Brad Johnson: Today, we’re going to talk about three lessons that every financial advisor can learn from their doctor, both good and bad. Imagine this, you move into a brand new town, and you wake up one morning, and you literally can’t move your elbow. Severe pain. You’re like, “Oh my gosh, what’s going on here?” But you don’t have a doctor, so you do a quick Google search. There’s a couple that pop up that are close by. You’re like, “Okay, I’m going to go talk to both of them, see which one I want to be my family doctor,” in the new city that you’ve moved into.
So, the first doctor, you show up, standard waiting room. You get walked back to the examination room, standard examination room, and the door swings open. The first doctor walks in, barely looks up, and acknowledges you, looking down at his clipboard, says, “What brought you in today?” “Well, doc, my elbow had just like got all this pain, could barely move it this morning.” Without looking up, scribbles something down on his note on his clipboard and says, “Yeah, I’ve got what you need.” Reaches over, medicine cabinet, grabs a little pill bottle, hands it to you, and said, “Here, take this, and it should be good to go.” Walks out of the room.
Let’s go to Doctor #2. Let’s say it’s the exact same waiting room, exact same examination room, but here’s your experience when they walk in the room. Walk in, warm greeting, look you in the eye. “Hey, how’s it going?” Smile on their face. Says, “What brought you in today?” “Well, doc, my elbow. I could barely move it this morning. Severe pain every time I try to.” He says, “Really? Well, sorry to hear that. How long’s that been going on for?” “Just this morning, doc.” “Really? Interesting. Well, have you done anything out of the ordinary the last few days? Any sports activities, anything like that?” He continues to probe, dive in, and before long, you’ve kind of gotten to the bottom of it and a little bit of examination, all of that. And he says, “You know what, we’ll get you taken care of. I’ve seen this before. Nothing to get too worried about. Don’t worry, you’re going to be just fine.” And reaches over, grabs that same bottle of pills that the other doctor did. Hands it to you and said, “Here, take this.”
So, I have to ask you, which of those doctors do you want to work with? Doctor 1 or Doctor 2? That brings us to lesson number one as a financial advisor. You have to diagnose before you prescribe, also known as seek to understand. And one of the things that I’ve seen is how this applies to finance and being the best version of a financial advisor you can be, oftentimes, that first doctor example happens so frequently in finance. In fact, that’s what happens when you lead with products or solutions before you actually understand the problem you’re addressing. How it feels is like that first doctor that just grabs their favorite product, their favorite asset manager, their favorite mutual fund, and says, “Here you go.” It’s really a one-size-fits-all solution.
And by the way, your clients and prospects feel that because you haven’t done enough digging and diving into what brought them in in the first place to actually understand what the need is before you apply the solution. And so, you obviously don’t want to be the first doctor or an example of that as an advisor. If we look into the second version of that, there’s a diving deeper, not just, “Hey, where do you hurt? Here you go. How long has it been hurting? Anything you’ve been doing the last few days that could have caused that?” It’s not just surface-level questions but seeking to understand going deeper so that there’s an actual understanding. And by the way, it’s not just the problem-solving piece of that. It is actually the side of it where the client feels understood. And what studies actually show when clients feel heard and understood, they’re more likely to follow through on the prescribed solution.
So, there’s so much to that. And one of the things that we do at Triad is we have different frameworks that can actually help you have a track to go down the question framework. In fact, we have one five-question sequence. We call it question stacking. I’ll share a couple of them here with you today. “What is your main concern when it comes to retirement?” And you’re listening, you are engaged. And then a follow-up question, “How long has this been a concern for you?” Those are the first two. So, if you just look at the layering there, not too different from that doctor example we just talked about. Where is the pain? My elbow. How long has that been going on for you? Same thing. What is your main concern for retirement? How long has that been a concern for you?
So, you’re starting to layer the questions and go deeper to truly get to a full understanding of where you can help that individual sitting across the table from you. So, if that could be helpful to you, and you’re watching out on YouTube or you’re listening to this on audio, we’re happy to share that we’ve got a PDF of those five-question sequence. Simply click the link below if you’re on YouTube. We’ve got the comment pinned. If you’re listening out on audio, go to the show notes in your favorite player, and we’re happy as a thank you for tuning into the channel to share that with you.
One other tip. Different from a doctor’s office, when it comes to being a great financial advisor, oftentimes, a doctor’s meeting is with one individual. As a financial advisor, oftentimes you’re meeting with couples, too. And so, what we want to make sure is we don’t direct all of the questions to one of the spouses or significant others. We want to apply both of those layered questions to each party so that both feel heard and understood. And the very best financial advisors out there, they’re not too different from couples therapists. They’re taking two different individuals with oftentimes differing opinions, different risk tolerances, different goals and needs, and you’re synthesizing that into one solution that serves both parties. So, make sure when you’re meeting with couples, you apply that to both parties in the equation.
Okay, back to the doctor scenario, the elbow. So, you’ve explained the pain, and Doctor 1 hits you with this. “Well, you see, yeah, I went to a lot of years of medical school to really understand this, and it seems what you have is a little case of Articulatio cubiti. There’s some inflammation around there. There might be some swelling in the olecranon region. In fact, we’re going to hit you with an anti-inflammatory, non-steroidal, of course, naproxen. And I’ll get that to you. You should be cleared right up, no time. And yeah, just tell the receptionist on the way out. She’ll take care of you.” That’s Doctor 1.
Doctor 2. After you explain the pain, go through the whole scenario. “Well, first off, let me tell you this, everything’s going to be okay. In fact, the situation you’ve got going on with the elbow, I know it seems like a really big deal, and you can barely move it, and you woke up with a ton of pain. I’ve dealt with this exact same situation hundreds of times before, and trust me, everybody ends up just fine on the other side of this. So, what you have going on there is you’ve got some inflammation in the tendons in your elbow. You see right there where the ulna and the ulna is one of your bones there in your arm, where that hits there looks like from your tennis the other day. You’ve just got some inflammation going on there.
So, not a big deal. I know it’s painful, but very solvable, and we’re going to get you an anti-inflammatory. It’s actually right over the counter. It’s called Aleve. I’m sure you’ve taken it many times before. And I think after a couple of weeks, and obviously we’re going to keep you from using it, doing anything too strenuous, you should be just fine. And I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’re going to set a follow-up appointment in a couple of weeks just to make sure you’re on the right track, and you’re going to be just fine. Does that sound all right?” Okay. So, you’ve got Doctor 1, you’ve got Doctor 2. Which one of those doctors are you going to work with?
So, that brings us to lesson number two that you can learn from a doctor, both good and bad. Write a prescription your clients can understand and feel good about, also known as having a good bedside manner. And over the years, I’ve seen financial advisors with not-so-good bedside manners, and I’ve seen advisors with incredible bedside manners. And if I try to define a good bedside manner, it’s helping people feel comfortable, helping people feel that they’re not alone, helping people feel that they’re going to be okay. And no different than if you’ve got a crazy pain in some area of your body, most humans immediately go to the worst-case scenario, “Oh my gosh, I’m going to die. This is going to kill me.”
Well, in the world of finance, oftentimes, your prospects and clients are suffering the financial version of that. In fact, I heard a long time ago going to see a financial advisor is like getting financially naked in front of somebody. It’s scary. And so, what you can do to help people feel comfortable is that good bedside manner. Number one, talk with words they can actually understand. We suffer from a disease of jargon in finance, and oftentimes, that says a lot more about you as a financial advisor than it does your clients, because oftentimes, it’s a defense mechanism to make yourself feel elevated or in a position of power as a financial advisor.
And I’ll tell you, whether you’re a doctor or a financial advisor, the very best in those professions have a way of making people feel at ease, feel comfortable, and feel understood. And so, your language is a big piece of that. Also, your demeanor is a huge part of that. Making sure you’re friendly, a smile versus cold, sterile, unwelcoming, and the very best advisors I’ve seen in my career, they have a way of just helping people feel at ease and building some of that rapport, checking in, asking some additional questions makes all the difference in the world when it helps people feel secure, connected, and safe.
Another piece of this is, what is the solution that you put in front of your clients? No different than jargon, oftentimes these monstrous financial plans like as thick as the Bible with tons of charts and numbers, and graphs versus a one-page simple solution, easily understood. That’s another version of a good bedside manner and helping people feel understood. So, one of the things we see the very best financial advisors use is not super complicated financial planning software. Now, that doesn’t mean they’re not building with tools like eMoney, MoneyGuide Pro that are obviously very heavy-duty, very complicated financial planning softwares, but what they’re doing when they explain the problem and the potential solution to a client, they’re keeping it much simpler.
So, think about another industry, the BowFlex health equipment. How are all of these products sold before and afters? “Fat and unhappy? Buy our BowFlex. Oh, weird. Miraculously, a few months later, you’re shredded.” And so, if you think about the lesson in that, that applies to this same concept we’re talking about now, simplify the complex. And you can do that in financial planning. You say, “Hey, here’s where you are today. Here’s your frustration, concern. Here’s where you want to go.” Back to the delivery of the solution. You want to make sure to keep it in an easily understood package. Frameworks are great. We have multiple frameworks we coach on at Triad.
Things like planning and asset allocation philosophies, safety income growth, a very simple whiteboard allocating assets for set needs, that’s easy to understand, whether you’re a fifth grader or a retiree. Things like a tax triangle, where you can understand different tax classifications and how to utilize putting the right money in the right spot to minimize taxes in an efficient way. And so, some of the very best advisors I’ve seen, they have different frameworks, different concepts. Might be a whiteboard, might be a one-pager they put in front of a client so that the prospect can simply understand how they can help.
Okay, let’s get back to the doctors. So, after we’ve described the issue, number two, we’ve started to get into the solution, the prescription. Now three, let’s see how Doctor 1 handles it from here. Doctor 1, “Okay, here’s the prescription. Take this. In fact, reception, she’ll take care of you in the front. See you later.” Doctor #2, the exact same medication. Obviously, we’ve taken a different path to get there, and the prescription, “Hey, by the way, I want you to take this for the next couple of weeks. I want you to lay off any strenuous activity around the elbow. No tennis, no pushups, no pull-ups. And at reception, she’s going to go ahead and set a follow-up appointment for you, because I want to see how you’re progressing here in a couple of weeks, and we’re going to make sure you’re on track to get this thing taken care of.” Does that sound good?
That brings us to lesson number three, the difference between a plan and planning, or said differently, a product and a plan. You see, oftentimes, advisors, when we apply this to the world of finance, what I’ve seen over the years, many of them believe the finish line is when they deliver the product, the prescription, the solution. But if you think about the other side of the table, for most of your clients, that is just the beginning of the journey. We’ve now put a plan in place. Now I’m going to start to live my retirement. And so, the mindset you have to start to think about as a financial advisor, it’s not, “Here’s your solution, see ya.” It is, “Here is the roadmap. Let’s check in along the way.”
So, as we start to think about the difference between a one-and-done product or “Here you go, good luck,” versus ongoing planning and following a journey, there are a few things that you want to think about, and one of the things is kind of the one decision at a time process. So, step one, we want to uncover the issues and concerns you have and understand if a second appointment even makes sense. So, one decision at a time. Does it make sense to have a second? You go into a second. Kind of those before and after snapshots we talked about. At the end of the second, would you like us to build a plan to help you fix these things? If so, engage. Most of our clients at that point at Triad are ACATing to engage the client.
And then onto three, which is asset allocation. The other thing, if you think about a financial plan, especially if you build it with the CFP standard, you have income, you have investments, you have taxes, you have healthcare, you have legacy and estate. That’s a lot of complexity. That’s a lot of different worlds to address all at once. Some would say impossible to do in one fell swoop. So, the very best of the best, I love the term, “Hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day.” So, as we start to unpack and build a plan here, we’re going to start with the foundational piece of income because there is no such thing as retirement without income.
And then we’re going to complement that with an investment strategy that complements your income strategy to make sure you’ve got the safety and security of income that’s there when you need it, as well as the growth that complements the income to keep up with things like rising healthcare inflation, everything that retirees run into in retirement. And oh, by the way, we’re going to layer on a couple of tax strategies. And so, if you think about that, we’ve oversimplified, and dependent on that client’s individual needs and concerns, you can start to compartmentalize the solutions.
Back to the ongoing monitoring of a plan. Now, you can say, “Hey, today we’re going to cover this, the income, the investments, and then the next time we get together, typically we do about a 60, 90-day check-in. That’s where we’re going to circle back around. We’re going to make sure we address some of the other tax issues we uncovered. We’re also going to make sure we layer on some healthcare, make sure you’re good there. And then at the end of the day, make sure when it’s all said and done, what’s left goes to the family, the church, the charity that you want to leave a legacy behind to.” And so, what you’re doing really, when you think about laying out this journey, you’re simplifying the complex once again, but you’re not overwhelming a client with 15 different decision points all at once. That’s where you get the dreaded, “I want to think about it.” Or as I heard one time, a confused mind always says no.
And so, what we want to do is we want to bite-size it along the way and know that we’re going to have ongoing planning to continue to address the problems as they pop up, and any life changes that might come up down the road. You think about it, who knows what’s going to happen five or 10 years from now? Life changes. Unfortunately, circumstances pop up that aren’t always ideal when it comes to retirement. So, now that ongoing planning process gives you a path forward to continue to take rights or lefts as that plan unfolds.
So, today we talked about what every financial advisor can learn from their doctor. Hopefully, you had fun with this one. I did. Hopefully, my two doctor characters, you saw the difference there, but really it was three lessons we unpacked today. Lesson number one, diagnose before you prescribe, aka seek to understand. Everybody wants to feel understood before you offer them a solution. Lesson number two, write a prescription your clients understand and feel good about, aka having a good bedside manner, helping people feel at ease. And lesson number three, the difference between a plan or a product that’s static versus planning and the ongoing journey that all of your clients are on, and how they see that as the beginning, not the end of the relationship with you.
Thanks for tuning in today. Hopefully, this one was fun for you. I know it was for me. And by the way, if you haven’t already, please like, subscribe. If something really hit home with you, leave it in the comments below. If you’ve got an idea for a future episode, we read all of the comments. And lastly, hit that little bell so you’re notified every time we drop a new episode for you. Thanks for tuning in.
