It's a double-edged sword for our firm’s clients because they’re often asked to
write, speak and sit on panels addressing their peers. They have so much
expertise to share, but alas, it’s hard to fit all that brainpower and
experience into the narrow confines of a blog post, article or short-presentation.
So, instead of being selective, they try to cram a lifetime of knowledge into
their content pieces and the readers ends up feeling like their drinking from a
firehose.
Sounds familiar?
Research shows that most humans can’t multitask.
But that’s essentially what you’re asking people to do when you introduce two,
three, even four distinct themes into your writing and speaking. Instead, just focus on one theme per
content piece, and get your thoughts down really well.
Marketers have long known that you should never have more than one “call to
action” in any marketing piece if you want people to respond. If you want them
to book a time to meet with you, make that appointment “ask” abundantly clear. Don’t
also ask your reader to sign up for your newsletter, register for your next
webinar or download your “information-packed” white paper (requiring all of their
contact information). It ends up being information overload for the recipient
and when they have too many choices, they end up doing nothing.
Same
goes for your content. If your objective is to discuss investment strategies
for today’s high inflation, recessionary environment, tell your clients and prospects
exactly what they should do, when they should do it, how they should do it and
why. That’s why they trust you. Just don’t go off on tangents about the
technical definition of a recession, or how many more rate hikes the Fed will
do, or which sectors of the stock market tend to perform best during recessions.
It’s great you have all that background stored in your brain, but you’re not
writing a book here or delivering a semester-long course on the topic. Just get
to the point – and stay on the point.
Clients
appreciate simplicity, not complexity
Again, too many advisors
think clients are impressed by how much they know about the new tax reform, or
Modern Portfolio Theory or estate tax laws. In reality, clients will reward you
if you can simplify their financial issues and say: “Here’s what all this means
for you and you’re going to be OK if you do the following things. These are the
next steps.”
If you’re still in doubt, use the “What / So What / Now What” filter.
Dallas-based wealth advisor, Kyle Walters told me he
uses this thought process all the time. “Don’t just give clients The What
(i.e., data and information),” said Walters. “You need to give them the So
What (i.e., What does it mean for me?) and the Now What (i.e., What
Do I do About it?). They’ll be glad you did and so will the people they refer
you to.”
“Early in my career, I used to get very excited whenever clients
came in for a consultation or review meeting,” said Walters, a reformed
smarty-pants by his own admission. “I really thought they were coming in to
learn about all the latest developments I was following in accounting, tax and
personal finance. It took me about 10 years to understand from their body
language that they were just zoned out, waiting patiently for me to finish my
lecture so they could ask the only relevant question— “What does this mean for
me?”
Walters said it’s like taking your car to the mechanic and having to spend
hours listening to him explain the details of what’s wrong with your crankshaft
or carburetor. Unless you’re really into cars, you probably don’t care. Walters
said that for years he was like Tony, the overzealous
mechanic from the Seinfeld show. “My wife would hear me on a
call and say, ‘You shouldn’t talk so much; they don’t care as much as you think
they do.’”
Conclusion
Clients
don’t want to pay you for data. They’re paying you for advice and for educated
recommendations so they can make smarter financial decisions. What’s
your take? I’d love to hear from you.
#simplicity, #effectivewriting,
#thoughtleadership, #practicemanagement
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