We at PWJohnson have the privilege of working with a wonderful group of people (our clients) who are kind, supportive, inquisitive, educated, intelligent, and interested in participating in shaping their financial future. Our experience with our clients shows us that the client-advisor relationship is no different from any other relationship. It is strengthened and deepened by:
- Regular and effective communication that is free of blame
- A clear understanding about the goals of the relationship
- A commitment from both parties that they want the relationship to be successful
- A willingness to share what is true and authentic, even if might not be what one wants to say, or to hear
- An assumption that the other person is doing the best they can
- Recognition of the assets (literally or figuratively!) that each person brings
- Trust
It is weakened by:
- Mistrust
- An assumption that the other person is not interested in my well-being
- Lack of communication, and withholding of information
- A lack of commitment, sincerity, and honesty
- Blaming and fault-finding
- The client and the advisor having different goals
It is our experience that our best relationships are built on a solid foundation of trust. And, interestingly, the financial services business is often called “a business of trust”. Trust is not something that can be forced and, often, is quite difficult to articulate clearly. Trust develops gradually over time, with the experience of spending time with and working with the other party. For us, when someone (let’s say, a financial advisor) says, “I’m trustworthy,” all kinds of red flags go up. We’re not going to trust someone we just met because they tell us they’re trustworthy. In fact, perhaps, just the opposite! The experience of trusting an advisor is something that the client experiences as a result of their interactions with an advisor over time. And it goes in both directions – we as advisors learn to trust our clients as our experience with them deepens. It’s a win-win on both sides. Although the trust that develops between a client and advisor may rarely be spoken about explicitly, evidence of it can appear regularly:
- When the advisor proposes specific updates to the portfolio, the client may respond with “I trust you. Make the trades.”
- The client begins telling their friends about what a wonderful financial advisor she has.
- Over time, as we get to know each other, we share more of ourselves with our clients and they share more of themselves with us.
- We laugh a lot in our meetings!
As we mentioned above, we’re privileged to work with a great group of people, our clients. They inspire us to deepen our experience of trust, to encourage us to go the extra mile. For that, we’re extraordinarily grateful.