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May 05, 2010 at 08:00 PM
Developing client trust takes conscious effort: First, gain client confidence. Next, deliver on your promises.
Such is the stuff of business etiquette as a driver of business success, according to Peter Post, a director of the esteemed Emily Post Institute, founded by the renowned good-conduct authority in 1946.
“How you treat people absolutely makes a difference in how successful you are,” says Post, one of famed Emily Post’s four great-grandchildren and creator of the institute’s business etiquette seminars, held for such firms as Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan Chase.
Nowadays, financial advisors, among other professionals, need more help than ever with communications skills, Post says.
As a follow up to an earlier piece on communications technology and etiquette, Post share his key points for successful communication:
(1) “Think before you act — then make choices to build strong relationships. Take a breath before you respond with your gut instinct,” Post says. “Ask yourself: Is this really the right way to be handling this situation?”
For FAs, “it’s not merely a matter of communicating information to clients but how you make them feel while you do it. Communicate in a way that builds confidence in you,” he says.
(2) Critical to developing trust is follow-through.
“When you don’t deliver and your reason is a lousy one in the client’s eyes, they’ll begin to lose trust. You can do 10 things right and one wrong. But then, boy,” Post notes, “those other 10 don’t count for anything.”
