You provide your clients with valuable, and often life-changing, services. From estate planning to trust owned life insurance, the strategies and products you put forth allow clients to protect themselves, their loved ones and their legacies.
However, financial professionals still spend an inordinate amount of time trying to attract and maintain clientele. This has become especially true as the Internet breaks down barriers and provides clients with the tools to find and compare products on their own.
So the question remains: What do clients want from their financial professionals?
Some experts say personalized service tailored to the unique individual is the most important aspect for professionals to master. Others maintain it’s relationship-building that matters most – creating an intimate connection between producer and buyer.
And while both these opinions are valid, it’s also important to remember that when it comes to purchasing products and putting strategies in place, consumers always have a specific number in mind: how much it’s going to cost them.
“Financial professionals often get hung up on the abstract elements of generating and cultivating business.”
All too often, financial professionals get hung up on the abstract elements of generating and cultivating business while failing to remember some of the more tangible truths of the marketplace. Namely, clients want you to help them save money.
Understanding the consumer mindset
Price isn’t everything when it comes to financial services such as insurance. Personalization and relationship-building are important. However, it’s a big leap to go from cost being only one factor to not being a factor at all.
How expensive a product or service is will always matter to clients, particularly in the case of high-net-worth individuals.
It’s a common misconception that wealthier clients will care less about the cost of something like insurance when compared to other segments of the market. In fact, data indicates high-net-worth individuals are often more concerned with price.
Citing figures from researcher and author Thomas Corley, Business Insider reported that wealthier individuals believe saving money is critical to financial success. In fact, 88% of “rich” people agreed with this sentiment compared to only 52% of “poor” people.
“Being wealthy is not just making a lot of money,” Corley told the source. “It’s saving a lot, and accumulating wealth. Many of the people I studied aren’t wealthy because they made a lot, but because they saved a lot.”
With that in mind, appealing to clients’ frugality may be one of the best ways for financial professionals to not only attract business, but keep clients happy.
Fortunately, financial professionals have the knowledge and experience necessary to maximize services for clients while also cutting costs.
Using insurance as an example, there are plenty of ways for producers to help their clients save.
Strategies to save
For example, when working with a married individual who wants to obtain life insurance, you can show them how insuring two lives is often cheaper than providing coverage for just one.
Joint life policies are often cheaper to underwrite, especially if both people are in good health. Layering policies is also a solid strategy, allowing clients to split their life coverage on multiple policies.
Another option is advising your clients to opt for an annuity death benefit instead of a lump sum, as this typically reduces the cost of coverage. It can also be an ideal way for individuals to have more control over how benefits are dispersed and ensure the money lasts without having to set up a trust with distribution rules.
Consumers may have more access to financial information than ever before, but professionals still have the firsthand experience that gives them special insight into the ins and outs of products like insurance. This means they are in a better position to help clients save – an advantage that will never go out of style when it comes to financial services.
