Building emotional intelligence
Building emotional intelligence into your data base
many of you who are familiar with Pareto know that we call this type of information F.O.R.M., and it is some of the most valuable information you own. F.O.R.M., for those of you who don’t know, stands for Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Money.
Most Advisors we encounter have the ‘money’ part sewn up pretty well, but few in our experience take the time to put systems in place to keep track of the other three so that it truly becomes part of your integral day-to-day interactions with clients, and eventually, the crown jewel of your intellectual property.
Any one of your staff that deals with your clients, either face-to-face or on the telephone, uncovers these Gems of information on a regular and daily basis. Clients are telling you and your support staff about their family, what they did on vacation, how their hobbies are coming along, etc. etc.
The problem is, if there is not a categorized way to efficiently organize this information, in a way that everyone can add to it, access it easily, and therefore benefit from it, the information dissipates into thin air over time. This is unacceptable.
How does this type of activity impact your Fee schedule?
Well, in a couple of ways. First, it makes your Fee,s relevant. When the markets are plummeting, for possibly an extended period of time, what keeps your clients from being courted and lured away by competitors? It is the relationships with your clients. If the personal connections aren’t there, why wouldn’t I take a chance on someone else promising better returns? F.O.R.M sees us through the good, and the bad times, and helps us weather the storms.
Secondly, the relationships you have with your clients are deeply entwined with how referable you are. If I am your client, and you regularly ask me, with precision, about all the ‘intimate’ details of me and my family’s life, I know you are for real, and I trust you. I am going to be far more likely to refer that kind of person than someone who approaches this kind of thing haphazardly, or not at all.
I hope you would agree that those are two pretty good reasons to become more serious about this with you and your team. Here are some key points that will help you become more efficient with capturing and chronicling F.O.R.M.
