Surpassing expectations: How planning helps clients with their financial goals

By Mark D. Olson

The work of a financial advisor takes a great deal of patience and curiosity. To create the most effective financial plan, it’s important to learn as much as you can about your client’s finances and life goals.

Merging the client’s finances with your understanding of the products available helps clients trust you as their advisor. So how do we create a plan that our clients trust?

I have found that a comprehensive financial plan could be one of the best way to set a client up for success. When building this plan, we listen to the client’s goals and desires rather than hurriedly making a recommendation. The priority here is to provide guidance with all aspects of the client’s financial life in mind. While we may be eager to share our advice right off the bat, take time to fully understand your client to create a detailed and actionable comprehensive financial plan.

What is comprehensive planning?

Comprehensive planning goes a step further than a simple retirement or estate plan; it takes into consideration all aspects of a client’s financial life. The plan includes areas like taxes, debt management, estate planning or any area of financial worry.

Even if it’s an area that you as an advisor cannot act on, a comprehensive financial plan can help walk through the client’s next steps towards a solution. This planning style also presents an opportunity to partner with fellow professionals that your clients can trust. For example, you may discuss tax planning but advise that they meet with a certified tax preparer to actually act on your suggestions.

Another example would be to recommend your client meet with an estate lawyer to establish a will or a trust depending on the client’s needs. Developing a detailed plan and highlighting next steps with other trusted professionals shows why the client should trust you with their business and aids in achieving their ultimate financial goals.

Build a strong understanding of the client

An introductory meeting is a crucial first step that determines the direction of your work with a client. I’ll often provide a few pre-meeting materials when I first connect with the client to help make the most of our time together.

A straight-forward checklist of documents and information helps the client feel prepared for our discussion and ensures I will have the financial information needed to make thoughtful recommendations.

For example, it’s important that the client brings in any statements for retirement accounts or other investments. This could look different based on your preferences as an advisor, but this pre-meeting “homework” helps the client begin ideating on what they want out of their time with an advisor.

When the day of your meeting arrives, your focus should be on listening and learning. The financial picture is necessary to understand, but the emotional story found in the client’s goals and history with finance is just as important in developing a comprehensive plan. Start with a few basics and work toward opened-ended questions that encourage the client to think bigger.

This is one situation where it’s acceptable to consider the ‘what if’ questions. For example, let’s say the client hopes to retire by 62. I will often take this opportunity to gently push them further, asking, “What else? What do you want a day in your retired life to look like?”

My goal here is to help them think beyond their necessities and provide recommendations on how to achieve any lofty goals they can imagine. This could range from retiring later to build more capital, moving to a smaller home in retirement, traveling around the world and more. Attention to detail during this step will help create a holistic plan that touches each area of your client’s financial life.

People often stop themselves short of their dreams and aspirations when they aren’t aware of the possibilities ahead of them. Encourage clients to think beyond their current goals, opening them up to the possible financial future they truly desire. You may be met with some awkward silence at first, but as the client gets used to thinking bigger about their goals, they will be excited to share more details about themselves.

You could ask questions like, “If money were no object what would your ideal life look like?” This candid conversation will be beneficial for both you and the client as you gain a deeper understanding of their dreams and desires. Helping our clients recognize their own potential can lead to a stronger financial plan and trust in you as their go-to confidant when they are looking for advice.

Connecting the dots

Comprehensive planning is unique in that the advisor is likely the only person overseeing the entirety of the client’s financial picture. Sharing recommendations for services you do not provide keeps you as the trusted guide through the client’s financial journey.

Once you have made a recommendation, it’s important to follow up with your client to see how those meetings went and also determine how their actions will impact the overall financial plan. Because you are the professional who is running the comprehensive plan, the client is trusting you to be their guide and follow through on it.

Building a comprehensive financial plan is beneficial for all involved. By taking extra time to learn about the client and encourage them to think beyond their initial goals, you can help them find peace in knowing their financial future is planned. Leverage your expertise to answer all questions and connect them with fellow professionals to build trust and confidence in you as their advisor.

This is only possible if you take the time to understand the client’s aspirations and finances beyond the surface level, surpassing the client’s expectations of what they can achieve.

About the Author
For over 35 years, Mark has been helping his clients find financial peace of mind through his work as their financial coach and advocate. He believes that every client has a unique situation and deserves a customized financial strategy to achieve their goals. Mark is the Founder of Horizon Wealth Strategies in Austin, TX. Mark is a Life and Qualifying member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) with 25 years of membership, including 4 years with Top of the Table honors (2021-24). He volunteers his time as an MDRT Community Leader, with the Top of the Table Committee, and is a member of the MDRT Foundation Network committee.

Financial Advisor for Eagle Strategies LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser.
Horizon Wealth Strategies is not owned or operated by Eagle Strategies LLC or its affiliates.
The Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), The Premier Association of Financial Professionals, is recognized globally as the standard of excellence for life insurance sales performance in the insurance and financial services industry.