Clients who have just lost their spouse need advisors who can get the human side of advice right
The death of a loved one is an overwhelming event for anybody, and the last thing advisors want to do is to add to that avalanche of pressure.
That was the key message of Susan Bradley, the founder of the Financial Transitionist Institute, to a room full of advisors at a recent conference on retirement in the US. Eighteen years ago, Bradley gave up her practice to work with investors and advisors faced with life-changing financial transitions, according to Financial Advisor magazine.
Using research from disciplines including neurology, psychology, and sociology, she has built tools and protocols to help advisors work more effectively with widowed clients. Those resources are taught as part of the Certified Financial Transitionist designation, which Bradley created and is now being offered in five continents.
One piece of advice she offers is that if clients have lost a spouse, advisors should avoid bombarding them with reams of flow charts, dense reports, and long meetings, particularly if they have adequate cash flow. Instead, advisors should allow them time off from non-essential decision-making.
For advisors dealing with the newly widowed, she also recommends a simple, one-page chart showing just three blocks of client wealth: assets, income sources, and family ownership of assets. “This simple way of presenting information is more than 600 percent more effective than long, elaborate financial reports, and I’ve gone back to check that research many times,” Bradley said.
Clients in the height of grief may also tend to disengage and not be ready to make financial decisions. Any stress they’re feeling could impair their cognition and hinder their judgment in the short term. When dealing with clients who seem paralyzed, advisors can make regular check-in phone calls. “But if you say you’re going to do it, really schedule it and do it,” Bradley said.
It is also important for advisors to avoid triggering an avalanche of emotions from clients in mourning. That means avoiding open-ended questions: for example, rather than asking widowed clients “How are you?” Bradley suggested the more focused “How are you today?”
Even asking clients how they would like to receive communication can be very effective for client retention. “Communication is a main tool for advisors to use with widowed clients who say they can feel unheard, misunderstood, at a loss of confidence and unable to understand financial advice,” Bradley said. “Get it right and it’s 70% of the reason why widows come in an advisor’s door.”
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