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Ep. 13: Julie Littlechild: Working Across Generations to Drive Sustainable Growth
5 Plays6 months ago
With six generations in the workforce today, advisors who understand and address the needs of each generation may have a competitive advantage in building sustainable businesses for the future. In this episode, Julie Littlechild, Founder and CEO of Absolute Engagement, joins hosts Bill Coppel, Chief Client Growth Officer at TradePMR, and Ryan Neal, Senior Editor at TradePMR, to dive into this topic. Listen as they explore: Ways advisors can address multiple generations with their client experience Myths about Boomers and younger generations that can hinder client engagement How personalization connects to the next generation experience Subscribe now, and connect with us on social media:
YouTube LinkedIn Facebook Get the transcript for this episode, with sources, at https://synergizepodcast.com/ About Julie LIttlechild: Julie is the Founder and CEO of Absolute Engagement, a firm that provides enterprise clients and individual financial advisors with support in defining, refining, measuring, and executing their ideal client experience to drive deeper engagement and growth. She has worked with and studied successful financial advisors and their clients for more than 25 years. Before founding Absolute Engagement, Julie launched and ran one of the industry’s leading research firms, focused on client engagement. Julie Littlechild and Absolute Engagement are not affiliates of TradePMR. More About Julie: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julielittlechild/ Website: https://absoluteengagement.com/team/julie
Book: The Pursuit of Absolute Engagement Blog: Blog | Absolute Engagement If you want to join the conversation or connect with us, please visit us at synergize.advisorevolutionsciences.com.
This content is provided for general informational purposes only. The views expressed by non-affiliated guest speakers are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of TradePMR or its affiliates. TradePMR and its affiliates do not endorse any guest speakers or their companies, and therefore give no assurances as to the quality of their products and services. This channel is not monitored by TradePMR. TradePMR does not provide investment advice, tax advice or legal advice. TradePMR is a Member of FINRA and SIPC. Trade-PMR, Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). TradePMR provides brokerage and account services to registered investment advisors. Custodial services provided by First Clearing. First Clearing is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC Member SIPC, a registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. Copyright 2024 Trade-PMR, Inc.
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Transcript
Introduction to Synergize Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to Synergize, unscripted conversations where we explore the evolving role of the financial advisor in an emerging AI driven world.
00:00:11
Speaker
Join us as we bring together thought leaders across a range of disciplines and industry experts, sharing insights designed to help RIAs thrive in the industry of tomorrow.
Meet the Hosts: Bill Capell & Ryan Neal
00:00:22
Speaker
Hi, I'm Bill Capell, Chief Client Growth Officer at Trade PMR.
00:00:26
Speaker
And I'm Ryan Neal, Senior Editor at Trade PMR.
00:00:29
Speaker
And welcome to the Synergize Podcast.
Generational Myths and Wealth Transfer
00:00:32
Speaker
So Ryan, I think the fact that you and I are from different generations is going to make this episode especially interesting.
00:00:38
Speaker
Yeah, that's right, Bill.
00:00:39
Speaker
This is one I'm really excited to have here.
00:00:42
Speaker
We're going to be unpacking some of the myths across baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, such as myself.
00:00:48
Speaker
I'm 1987, like the textbook definition of millennial.
00:00:52
Speaker
And even the younger generations coming up behind me, really about the different ways advisors can engage and interact with them.
00:00:59
Speaker
We also want to be talking a little bit about the great wealth transfer and the different kind of experiences that advisors can build into their firms to work across different generations in a single household.
00:01:10
Speaker
This is an important topic because as an industry, we tend to do things the way we've always done them.
00:01:17
Speaker
Regardless of what generation we're talking about, advisors may want to reflect on whether they're delivering advice and guidance in ways that are most beneficial to the clients they serve today and more importantly, those into the future.
Influence of Younger Generations on Boomers
00:01:30
Speaker
And if anyone hasn't figured it out,
00:01:33
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I'm a boomer.
00:01:34
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So this is why having Ryan and I together makes this even more interesting.
00:01:39
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You know, Ryan, one of the things I find interesting is something I've experienced as a boomer.
00:01:44
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Consider this.
00:01:45
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Boomers may be the first generation in recent history that rather than mold the generation that comes after us, it's the other way around.
00:01:55
Speaker
The generations coming after boomers have done more to mold boomers than boomers have done to mold them.
00:02:02
Speaker
That's right.
00:02:03
Speaker
We like it that way.
00:02:05
Speaker
Well, don't get too excited about that.
00:02:07
Speaker
You know, I believe that wealth management, I believe the industry basically has been really slow to recognize the realities of this and slow to evolve an approach that reflects how each generation thinks about wealth.
00:02:22
Speaker
what's important to them and how they approach setting priorities around their money and often that often influence the way they make decisions.
00:02:30
Speaker
These are important issues as we contemplate the impact of what wealth management will look like in the future.
Guest Introduction: Julie Littlechild
00:02:40
Speaker
Our guest today, Julie Littlechild, is here to help us peel back the layers on this topic.
00:02:46
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The core issue is that we let assumption drive the experience.
00:02:49
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As in, I'm making assumptions about what all of my clients need on the basis of what some of my clients need.
00:02:56
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And that's a dangerous place to be.
00:02:59
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So just getting too locked in to how we've always done things.
00:03:04
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I'm getting too locked into this idea that the majority of my clients might be older, but that is not going to be the case at some point, again, if I'm building that sustainable business.
00:03:16
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And I think that that's the thing that seems to get in the way, just getting stuck.
00:03:20
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Julie is founder and CEO of Absolute Engagement, a firm that helps enterprise clients and individual financial advisors define, refine, measure, and execute their ideal client experience to help drive deeper engagement and growth.
00:03:36
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Julie, thanks for joining us.
00:03:37
Speaker
Oh, it's wonderful to be here.
00:03:39
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Can't wait to talk to you both.
00:03:40
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Well, likewise.
00:03:41
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You know, Julie, you've been working and studying and researching the value and importance of the advisor-client relationship and the client experience for a while now.
00:03:51
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What have you seen change over the last decade, particularly in the context of generational attitudes towards money and what different generations expect from their advisor?
Evolution of Client Experience
00:04:01
Speaker
I mean, so much has changed.
00:04:03
Speaker
By the way, I'm Gen X, so we've got everything covered here today.
00:04:07
Speaker
So I'm thrilled about that.
00:04:10
Speaker
But to some extent, even the question is one of the most significant changes.
00:04:14
Speaker
And that is to say, we're actually talking about client experience now as a true differentiator.
00:04:20
Speaker
That has changed over the years that we see the importance of it.
00:04:24
Speaker
Advisors rate that very highly.
00:04:26
Speaker
And one of the biggest changes overall that we've seen
00:04:31
Speaker
And I think it's driven both by strategy and technology is this shift toward much greater personalization.
00:04:39
Speaker
And a personalized experience always begins with a deep understanding of what people want, what they need, what they expect.
00:04:47
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And I think that's where we see the connection to that next generation experience.
00:04:53
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When we are thinking about an experience that will be...
00:04:58
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you know, helpful to meaningful to that next generation, we've got to recognize that they think about the future differently, they think about retirement differently, if they think about retirement at all, their needs and expectations are very different.
00:05:13
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And, and to me, that's the biggest question, even though we focus a lot on the wealth transfer question.
00:05:19
Speaker
To me, the issue is our advisors building sustainable businesses that will be attractive to the next generation going forward.
00:05:28
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It's a big question.
00:05:29
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Yeah, both.
00:05:30
Speaker
I would assume what you're talking about here is both clients and advisors that may be joining.
00:05:35
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Yeah, exactly.
00:05:36
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And I think it's when we're talking about that sustainable business, it is the experience that we're talking about, but it's also the team that you've got in place.
00:05:44
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It's the process that you've got in place.
00:05:46
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It's the entire business, really.
00:05:48
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So what does that look like?
00:05:49
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Can you think of any specifics?
00:05:51
Speaker
Is it just a matter of having, you know, modern cloud-based tools and social media and texting?
00:05:56
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Or is there something deeper there?
00:05:58
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Is there something about whether it's appealing to investors or appealing to advisors of a younger generation?
00:06:04
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What are some of the shifts you've seen?
00:06:05
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So I think what you referred to is probably the most obvious difference.
00:06:10
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There's more digital.
00:06:11
Speaker
But I would say that what we're seeing in the data is also a difference in how younger clients experience advice.
00:06:19
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Everything from preferring shorter, more frequent meetings to preferring them digitally.
00:06:25
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I mean, I think all of that.
00:06:27
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But
00:06:28
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I really honestly believe that the biggest difference is sort of what's in their hearts and minds.
00:06:34
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You know, what are they thinking about?
00:06:36
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What's keeping them up at night?
00:06:38
Speaker
What is the experience that they need?
00:06:41
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Because that should impact the communications that they receive, the events that are run, the conversations that are held.
00:06:48
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That's much more than just digital.
00:06:50
Speaker
It's about really meeting them where they are and delivering a more meaningful experience.
Challenges in Engaging Multiple Generations
00:06:56
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So, Julie, going back to the theme I mentioned at the top of the conversation about how boomers like myself are learning more from our children and in some cases, grandchildren than perhaps they're learning from us.
00:07:11
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What I'm thinking about here is that as an advisor, I could be literally dealing with three, maybe four different generations at the same time.
00:07:22
Speaker
How do you coach advisors around a client experience that is going to work across that generational difference or those various generations?
00:07:33
Speaker
And what I was referring to is that I'm likely to be a boomer who would prefer shorter meetings and more digital things.
00:07:41
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So think about it from that standpoint.
00:07:43
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How do you begin as an advisor to think about setting your client experience up to deal with multiple generations?
00:07:48
Speaker
Well, it's interesting because in a way you've said it there, we tend to go to segmentation, right?
00:07:54
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I'm going to have an experience for this group of clients and this group of clients and so on.
00:07:58
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But the reality is we don't all fall into a segment that easily, especially now.
00:08:05
Speaker
Just the example you gave, I think, is a perfect example.
00:08:08
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And so the idea of personalization kind of comes back.
00:08:13
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It's really about are you prepared to...
00:08:16
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to capture the right data from your clients, to understand those needs, and then to be able to deliver a more personalized experience.
00:08:26
Speaker
If you're doing that, you've automatically covered your bases.
00:08:30
Speaker
I still think businesses need to focus and need to try to focus as much as possible, but they can deliver across a variety of generations if they're focused on what they need
Importance of Personalization in Client Experience
00:08:41
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and expect.
00:08:41
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's interesting you say that because I think about my own personal experience with the wealth management industry, wealth management industry sort of on twofold.
00:08:49
Speaker
I mean, one, my mother works for a financial advisor, and I've talked to him once.
00:08:55
Speaker
He's really made no outreach to me at all.
00:08:57
Speaker
I've made outreach to him, you know, would love to talk to him and get a meeting and never really heard back, maybe because I don't have the asset minimums or something.
00:09:05
Speaker
I just find that odd.
00:09:07
Speaker
But then, you know, I'm, you know,
00:09:10
Speaker
I'm hopefully getting married over this next year.
00:09:11
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We're expecting our first child.
00:09:14
Speaker
And we're just have questions and we're out there trying to get answers to our questions.
00:09:18
Speaker
And it's hard to find them.
00:09:19
Speaker
It's hard to find those answers sometimes.
00:09:21
Speaker
And we've even had experiences of advisors almost like talking down to us that, you know, oh, you haven't done this yet.
00:09:27
Speaker
Tsk, tsk.
00:09:28
Speaker
So it's just strange.
00:09:29
Speaker
So from that experience, I'm wondering if you've seen that stuff and if you can tell our audience what out there are advisors doing or not doing that's not helping them to work across generations and drive growth and what's the opportunity for them?
00:09:43
Speaker
core issue is that we let assumption drive the experience.
00:09:47
Speaker
As in, I'm making assumptions about what all of my clients need on the basis of what some of my clients need.
00:09:53
Speaker
And that's a dangerous place to be.
00:09:56
Speaker
You are a good prospect for an advisor.
00:10:00
Speaker
And if they are not delivering an experience that's reflective of that, clearly you're going to leave.
00:10:05
Speaker
So just getting too locked in to how we've always done things.
00:10:12
Speaker
getting too locked into this idea that the majority of my clients might be older, but that is not going to be the case at some point, again, if I'm building that sustainable business.
00:10:23
Speaker
And I think that that's the thing that seems to get in the way, just getting stuck in an older way of doing things and not maybe being open to the fact that you don't care to talk about those things that their older clients do, and they better be ready for that.
00:10:37
Speaker
Gotcha.
00:10:37
Speaker
So just plain old inertia.
00:10:39
Speaker
Well, it's a remarkable thing, inertia in our industry.
00:10:43
Speaker
There's no doubt about it.
00:10:45
Speaker
So, you know, Julie, building a little bit on Ryan's story, because I don't think it's atypical.
00:10:50
Speaker
And I think part of the challenge is, as advisors, we're not sure the kinds of questions we ought to be asking.
00:10:57
Speaker
More importantly, what we should be listening for as it relates to the next generation's concerns.
00:11:03
Speaker
You know, based on your work,
00:11:05
Speaker
What kind of guidance would you give an advisor today to better prepare them to hear, listen, and learn what's important to that next generation?
Generational Views on Future and Security
00:11:17
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's a skill that has become so important.
00:11:21
Speaker
And it's to some extent just showing up curious and without assumption.
00:11:27
Speaker
Where we're seeing some of the biggest differences in how the next generation is thinking are things like how do they think about the future?
00:11:38
Speaker
When they think about what is most important to them, are they thinking about retiring at a certain age with a certain amount of money?
00:11:45
Speaker
Well, of course, financial security is important to everyone.
00:11:49
Speaker
However, what we're seeing much more from the younger generation is that they're talking about having different experiences, maybe gliding into retirement and doing things a little differently.
00:12:02
Speaker
They're concerned about different things.
00:12:04
Speaker
And I think that was Ryan's perfect example is what might keep Ryan up at night is going to be very different than what keeps me up at night.
00:12:13
Speaker
So inviting questions, and we've seen this done incredibly well.
00:12:18
Speaker
A lot of our clients do this before a prospect comes in for a meeting.
00:12:23
Speaker
inviting input from both partners separately to ask about, you know, how concerned are you with these particular issues?
00:12:30
Speaker
How would you rate your level of confidence in your financial future on a range of factors?
00:12:36
Speaker
What are the things that worry you most?
00:12:38
Speaker
What do you want to talk about?
00:12:39
Speaker
By inviting that kind of input before you sit down, what you end up doing is co-creating an agenda with a prospective client.
00:12:46
Speaker
And that agenda is going to be very different for a younger client than it is for an older client.
00:12:52
Speaker
And you do that with each individual attending the meeting separately, I'm assuming.
00:12:58
Speaker
Exactly.
00:12:58
Speaker
The idea of the differences within couples is fascinating and should drive a very different conversation.
00:13:06
Speaker
Too often, what we see is advisors who have focused so much on
00:13:12
Speaker
the experience, the process of, you know, here are the things I'm going to discuss in my meetings and here's the follow-up.
00:13:21
Speaker
And they've worked at removing friction and creating efficiencies and that's a great thing.
00:13:25
Speaker
But what sometimes you stop doing is hearing what people need to talk about.
00:13:30
Speaker
And so I think creating that space, not only for the advisor to hear it, but giving the prospect or the client time to think it through in advance of sitting down, maybe talk with their partner about it,
00:13:41
Speaker
I think this is a very different approach to agenda setting and something that will become increasingly important.
00:13:46
Speaker
And oftentimes those concerns are not directly connected at all to their investment portfolio.
00:13:54
Speaker
Am I right in saying that?
00:13:55
Speaker
Yeah, that's exactly right.
00:13:56
Speaker
I mean, the second biggest concern is usually around health.
00:14:01
Speaker
Now, I think all of these things in some way tie back to how you think about planning, but it's health.
00:14:09
Speaker
Are the kids going to be okay?
00:14:11
Speaker
Are they going to make good financial decisions?
00:14:13
Speaker
Is my partner going to be okay if something happens to me?
00:14:16
Speaker
I mean...
00:14:17
Speaker
Again, they're all, you know, they're money adjacent, but they're not necessarily about money.
00:14:23
Speaker
Right.
00:14:23
Speaker
And it comes back to what you said earlier is that personalization.
00:14:26
Speaker
I mean, I know for me and others I've talked to, I sometimes don't even know.
00:14:31
Speaker
Like we talk about goals planning, for example, when you have that first meeting.
00:14:35
Speaker
I don't even know necessarily what questions I should be asking or what goals I should be setting.
00:14:41
Speaker
So it's a very different conversation.
00:14:43
Speaker
It is very different.
00:14:44
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And to me, the greatest gift an advisor can give is helping their clients articulate those things, giving them the space and asking the best possible questions so that you actually walk away with questions.
00:14:58
Speaker
a better definition of what your future might look like.
00:15:01
Speaker
It's not the, we assume it's easy.
00:15:03
Speaker
It's not.
00:15:03
Speaker
Well, I love this idea about personalization and assumptions.
00:15:06
Speaker
I know my dad used to have the phrase about, you know, you know what assuming is, and I won't say it's probably not appropriate for podcasting.
00:15:12
Speaker
Well, I'd love to talk about this idea of personalization and assumptions, especially now we've talked about younger clients.
00:15:18
Speaker
What about older clients?
00:15:19
Speaker
Because I just know retirement is changing.
00:15:23
Speaker
I look at my grandparents, how they retired, and then I look at my mother.
00:15:28
Speaker
It's totally different.
00:15:29
Speaker
She is traveling.
00:15:30
Speaker
She's healthy.
00:15:31
Speaker
She's active.
00:15:31
Speaker
She's exercising.
00:15:33
Speaker
She's on vacation all the time.
00:15:35
Speaker
She's coming to New York in three days to visit me.
00:15:38
Speaker
So it just looks very different.
00:15:39
Speaker
And I wonder, are advisors also making some outdated assumptions about their older clients as well?
00:15:45
Speaker
And do we need to be talking about that differently?
00:15:48
Speaker
I think they are.
00:15:49
Speaker
I think, again, we tend to just lean into, when are you going to retire and do you have enough money?
00:15:54
Speaker
And frankly, most of their clients do have enough money.
00:15:57
Speaker
That isn't the issue at that point.
00:16:00
Speaker
What is less comfortable for a lot of advisors, but I would argue critically important, is going two or three levels deeper.
00:16:08
Speaker
I was just chatting yesterday with a good friend of mine who works for someone who's sold businesses multiple times.
00:16:17
Speaker
He's
00:16:18
Speaker
I think just turning 60 or 62.
00:16:21
Speaker
But he is, he's so concerned about how he's going to spend his time.
00:16:26
Speaker
He's so concerned about the impact on relationships and in the household.
00:16:32
Speaker
And these are
00:16:34
Speaker
real fears, right?
00:16:36
Speaker
So, you know, to the extent that advisors can go there with their clients and tease that out and not assume that this is as positive as they're thinking about, help them create that vision for how they will spend their time and where they will find purpose and then create the path to get there.
00:16:55
Speaker
I think that's a very different approach.
00:16:58
Speaker
And I think, Julie, that's a great point you're raising because we've been great at creating paychecks for people in retirement.
00:17:05
Speaker
And as Ryan pointed out with the example of his mom, there's more to life than simply walking away from a career, sometimes 35 or 40 years long.
00:17:17
Speaker
And not have a purpose or a meaning.
00:17:19
Speaker
And I think that's an opportunity the industry has in front of it to create even more value is is is helping people figure out what comes next.
Financial Conversations Across Generations
00:17:28
Speaker
And, you know, in some of the research you've done, you know, has that issue surfaced?
00:17:34
Speaker
Yeah, it really has.
00:17:36
Speaker
One of the questions we often ask is fairly simple.
00:17:39
Speaker
You know, which of the following are you interested in learning about?
00:17:42
Speaker
And we'll provide a list of different topics.
00:17:45
Speaker
Inevitably, the top, if not the second, is crafting a vision, a meaningful vision for my future.
00:17:53
Speaker
it resonates with people because I think it hits at the question that they're not asking or the statements they're not making.
00:18:02
Speaker
But again, advisors can do such great work in exactly what you're saying.
00:18:08
Speaker
Let me just change gears for a second because something dawned on me when Ryan was sharing the story about his mom in retirement.
00:18:16
Speaker
And it's that whole dynamic between parents and children when it comes to money.
00:18:21
Speaker
I can tell you as a boomer,
00:18:23
Speaker
The closest thing that my dad spoke to me about with respect to money was in the first grade when he handed me a quarter and said, you know, there's a banking program at school.
00:18:33
Speaker
So take your quarter in each week and put in the bank.
00:18:36
Speaker
What it what you know, has that changed much?
00:18:38
Speaker
Are our parents engaging children?
00:18:40
Speaker
And maybe, Ryan, I should ask you the same question.
00:18:43
Speaker
How often are parents having meaningful conversations with their children, and I'm not talking about teenagers, I'm talking about adult children, about money and what's next for their parents in terms of this whole issue of generational wealth transfer?
00:19:00
Speaker
Are those conversations taking place?
00:19:03
Speaker
We're seeing a huge disconnect there.
00:19:05
Speaker
And particularly in our most recent data, we asked people about their wealth transfer and to what extent they talk to their adult children about key issues.
00:19:16
Speaker
And then we asked younger people, you know, to the extent to which their parents had asked them.
00:19:21
Speaker
And you see a vast difference.
00:19:24
Speaker
The things they're talking about sometimes is how much there is, maybe.
00:19:29
Speaker
And when you're gonna get it,
00:19:31
Speaker
But what was coming out was issues like
00:19:36
Speaker
do you recognize signs of cognitive decline?
00:19:39
Speaker
How do I want to live if I can't live as fully and as actively as I am today?
00:19:46
Speaker
Like these are the deeper conversations that I think families need to be having.
00:19:50
Speaker
And it would appear, at least from our research, that they're not.
00:19:54
Speaker
They're not because it's uncomfortable.
00:19:56
Speaker
My dad was the same.
00:19:57
Speaker
I mean, he would never talk about a pending death.
00:20:00
Speaker
I mean, it would never come up because we just don't talk about those sorts of things.
00:20:05
Speaker
But we needed, as a family, someone to come in and to facilitate those conversations for us.
00:20:14
Speaker
That would have been incredibly beneficial for our family.
00:20:18
Speaker
And we've worked with some advisors who are doing that, who are inviting input from the adult children to have better estate planning meetings, better conversations.
00:20:28
Speaker
And I think that goes a long way to engagement as well.
00:20:31
Speaker
So Ryan, how about you?
00:20:33
Speaker
How's it going with your family?
00:20:35
Speaker
You know, I don't think we're the norm for so, so many reasons.
00:20:40
Speaker
I wouldn't even get started on that.
00:20:41
Speaker
But, you know, we actually do talk about it.
00:20:45
Speaker
My dad, you know, was very into investing in DIY stuff when I was younger and taught me all about that stuff.
00:20:52
Speaker
Then my mom is more kind of managing things as they age.
00:20:56
Speaker
And she's very open about it.
00:20:58
Speaker
We have very, very open conversations.
00:21:00
Speaker
But again, I don't think we're the norm.
00:21:03
Speaker
So Julie, how would, based on your experience working with advisors and the research you've been doing, how would you guide an advisor to begin to have the kind of conversation with a client that, what I like to say, brings in the entire family universe as opposed to just dealing with the, typically, the dominant voice in the relationship?
Family Involvement in Financial Planning
00:21:30
Speaker
How's that?
00:21:31
Speaker
Well, I mean, I can give you examples of what we've seen.
00:21:33
Speaker
I'm more limited to our clients and how they're using certain tools.
00:21:37
Speaker
But I can think of a recent example where an advisor was having these kind of meetings with the primary client and that was it.
00:21:45
Speaker
It was dealing with the couple.
00:21:47
Speaker
And for the first time in advance of that estate review discussion, we sent out a link to the adult children and said, can you just share your input in advance of this meeting that your parents are having?
00:22:03
Speaker
And they weren't attending in this case, but we asked them questions around, you know, to what extent do you understand these different aspects of the relationship?
00:22:13
Speaker
What do you wish your parents would share with you?
00:22:17
Speaker
What are some of the lessons that, you know, as the parent, they want to share with the child?
00:22:23
Speaker
So, it was a really interesting thought-provoking exercise for the family.
00:22:28
Speaker
And then,
00:22:28
Speaker
That came together to form the basis of a deeper conversation, a very different conversation for the first time.
00:22:35
Speaker
Well, that's interesting because I'm assuming that obviously the primary account holders gave the advisor permission to send that survey out.
00:22:46
Speaker
But what it does do, it might do, is it takes a lot of stress off the parents to have that conversation.
00:22:53
Speaker
It does.
00:22:54
Speaker
And they don't know what to discuss.
00:22:56
Speaker
That's why the beauty of a well-crafted question teases out all sorts of things, that there was no shortage of discussion points, I can tell you, when you start looking at how that data comes in.
00:23:07
Speaker
Well, it goes back to what you said earlier.
00:23:10
Speaker
I'm probably paraphrasing, but when you enter a conversation like that, be curious, leave your assumptions at the door, and allow the conversation to go in whatever direction it needs to go in.
00:23:23
Speaker
And to me, that's a very powerful way to bridge that generational gap, perhaps.
00:23:29
Speaker
Right.
00:23:29
Speaker
Well, that sounds pretty good.
00:23:30
Speaker
I was going to do our wrap-up.
00:23:32
Speaker
We usually ask our guests for three things that advisors can do.
00:23:35
Speaker
I think, Bill, you did a pretty good wrap-up right there.
00:23:40
Speaker
But I will throw it to you, Julie, as we close up the conversation here.
Strategies for Personalized Client Engagement
00:23:44
Speaker
Anything else you would add?
00:23:46
Speaker
Some actual intelligence.
00:23:47
Speaker
Let's go with three things.
00:23:48
Speaker
three kind of bullet points that for our listeners, advisors and firm leaders out there, what can they start doing today to better drive that personalized client engagement and that sustainable growth for their business?
00:24:00
Speaker
I think the first thing I would do is a business audit of sorts.
00:24:05
Speaker
I'd get in a room and I'd make sure there were some young people around that table.
00:24:10
Speaker
And I'd look at every aspect of the client journey and just start with those questions.
00:24:15
Speaker
Is this appealing to our younger clients?
00:24:18
Speaker
Do we need to do things differently?
00:24:20
Speaker
Is our team representative?
00:24:22
Speaker
Does our office feel modern and relevant?
00:24:27
Speaker
Just to start with a clear sense of what may need to change in future.
00:24:32
Speaker
The second thing I'd consider doing, which we've seen done very successfully, a little along the lines of what I talked about, is getting permission to send out a general survey to the adult children of your clients to understand their expectations, their preferences, what they're working, what they read, what topics they're interested in, and use that to begin to add some value through content.
00:24:57
Speaker
And start that now.
00:24:58
Speaker
And I guess that would probably be my third point is to start to build those relationships with the next generation with something that's relevant and meaningful to them.
00:25:07
Speaker
And maybe advisors can start with their own parents.
00:25:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:12
Speaker
Just ask the questions.
00:25:13
Speaker
Fantastic.
00:25:14
Speaker
Well, that's really great, Julie.
00:25:15
Speaker
Thank you so much for joining us.
00:25:16
Speaker
It's always great to talk to you.
00:25:19
Speaker
Thanks for stopping by.
00:25:19
Speaker
Thanks so much.
00:25:20
Speaker
For a quick recap, Julie recommended business audit.
00:25:25
Speaker
Start with some of the questions and find out, is your firm appealing to next generation clients?
00:25:31
Speaker
Two, get permission to send on a survey to the adult children of clients.
00:25:35
Speaker
And three, start to build those relationships.
00:25:37
Speaker
Figure out content.
00:25:38
Speaker
Figure out how you can approach those things you find out.
00:25:41
Speaker
We hope you enjoyed today's conversation.
00:25:43
Speaker
If you like what you heard, please take a moment to like and subscribe.
00:25:47
Speaker
Follow us on social media.
00:25:49
Speaker
And thank you for joining us.
00:25:51
Speaker
And I'd also like to mention the fact that if you'd like to learn more about what the work that Julie and her team are doing, you know, please visit her website, absoluteengagement.com.
00:26:00
Speaker
A lot of great stuff out there.
00:26:02
Speaker
I also want to add my thanks for listening and watch out for our next episode.
00:26:08
Speaker
We'll bring you even more insights and actual ideas to help you grow your business.
00:26:12
Speaker
And remember, the challenge is yours to capitalize on what the future offers.
00:26:21
Speaker
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00:26:29
Speaker
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00:26:33
Speaker
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00:26:41
Speaker
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00:26:51
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:27:01
Speaker
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00:27:03
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:27:17
Speaker
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00:27:27
Speaker
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00:27:31
Speaker
For a transcript of this episode with sources, visit synergize.advisorrevolutionsciences.com.