You trust them with your money and hope that he will help you make the right financial decisions. What happens when you don’t trust your financial consultant? When you keep looking over their shoulder? When you are in doubt about the decisions they take for you? When you second guess every step of the way? In such a scenario is it really fruitful to have a relationship with your chosen advisor?
If there is even an ounce of doubt, it makes more sense to break off your relationship with the current financial consultant and look for someone you can trust completely. Trust is vital if you hope to have a successful financial relationship. So how do you find a financial advisor you can trust?
Here is a personal favorite extract from the book ‘Start with Why’ by Simon Sinek which essential defines trust in a commercial relationship.
“Trust does not emerge simply because a seller makes a rational case why the customer should buy a product or service, or because an executive promises change. Trust is not a checklist. Fulfilling all your responsibilities does not create trust. Trust is a feeling not a rationale experience. We trust some people and company even when things go wrong, and we don’t trust others even though everything might have gone exactly as it should have. A completed checklist does not guarantee trust. Trust begins to emerge when we have a sense that another person or organization is driven by things other than their own self gain.”
Trust may not be a check list, but a check list can help build trust. Here are a few things that may help you decide if your financial consultant deserves your trust.
Core Values
Make it a point to ask your consultant about their core values. A true advisor will be easily able to tell you their values. A good advisor believes in long-term relationships with his clients and does not look for commission generating financial products irrespective of how they suit you.
Expertise
Do check out the expertise of your consultant. Their educational background, advanced degrees and business certifications go a long way to help you decide. Besides these their clean track records and client referrals can also help build trust.
Patience
Is your consultant in a hurry when meeting with you? Do they concentrate only on products and does not give due regard to your queries and concerns? If you have answered yes to either or both of these questions you definitely need someone who is there for you. It is imperative that the consultant listen to your queries and doubts and do the utmost to satisfy them. They should have the patience to spend time to methodically explain their recommendations so that you understand them completely.
Instinct
This I believe is the utmost factor that inspires trust. A consultant may seem great on paper but unless you are comfortable with them as a person you will never have a successful financial relationship with them. Trust your gut instinct.
It is important to be able to trust your financial advisor and it is equally important to trust them completely once you have chosen them to help with your wealth management. Build trust and build your wealth with a good financial advisor.
