Many Advisers we work with struggle to find the right phrases to use with their clients (or peers) in order to engage (or manage) certain situations.  In this quick tips article, we examine four of the most useful phrases every Adviser should have in their armoury.

What do we need to do over the next 12 months for you to feel we have done a great job?

One of our favourite relationship management questions.  This is an alternative to asking a client about their expectations (“What are your expectations in working with us?”).  We like to use a timeframe so that the client can put things into context.  This question also helps the client frame a response which is meaningful to them – it makes them think, “Right, what am I really looking for from my adviser?”.  You can ask this question every single year to your client to ensure you are staying on track and their expectations haven’t changed.

What we normally do is…

I love this phrase.  It’s so reassuring.  It’s full of credibility and experience.  I use it all the time to help reinforce expertise.

That reminds me of someone else recently referred to me…

Here’s a free Referral Seed for you.  Whenever you are demonstrating credibility by talking about a war story, or discussing a case study or wanting to demonstrate expertise by showing how many times you have dealt with a similar situation, why not sneak in the word “referral”?  Don’t talk about other clients you have helped, talk about other people referred to you with the some problem.  Don’t say how many Doctors you have as clients, say how often you are referred to Doctors to help them.

Shall we get started?

This is one of my favourite “closing” phrase in sales.  Assuming we ignore old fashioned “closing tactics”, the closing phases in a sales meeting merely means the “close of the discussion”.  Closing is the time to see where you stand and if the client is ready to go.  So closing phrases need only ask around that topic.  This phrase asks for commitment and, if the client is not ready, forces them to explain why (which allows you to respond).