Aim to become a trusted new-world adviser

By now, everyone with a pulse is aware that the game for financial professionals has changed, and an entirely new set of rules has evolved. In a sense, all this represents a new world order for financial advisers. From the perspective of financial professionals, we refer to this person as the “new-world adviser.” Our most recent research of advisers and the affluent has informed us that the core of this new world is trust, combined with core competencies and professionalism. Our findings have allowed us to identify the most important criteria that affluent investors want in their relationship with an adviser. There can be no mistaking their expectations: The new-world financial adviser must be able to deliver the goods on a consistent basis. When you approach this concept from a broader perspective, two fundamental factors frame all the other criteria. In essence, the affluent employ two considerations in their selection process for an adviser: the adviser's reputation and their first impression of the adviser and his or her professionalism and competence. Although this might seem like a blinding glimpse of the obvious, these findings shouldn't be viewed in isolation. For example, when you take into consideration that word-of-mouth influence is the primary method that the affluent use in making major-purchase decisions, the importance of these two primary factors takes on even more significance. You also have to take into consideration today's affluent response to the question of how much they trust the following groups to provide unbiased financial advice. Just 26% of the affluent in our research had “full trust” in their financial advisers, and just 18% expressed “full trust” in the firm where they worked (these are two of the highest rankings). These figures indicate that the entire financial services industry has its work cut out for it if it expects to improve this much-maligned trust factor. However, there is a silver lining for financial advisers. The affluent said that Wall Street was the major culprit behind their personal financial woes, while they absolved their advisers and those advisers' firms. It is apparent that something is going on. If that isn't enough to get your attention, consider that just 2% placed full trust in television advertising and just 3% in financial-industry advertising. So here is the bottom line: If today's affluent investor trusts his or her adviser, that trust is transferred to the adviser's firm. A good adviser strengthens the reputation of the financial institution with which he or she is affiliated, and not the other way around. This is a challenge that both advisers and their firms must address. As an adviser, if you are serious about attracting and developing loyal clients in today's world, you might find it helpful to take a serious self-assessment. A simple starting point would be to answer the following questions: • When your affluent clients talk to a family member, friend or a colleague and your name enters the conversation, how are you referenced? If you aren't sure, ask 10 of your top clients. • How would your affluent clients describe your value? Again, if you aren't sure, ask 10 top clients. • Are you a practitioner of comprehensive wealth management? If not, what services should you add? • Do you make a good professional first impression? If you aren't sure, get some feedback on what you might change. • Do you deliver Ritz-Carlton-quality service with a FedEx level of efficiency? Regardless, think in terms of always striving to improve on both fronts. None of the above is complicated, but it requires a total commitment in order to pay attention to such details. From the perspective of today's affluent, the new-world adviser is the product. They have lost trust in the big institutions, whether it is Wall Street or the government, and yet they are desperate for advice and guidance regarding their financial affairs. I am convinced that the actions of advisers over the next 18 to 24 months will likely define the re-mainder of their careers. Work diligently every day on becoming a trusted new-world adviser, which means spending time with your clients, serving your clients, having fun with your clients and penetrating their centers of influence. Matt Oechsli is an industry speaker, researcher and writer. E-mail him at matt@oechsli.com or visit oechsli.com.