Are you listening to your clients?

Sometimes, it’s the little things advisors do that can take them to the next level of success. William J. McLaughlin of Wall, N.J.-based The McLaughlin Financial Group LLC told me that little bit of wisdom in a phone conversation last week.

For McLaughlin, that “little thing” is listening to what his clients have to say. In fact, McLaughlin recognizes “the lost art of listening” as one of the central pieces to his success.

He tells me he sees his role as an advisor as having similarities to a priest, where the clients come to him in the form of a confession. They pour themselves out to him, he says, and McLaughlin listens.

“I hear what they say. It’s important to hear what they say and to get to know what makes them tick. I wish there was a silver bullet. That would be easy, but it’s not like that. The key is to have integrity, to be transparent.”