Training and toolkit aim to help advisors better explain the risks and rewards
Invesco Global Consulting has released research on how financial advisors can reshape the real estate language they use with clients, but it’s also providing training and a toolkit to help them while interest is still high in the sector.
“When you’re in an inflationary environment, real estate is a compelling area that investors often look to,” Paul Brunswick, head of Invesco Global Consulting, told Wealth Professional. “We’re focusing on a variety of things to help advisors grow their business, keep the clients they have, and optimize their practices, so they’re more efficient
“The goal is always to make sure that we help advisors have clear, concise, and compelling conversations with their clients, so that investors can better understand the risks and rewards of investing. So, the focus is always on making sure that advisors have relevant and client-focused language instead of advisor-focused language.”
This consulting group has done 23 studies in four countries in three different languages during the past decade, always partnering with Maslansky + Partners, a research-driven language strategy firm. They’ve primarily focused on North American language studies to help financial advisors grow their business. They originally published New Word Order, then did studies to address the language used when discussing exchange-traded funds and alternative investments.
The current year-long study on real estate language began in November 2020. The consulting group conducted in-depth interviews with industry experts – confirming Canadian trends were similar to the American ones – then did the qualitative research with 40 investors who reacted to the language being reviewed. The researchers launched the quantitative survey website last July, then took the results back to the industry experts before creating their toolkit.
Invesco’s research “uncovered several traps and truths as it relates to language on real estate, focusing on the commonplace words and phrases that they use with clients that sometimes can lead them in different directions,” said Brunswick. “We’ve created a specific toolkit to help advisors apply what we’ve learned, so they can use it to shape the conversations that they have with clients.
“It’s based on what we learned – what words to use versus the words to lose. It’s an actionable toolkit that they can then use to shape their practice.”
The toolkit, “Building Opportunities: The compelling language of real estate investments”, contains the research results, including investors’ reactions to various terms, plus next steps for advisors. It has sample messaging and a workbook, so they can reshape the language they use for introductory conversations about real estate. That, said Brunswick, will help them apply the learnings and feedback to “make them feel more comfortable and more competent to have more effective conversations with clients about it".
The toolkit is available through Invesco’s North American representatives, but the company is also providing workshops to help advisors rescript their investor pitches, so they can put the research in their own language and address how they discuss real estate as a possible investment with clients.
“Our resources, especially the third section of the toolkit,” said Brunswick, “ can really help advisors take action on this.”
