Asking great questions is a superpower for financial advisors. When done right, asking great questions establishes likeability, accelerates trust, and uncovers personal, sensitive information. Three things that are absolutely critical to perform your job at the highest level. But, it’s not just about asking more questions. It’s about knowing how to ask great questions that get great answers. It’s about knowing the techniques that enhance your questions and elevate your conversations with both clients and prospects. Here’s what you’ll learn: The research that confirms the power of questions The “3E” questions for creating conversational flow Using follow-up questions to open the floodgates of the conversation How to structure your questions to receive better responses 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 2005, Josh Gilliam set out to research, read, and learn everything he could about behavioral finance, psychology, and communication.  He was seeking to master the human side of advice.  18 years later, he admits it’s still a work in progress. But, he took what he learned and created the [Fi] Life Framework. A framework he uses to facilitate better conversations and connections with clients and prospects. We discuss: The [Fi] Self Profile: A tool for learning more about a client’s financial beliefs and history How helping a client learn about their past created a relationship-altering conversation The [Fi] Life Big Decision App: A tool to guide clients toward making better decisions Why the human side of advice will provide a natural boost to client testimonials Why it’s important to have clients document their decision-making processes 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 2005, Josh Gilliam set out to research, read, and learn everything he could about behavioral finance, psychology, and communication.  He was seeking to master the human side of advice. 18 years later, he admits it’s still a work in progress. But, he took what he learned and created the [Fi] Life Framework. A framework he uses to facilitate better conversations and connections with clients and prospects. We discuss: The #1 risk in not adopting the human side The tool he uses to help clients visualize goals, transitions, and milestones Why Josh found himself unfulfilled at the moment most advisors dream about Why he starts conversations around how someone feels rather than what they have The story of how life planning cost him a $10 million client (and why it didn’t faze him) 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

If you work with people and their money to fund something now or in the future, it’s absolutely crucial that you understand the dynamic between goals and values. Once you can move beyond goals and understand what’s truly important to the person you’re meeting with, everything changes. In fact, once you embrace and internalize this dynamic, research shows it creates emotionally connected clients that pay more, refer more, follow-through, and consolidate assets. In this episode, I’ll break down what the research says about emotionally connected clients and use the golden circle as a method for understanding how to talk with clients and prospects about what’s truly important to them. 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

As behavioral finance has moved into the mainstream, one thing has become clear. It’s great to know there’s a way to explain a client’s sub-optimal behavior. But, it’s an entirely different challenge to know what to do about it.  In other words, behavioral finance has done a great job of providing advisors with a list of diagnoses: Overconfidence, anchoring, Dunning-Kreuger Barry Ritholtz has been on the cutting edge of behavioral finance for years. In this episode, he peels back the curtain to share the specific ways that Ritholtz Wealth Management focuses on improving client behavior. We discuss: Why steer clear of market forecasts and focus instead on probabilities A question to ask clients who believe everything they hear on TV Effectively setting expectations in the midst of uncertainty How they minimize bias by naming their portfolios The “Milestone Rewards” program that discounts fees for optimal behavior 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

Asking great questions is a superpower for financial advisors. But, it’s not enough to simply ask questions. The types of questions, the timing of questions, and the tone of questions all matter. In other words, there’s an art to asking great questions. Fortunately, Warren Berger is a Questionologist and the world’s foremost authority on questions. He is here to walk us through the art of asking great questions that get great answers from both clients and prospects. In this episode, we discuss: How to ask questions to get someone to open up The engine that drives good questioning What actors can teach us about cultivating curiosity How to order questions for conversational flow Questions you ask every day that fail to create a connection Using questions to convince clients your idea is their idea 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

Every advisor always wants to know what questions to ask. But, more important than WHAT you ask is WHEN you ask it. A great question asked at the wrong time is no longer a great question. In this episode, we’ll go through six different steps of the client journey and arm you with three questions to use at each stage: Intro Call Discovery Meeting Onboarding Implementation/Recommendations Review Meetings Every Conversation 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

We all know that human beings buy on emotion and justify with logic. Yet, when meeting with a prospect, the majority of advisors default to leading with logic rather than emotion. The success of your prospect meeting hinges on your ability to communicate in a way that takes them out of their heads and into their hearts. Once you do that, you can create a level of trust in 3 minutes that often takes 3 years. Fortunately, Deirdre Van Nest works with advisors on the keys to communicating in an emotionally compelling way to fast-track trust and likability in the first meeting. Here’s what you’ll learn: Keys to making yourself relatable in a first meeting Why the purpose of a prospect meeting shouldn’t be determining fit A superpower to get prospects to decide faster Getting someone to open up by “flipping the script” The importance of a “Why” story to explain what you do The magical question to ask at the beginning of the meeting 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

Financial advice requires working with money and people. Working with money is the easy part. You need a calculator and some decent math skills. Working with people is the hard part. You need an understanding of what goes on in their brain. Ted Klontz says, “The more you understand how the brain works, the more effective you’ll be working with people.” In this episode, he reveals what advisors need to know about the brain in order to create motivation and connections with clients and prospects. We discuss: How to effectively communicate to the decision-making part of the brain Why palm trees are better than graphs for improving financial behavior What car dealers and ice cream stores teach us about prospect conversations A must-ask question for every prospect coming from a previous advisor Three keys to developing exquisite listening skills Why 8 of 10 people who come to you aren’t actually ready for advice 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

This is the inaugural “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) episode. Whether it’s been emails, Twitter DM’s, LinkedIn messages, one-off virtual meetings, coaching sessions, or at a conference, one thing has become clear about financial advisors and the human side of advice. You guys have questions. A lot of really good questions and I want to help you answer them on your path to mastering the human side of advice. I’ve got an ongoing list of questions, so if you have a question that you want answered, send it to me via email, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Here’s what you’ll learn: Whether you should communicate the value of behavioral coaching to a prospect The top 3 behavioral finance ideas to immediately make an impact in your next meeting How to confidently introduce a “values” conversation with a client you’ve had for 10+ years 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