Welcoming New Clients

By Brian J. Cunningham, CFP®

I am always pleased when I have an opportunity to meet a prospective new client. There are many reasons why they may be seeking my counsel.  Younger clients have realized it’s never too early to start planning for their retirement. Marriage, a new job, or the birth of a first child can all be motivators for finding a trusted financial planner to start their investment program. Older clients may include those retirees who have relocated here. While they thought they could continue their longstanding relationship with their advisor up north, they realized that the distance had become a problem. They decide to establish a relationship with a wealth manager closer to their new home. I also acquire new clients when a widow or widower finds they do not have the same rapport with the financial planner their spouse had enjoyed. 

Rebuilding Confidence After a Bad Breakup

When clients come to me after having had a long relationship with another wealth manager, I am always curious about what went wrong.  Perhaps their former advisor retired, and they aren’t comfortable with the person who took their place. Maybe they find their longtime advisor has increased their client base to the point that the quality of the individual service has markedly lessened, and they feel neglected. Or they may think their financial consultant deals with their investments on autopilot. In any case, something has changed for most of my clients who have left a previous advisor. Often, they no longer feel valued or listened to, and as a result, they fear not getting the information they need to make the best financial decisions.

Cutting the Cord

I am always disappointed when I learn why clients left an advisor they once trusted. It speaks to a lack of professionalism in some colleagues and creates trepidation when clients wonder if they will find a new advisor they can rely on to help achieve their financial goals. This decision is particularly difficult when the client is already retired and wants advice on continuing to build their investments and developing an estate plan. It can be daunting to decide to leave after many years of consistent contact and challenging to start over again with someone new.

Rejecting Bad Behavior

I have had new clients tell me their previous advisors talked down to them, treated them with disrespect, did not explain certain investments to their satisfaction, put them in funds that didn’t perform as expected, promoted real estate deals that seemed questionable in retrospect, and even harassed them once they learned the client was planning to leave. It is rarely a legal issue that results in desertion– it’s usually that personal interaction has altered to create feelings of mistrust.  When this happens, a client feels vulnerable and concerned about sharing the intricacies of their financial planning with a relative stranger.

Healing the Pain

Clients who come to me after leaving a previous advisor are usually referred by one of my other clients, a business associate, or they may have read one of my marketing communications that appeals to them. I am always very grateful for the opportunity to meet them and hear their stories. I focus on learning as much about them as possible: their lives, families, financial goals and challenges, risk tolerances, pain points, and expectations for our relationship. 

With older clients, this might include meeting their adult children and hearing their concerns about how their parents’ finances are being managed and the desire for them to have a trustworthy advisor. Once we completely understand their portfolio and other assets, we will analyze their current plan and develop strategies that fit their unique situation. Sometimes, the records aren’t in one place, and we must do some detective work. Occasionally, we organize many disparate boxes of statements. We do everything we can to make the transfer of assets as streamlined as possible while developing guidelines for ongoing communication that best suits our clients’ personal preferences.   

Happily Ever After 

It is always heartening to get feedback from my clients or their family members that they are pleased they left the bad experience with their former financial advisor behind and acted on their belief that they deserved to be completely satisfied with their wealth manager. The relief and satisfaction they feel after making this move is palpable. Change is hard, and building trust can seem impossible, especially after a longstanding partnership. 

However, it’s never too late to take a step back, analyze the quality of your situation with your financial planner, and if you have some issues, act!  Whether asking hard questions, requesting more attention, or calling it quits, you must do what feels best for

Content in this material is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific tax issues with a qualified tax advisor.