There’s one silver lining for financial advisors in the cloud of turbulent markets: prospecting for new clients just got easier.
Those advisors who haven’t made the extra effort to call anxious clients will lose some of those accounts. In tough times, more investors are open to a relationship with another advisor. That can cut both ways, of course. But for advisors who service their own clients properly, tempestuous markets can even be a net positive.
When I started in the business in the mid 1980s, I placed newer, up-and-coming advisors with Lehman brothers. Their broker cold-calling boardroom was the hottest game in town for big producers. Aspiring rookie advisors who wanted to join Lehman were asked one basic question: What was the first thing that they did when their client’s portfolios went down? The correct answer to the question: They called their clients.
The message is clear. Difficulties must always be addressed immediately and head on. That lesson that I learned as a young recruiter, has stayed with me all these years and has stood me in good stead.
Photo: Bruce Turner
