Building Trust
Today, Americans of all ages say they don’t “trust” anyone to help them with their financial planning. Thanks to plummeting portfolios and ponzi schemes run amuck, all professions–accountants, lawyers, insurance agents, stock brokers and advisors—are suspect in the eyes of the public. We see it in new data from our strategic partner, BIGresearch, in its January 2009 Consumer Intentions & Actions survey of more than 7,000 consumers: Americans trust only themselves to look after their own money.
That’s a huge problem for everyone in the financial services sector.
But it’s also a tremendous opportunity for those talented advisors who figure out how to rebuild trust.
We launched Generational Advisor on the premise that financial services professionals need to demonstrate two things to rebuild trust: performance and understanding. “Performance”–delivering financial results that meet expectations–is the rational, empirically verifiable side of trust. Gaining this kind of trust is simple: Create realistic expectations and do what you say you’re going to do. But there’s more to bonding with clients than just delivering numbers. Financial advisors must ensure that the numbers align with the client’s life goals.
Gaining “understanding”—knowing what the client wants out of life and devising a financial strategy to match—requires financial advisors to make connections on a personal, emotional level.
The financial services industry overloads advisors with information about products and services attuned to every conceivable taste for risk and reward. Advisors also can subscribe to any number of products that help them “sell” better. What’s missing for most advisors, however, is practical, actionable advice on what they need most: how to connect with their clients and prospects.
Generational Advisor fills that void. Published by the Boomer Project, the nation’s authority on marketing to Baby Boomers, our daily emails boil down timely news and research into one-paragraph “takeaways” on how Americans of all generations think, feel and act. This format makes it easy for busy advisors to digest and incorporate the information into their selling routines while also providing more detailed explanations and documentation on our web site for those who want to know more.
— March 16, 2009
Follow up:
Generational Primer. Learn more about America’s four main generations – the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X and the Millennial Generation – and what makes them distinct.
Generational Advisor Sales Edge. See how our approach helps financial advisors and insurance agents build their practices by better understanding generational dynamics.
The Boomer Project. Learn more about the nation’s leading authority on marketing to Baby Boomers.
List of Clients. View the financial companies and organizations on our client roster.
Subscription Packages. Find out how to work with Generational Advisor to train financial advisors in generational marketing.