Videos

Why soft skills have become the new hard skills

Clients want more than professional, informed advice from their trusted advisors. They also seek life coaching and empathy in helping them navigate business and personal challenges. That’s why so-called soft skills have become the new hard skills, especially in these challenging times.

In the coming weeks, I’ll share a series of videos offering proven tips based on my 30 years of experience helping advisors deepen client relationships using top-notch communication and other skills.

What’s the most important thing you can offer to your clients?

As their trusted advisor, what do your clients value most about you?

Research shows that your ability to bring comfort and reduce their anxiety is near the top of their list.

And active listening on your part is just one way to help them feel heard and confident in asking questions when complex themes come up.

The video above offers three tips on the benefits of asking questions, listening more, speaking less and the value of the pause.

Are you communicating in a way that reflects your clients’ needs?

You may be sharing well-written information based on the best research available. But how do you know the information meets your clients’ needs – and that they are actually reading and understanding it? Effective communication needn’t be complicated.

Here are three tips on how to keep it personal by using handwritten notes, targeting your message and surveying your clients on their communication choices to really get through to them.

Are clients making unrealistic demands on your time? How to set boundaries around your time.

Clients may be reaching out to you more now than ever before – and yet you don’t want them to feel they are being rushed off a call. Keeping pace with their calls and emails, managing their portfolios and having some personal time can be challenging.

The video above contains my three best tips on how to stay in close touch with your clients while letting them know you value your time. Tips include the value of communicating when your energy is highest, keeping calls within certain time limits and sticking to your agreed upon availability.

Why now is the time to hire a qualified copywriter?

What’s been your experience working with a freelance copywriter? Have you been pleased with the results?

The quality of your website, presentations, articles and newsletters is a key indicator of your professional and interpersonal communications skills. Clarity and warmth are essential and you need a writer who can deliver both.

This video contains three tips on how to find a good writer, assess their skills against your communication goals and brief them on your project to ensure you get the outcome you need.

How to get a client relationship off to a great start

Does your team play a large role in the client onboarding process?

How do you encourage your team members to deliver on your client promises?

Clients want you to remain fully accessible to them. Based on your organization, you may be the “face of the firm.” However, they’ll quickly get comfortable relying on other team members as they see your firm deliver on its client promises, while increasing your productivity.

This video offers three tips to help you build on your client onboarding experience to create long-term client loyalty.

Helping a Client Create Their Retirement Plan

Statistics Canada confirms the average Canadian’s life expectancy is 82.5 years, which means retirement will play a longer role in our lives than before.

This video offers three tips to help them focus on their retirement plan, while helping them reduce their growing stress.

Do you have clients who are struggling to prepare for a retirement that may have arrived too soon and caught them off guard?

Your value now goes beyond offering technical advice and embraces life coaching and other skills involving emotional intelligence.

Retaining the Assets of Next Generation Inheritors

How do you build or strengthen relationships with clients’ children who stand to inherit significant assets?

This video offers insights into why Next Gen investors often choose to work with friends, their views about money that differ from those of their parents, how to earn their trust and how to better communicate with them.

Want to be Seen as a Thought Leader?

You’ll benefit from hiring a professional writer.

A writer can be invaluable in getting each communication right when you don’t have countless hours to spend writing and revising your own work.

Whether you need client market commentaries written in your unique voice or have an important last minute speech or presentation to deliver, a professional writer can make your communication shine.

This video describes three important benefits of working with an experienced professional writer who will help you present yourself as a thought leader in your chosen area.

Is Your Team Engaged While Working Remotely?

As empty cubicles abound during to the global pandemic, working remotely has become common for many professionals. Some embrace the flexibility of working from home while others miss office camaraderie they’ve shared since entering the workforce.

This video addresses three potentially costly challenges you may be facing when your team is working remotely.