The No. 1 Mistake Made by Financial Advisors

The human brain is made up of two distinct hemispheres, the left brain and the right brain. The left brain is logical, linear, sequential, and organized. The left brain likes to plan and budget, and craves order. It is methodical, structured, and incredibly detail oriented.

The left side of the brain is usually what draws individuals to the financial planning career path. Advisors and planners are leaders. They are well educated, likeable, trusted, and confident. They like people, numbers, planning, creating strategies, and calculating numeric outcomes to attempt to plan for future goals.

Financial advisors and financial planners alike are required to operate much of their business utilizing these important left-brain skill sets. Envision the number of left-brain activities you work on every day:

> completing new account paperwork
> entering orders to the various exchanges
> calculating budgets
> reading research
> implementing asset allocation models
> monitoring account performance versus target goals

However, we are now discovering that it can be a mistake to operate and attempt to work with clients only from the left-brain viewpoint. Consider this: Clients are recognizing that many left-brain functions are being commodified. In fact, if you scan the list above every single bullet point can in some fashion be accomplished without hiring a financial advisor or a financial planner. Knowing this can serve as your wake-up call.

If you want to continue to grow and develop your personal skill sets in a way that can differentiate you from your competition, then you must begin to learn more about, and focus your attention on connecting with, the right-brain needs of each client.

What You Can Do Instead
The right side of the human brain sees in pictures--not words--which allows it to process information very quickly. The right brain is flowing, emotional, vibrant, intuitive. It sees life from the 50,000-foot viewpoint. It is adventurous, imaginative, and creative, and experiences life through the five major senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste.

Most importantly, the right side of the brain is relational. It begs for connection and friendship. The right brain wants to express itself and rarely is interested in charts and spreadsheets. Instead clients' right brain would rather have a cup of coffee and an advisor who listens to the story about their last golf game and their grandchildren's recent graduation.