The Human Side of Money

Your success in this profession and the quality of your relationships are directly correlated with your communication skills. Think about the communication you have with clients and prospects. It’s almost always “spontaneous communication.”  It’s not planned, prepared or scripted. How you respond in these spontaneous situations will oftentimes dictate the outcome of the entire interaction. Fortunately, Matt Abrahams is the foremost authority on how to be more confident and eloquent in the moment. In this episode, he reveals the secrets to communicating with confidence in any situation. Here’s what you’ll learn: Why small talk is important and the mistakes to avoid Why you (ironically) have to prepare to be spontaneous Two ways to buy yourself time on the spot before responding The “Pace, Space, and Grace” framework to be a better listener The “What-So What-Now What” structure to use in almost any situation To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here Resources: The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals Connect with Brendan Frazier:  RFG Advisory LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier X:@jbrendanfrazier

Most financial advisors’ meetings are underwhelming. They typically include a mix of small talk, dialogue, fact-finding, and a less-than-riveting display of numbers and charts. It’s the main reason why prospects leave your office and don’t respond for months (if ever), despite the fact that they need help. And you knew you could help them. It’s also the main reason that you won’t find clients excited and eager to come to their review meetings. In this episode, Sten shares how he’s leveraged the power of communication to create a meeting experience where clients leave saying: “That’s different than any meeting I’ve ever had.” Here’s what you’ll learn: The “Quantify and Multiply” approach to create urgency A formula to answer “What do you do?” in a compelling way The meeting-altering power of whiteboarding (and how to do it) The average things most advisors do that lead to boring meetings Why the “trust gap” is the main thing keeping prospects from moving forward To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here Resources: The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals Connect with Brendan Frazier:  RFG Advisory LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier X:@jbrendanfrazier

Trust is the foundation of success in financial advice. You need trust to get prospects to become clients and you need trust to get clients to follow-through and do the things you ask them to do. Without trust, you have no business. But, if you know how to consistently build trust with both prospects and clients, it will take your relationships AND your business to places very few things can. Everybody knows how important trust is. But, very few people know the secrets to consistently building high-trust relationships. Fortunately, Herman Brodie does. Consider this episode the ultimate guide for everything you need to know about trust. Here’s what you’ll learn: How to continue building trust with long-term clients The only type of trust that serves as a competitive advantage The intangible factors that lead investors to choose asset managers The non-obvious benefits trust has on your clients and your business The “Trust Game:” The role of similarity when it comes to building trust To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here Resources: The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals Connect with Brendan Frazier:  RFG Advisory LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier X:@jbrendanfrazier

The perfect plan is rendered useless in the absence of execution. Or, as Dr. Moira Somers says: “What’s the point of technically proficient advice if the client won’t act on it?” You would think that providing someone a step-by-step plan to accomplish their goals would be all that’s needed to spur someone into action. But, anyone that works with people and their money knows that simply isn’t the case. Dr. Moira Somers, author of the book Advice That Sticks, provides a blueprint for improving the “stickiness” of your advice to help create better outcomes for clients. Here’s what you’ll learn: The most common reason clients fail to follow through on your advice What medical research can teach us about the challenges of implementation A proven method to help get through the friction of the data-gathering process How much responsibility falls on the advice-giver when advice isn’t implemented How improving follow-through benefits your clients, your business, AND your well-being *This episode originally aired in January 2021. To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here Resources: The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals Connect with Brendan Frazier:  RFG Advisory LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier X:@jbrendanfrazier

The Human Side of Money in 2023: Released 35 episodes Crossed over 100k downloads (and almost 200k!) Delivered 2,517 minutes of content on the human side of advice Inside those 35 episodes and 2,517 minutes lie countless ideas, insights, and nuggets that will do two things: Enhance and enrich your clients’ lives and forever change the trajectory of your business and career. But, there were certain ideas inside each episode and conversation that delivered more impact than others. Certain insights and nuggets that move the needle a little bit further.  In this episode, I go back through each conversation from 2023 and extract the most impactful ideas and insights advisors need to know. To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here Resources: The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals Connect with Brendan Frazier:  RFG Advisory LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier X:@jbrendanfrazier

There’s a critical mistake made by almost every advisor around the world every single day. We focus more on the plan than the person. More on what we do than what they need. Our natural approach is plan-centric. Meanwhile, the industry is shifting towards human-first financial guidance. Fortunately, Ross Marino embraced this shift long ago and built a firm that specializes in human-first financial guidance. He tells us what led to him embracing the shift to human-first financial guidance and provides a simple framework to apply with prospects and clients. Here’s what you’ll learn: The “staple question” to start every meeting The two questions he asks in his “Re-Discovery” meetings Why the industry is shifting towards human-first financial guidance Why Ross decided to do “Re-Discovery” meetings with every client The Transitus Process: 4 questions to spark meaningful conversations To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here Resources: The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals Connect with Brendan Frazier:  RFG Advisory LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier X:@jbrendanfrazier

Lack of follow-through and implementation of advice is a widespread problem. One study revealed this gut-wrenching stat: 70% of clients implement less than 20% of financial planning recommendations. There are a number of reasons to explain this. A primary reason is that advisors deliver advice that looks good on a spreadsheet, but it doesn’t fit into real life.  If you can design your advice for the person rather than optimizing for a spreadsheet, you’ll watch your implementation problems disappear. After all, the best advice is the advice that actually gets implemented. Here’s what you’ll learn: A client story demonstrating doable over optimal advice One of the primary barriers that prevent clients from implementing How to optimize advice for spreadsheets but design it for real-life Three questions to ask that will drastically improve follow-through To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here Resources: The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals Connect with Brendan Frazier:  RFG Advisory LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier X:@jbrendanfrazier

In 2012, Shaun Erickson founded Single Point Partners because he wanted to do something different. As a solo advisor at the time, his primary focus was on building a process with one main focus: Building it around the client’s agenda (a.k.a. – the things that matter most to the client). Fast forward to 2023, and his focus has shifted. Now, he’s focused on building a human-first approach into the fabric of an entire firm. Whether you’re a solo advisor trying to embrace a human-first approach or a firm owner wondering how to build an entire firm with a human-first approach, you’re in the right place.  Shaun Erickson takes us inside Single Point Partners to share exactly how to build a human-first approach into the fabric of your entire firm. We discuss: A question to put a prospect’s mind at ease Why you should follow up with clients 3 times How they train advisors to learn the human side The “Pebbles vs Boulders” approach to improve follow-through A story where asking one question forever changed the relationship To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here Resources: The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals Connect with Brendan Frazier:  RFG Advisory LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier X:@jbrendanfrazier

Mastering the human side of advice will: Enrich your clients’ lives Enhance your relationships with clients Forever change the trajectory of your business/career Think it sounds too good to be true? Listen to these 7 stories from advisors around the world sharing how the human side has made their clients and their practice infinitely better off. To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here Resources: The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals Connect with Brendan Frazier:  RFG Advisory LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier X:@jbrendanfrazier

Your client isn’t just the person sitting in front of you today. It’s who they’ll become 30 years from now. And, it’s who they were 30 years ago. They might be making a decision in the present. But, their decisions in the present are shaped by the experiences of their past and influenced by their vision of the future. When you work with human beings and money, it’s crucial that you fully understand the powerful forces that the past and future play on your client in the present. We discuss: How our past experiences with money carry forward into the present The two ways in which our current self makes decisions to the detriment of our future self Two client stories on the power of the past and the future How to help clients understand their past to drive better outcomes Two ways to improve the client’s connection to their future self To sign up for Brendan’s monthly newsletter focused on the human side of advice → Click Here Resources: The featured partner for this episode is Knudge, an automated system to help clients actually follow through on their tasks and reach their financial goals Connect with Brendan Frazier:  RFG Advisory LinkedIn: Brendan Frazier X:@jbrendanfrazier