debt that we were trying to pay off. And although we had a savings account with a balance that certainly felt high to us, it was nowhere near the assets that traditional financial advisors require as their minimum investment amounts.
We were lucky to find a local financial advisor who specializes in working with millennials. But we still felt unsure if we were truly ready to utilize his services, and if he would be able to help us with what we needed, which involved creating a debt repayment plan and safely investing a portion of our savings.
In not knowing exactly what it is you do, novice clients might feel silly asking if you can help them solve their specific problems. The best way to approach this concern is to ask them what problems they need help solving. I’m sure you do this anyway, but it’s good to remember that inexperience can make someone feel embarrassed about their situation.
6. What’s Next?
Novice clients may also not be familiar with your process. In fact, all new clients – even if they’ve worked with a financial advisor before – probably have this question. Be sure to explain your process and next steps in a clear, concise manner so potential clients know exactly what to expect.
7. How Often Will We Be In Contact?
Finally, inexperienced clients don’t know how often they can expect to hear from you or reach out to you. And new clients won’t want to be a bother. If you prefer that your clients contact you before they make a large purchase or a major financial decision, let new prospects know! This information will help them be more forthcoming with you and assure them you’re a resource.
Answer These Questions On Your Website
If you want to reassure nervous prospects ahead of time (which we highly recommend), make the answers to these questions easily available on your website. This way, you’re creating trust with potential clients before they even reach out to you. When incorporating these answers into your website, make sure they are:
Clear
Easy to find
Client-focused
There are two options for where to include these answers on your site. You might find logical places on pages that already exist. For example, you could include information about how you get paid on your “Services and Fees” page. The second option is to add a “Frequently Asked Questions” page to your site. New prospects will look to an FAQ page if they already have these questions in mind.
Hire A Personal Finance Copywriter For A Website Refresh
If you need help adding this information to your website in clear, easy-to-find, client-focused copy, hire a personal finance copywriter to help you refresh your website and build trust with potential clients before your first conversation.
I’ll help you decide the most logical places on your site to answer these questions. We’ll clarify your message, write engaging copy , and make the information easy to locate. You can reach me at 480-353-1608, send an email to hillary@galecreativeagency.com, or schedule a consultation call with me here.