{"id":21509,"date":"2024-03-07T21:41:55","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T21:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thinkadvisor.com\/2024\/03\/07\/how-to-mind-your-manners-as-an-advisor\/"},"modified":"2024-03-07T21:41:55","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T21:41:55","slug":"how-to-mind-your-manners-as-an-advisor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2024\/03\/07\/how-to-mind-your-manners-as-an-advisor\/","title":{"rendered":"How to ‘Mind Your Manners’ as an Advisor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Financial advisors are not immune from sticky, tricky etiquette dilemmas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now <\/span>comes<\/span> \u201cMind Your Manners: How to Be Your Best Self in Any Situation<\/a>,\u201d by Sara Jane Ho, bringing no-nonsense tips and sassy quips to what can be a musty subject.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an interview, we ask Ho, host of the Emmy-nominated Netflix series \u201cMind Your Manners,\u201d if it\u2019s OK for financial advisors to use humor with clients.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d says Ho, 38, who began as an investment banking analyst before making a sharp career turn and opening China\u2019s first finishing school. \u201cBut if it\u2019s dirty humor, maybe not, unless it\u2019s contextual.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Her book is packed with such pointers on polite behavior as \u201cDon\u2019t lick your knife.\u201d In addition, she emphasizes the importance of resourcefulness and relates how \u201creciprocal obligation\u201d can help advisors.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the interview, Ho, who earned an MBA at Harvard Business School, discusses how to keep a widow from leaving a couple\u2019s financial advisor upon the husband\u2019s death and the worst thing a salesperson can do, especially when trying for a good first impression.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are highlights of our conversation:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not Mother Teresa. I\u2019m Miss Manners with a touch of Machiavelli,\u201d you write. Please elaborate.<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not pretending to be holier than thou or Miss Goody Two-Shoes. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m about being practical and how to use etiquette to get what you want and where you want so it can empower instead of limiting you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Research shows that 70% to 80% of widows leave their financial advisor within a year of their husband\u2019s death. What do you recommend advisors do to prevent that?<\/b><\/p>\n

The relationship with the widow begins before the husband dies.  <\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re meeting with the husband only, you can give him little tokens of appreciation to give to his wife. They\u2019ll make her aware that you know she\u2019s there and you\u2019re thinking of her.<\/span><\/p>\n

When do you start communicating with the widow?<\/b><\/p>\n

As soon as possible, but let her know that she can take her time: You don\u2019t want to rush her so that it looks like you\u2019re after the money. <\/span><\/p>\n

When do you follow up? <\/b><\/p>\n

Three months later, invite her out for a meal. If you\u2019re a male and if she\u2019s an older woman, bring along a female colleague because the widow may not be entirely comfortable going out alone with a middle-aged man. <\/span><\/p>\n

How should financial advisors handle this: A client sends them a referral, but they find the person objectionable and don\u2019t want to sign them. Perhaps the referral thinks they know more about investing than the advisor.<\/b><\/p>\n

You should always thank the referring client. Then say, \u201cWe spoke with [referral\u2019s name], but I\u2019m not sure that we meet their needs as to what they\u2019re looking for.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

So put it on you, not them. After all, if they think they know it all, they don\u2019t need you. Therefore, you\u2019re not meeting their needs! <\/span><\/p>\n

Suppose clients are angry at their advisor. Maybe they wanted to sell a stock, but the financial advisor said to keep it, and they did. Then it went south. What should the advisor say?<\/b><\/p>\n

With an angry client, the first thing is to hear them out. Don\u2019t try to explain. Don\u2019t say, \u201cbut, but, but.\u201d Use body language to show that you\u2019re listening: Nod, look apologetic.<\/span><\/p>\n

When they\u2019ve finished, apologize; because when someone is upset, who\u2019s right or wrong is irrelevant. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Financial advisors are not immune from sticky, tricky etiquette dilemmas. Now comes \u201cMind Your Manners: How to Be Your Best Self in Any Situation,\u201d by Sara Jane Ho, bringing no-nonsense tips and sassy quips...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[1],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/how-to-mind-your-manners-as-an-advisor.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21509"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}