Financial journalist and co-host of Channel 7’s The Morning Show, David Koch, was the guest speaker at the recent XY Adviser social event: The Modern Client.
Speaking in Sydney late last month, Koch reminded the financial advisers in attendance that while they dealt with money it was an inanimate object and people, including their clients, did not relate to it. Rather they related to people and ideas which was why they wanted or were seeking advice and advisers needed to keep that in mind as they worked with current clients and looked for new clients.
Koch said financial advice was prone to disruption in the same way other service and advice industries had been disrupted and the best people to drive that were advisers themselves, who should consider new ideas, processes and business approaches and test them with clients.
According to Koch, advisers have the tools to educate clients and build trust with them while filtering information to avoid them being bombarded with conflicting ideas and consumers were looking for trusted advisers to provide those services.
He also encouraged advisers to build good news around financial advice by basing it on people and by building conversations with local media by covering quirky and taboo real life issues – such as talking to aged parents about care or their will – and by being available and dependable as a source of information.