What 11 Advisors Learned From Rejection: Advisors’ Advice

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What 11 Advisors Learned From Rejection: Advisors’ Advice

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What 11 Advisors Learned From Rejection: Advisors’ Advice

by Jeff Berman

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What 11 Advisors Learned From Rejection: Advisors’ Advice

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1. I learned that I need to stick with my niche or practice focus because usually they don't fit my model if they aren't interested. It reinforces and supports the profile of client I want to work with, which ultimately helps me to be a better advisor to my focus group.

— Joanne E Burke, CFP, CPA/PFS, M.A., manager, client services, Birch Street Financial Advisors in Vienna, Virginia
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2. Here’s the top lesson for me: I’m not the right fit for that person, and that’s OK. We as financial advisors will meet prospects who we realize are not the right fit for us/niche/business model, and we refer them to other financial advisors. In fact, I just received a referral from a fellow financial advisor last night. Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t have the opportunity to help that prospect if they have already made the decision that we’re not the right financial advisor for their needs.

My recommendation to those who are seeking a financial advisor: if you meet one who isn’t the right fit, let the advisor know and ask them if they have any referrals. There is no reason not to help others, both prospects and financial advisors.

— Maggie Klokkenga, CFP, CPA, financial coach and planner, Make A Money Mindshift in Morton, Illinois
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3. The best lesson I’ve learned is that sometimes advisor/client personalities do not mesh well. This does not mean the advisor did a poor job or that the client was rude in any way. It just means that sometimes the client and advisor do not work well together. Everyone has their own unique personality and their own preference in their advisor’s style and techniques.

We have multiple advisors in our office for this exact reason. Most of the cases we do are joint with another rep so we have a diversified team for the client. This is great from a product and solution knowledge point of view but also for the fact that one rep may relate to the client better than the other.

— Zachary Bachner, CFP, investment advisor representative, Summit Financial Consulting, in Sterling Heights, Michigan
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4. I think it is a great opportunity to understand why you got rejected. I ask clients to share why they went a different direction (if they are up for it). Use their reason to improve your practice where you can.

Two items that I have learned: 1. Never force a relationship. If you aren’t a good fit for each other, it isn’t worth it. 2. Your fee structure can’t accommodate everyone. Work with those who are comfortable with it.

— Dan Herron, CPA, PFS, CFP, principal, Elemental Wealth Advisors, in San Luis Obispo, California
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5. The lesson from clients is fairly straightforward. You made a recommendation(s) and they did not take it. No worries, when the doctor says watch your diet and exercise more, that's the advice. The doctor doesn't follow you around to see if you took it. Render the best advice you can and move on.

With prospects it's also straightforward. For them, it was just not a match. Nothing more than that. In any professional line of work more often it's about the client you DIDN'T get as opposed to the one you did get.

— Thomas F. Scanlon, CPA, CFP, financial advisor, Raymond James Financial Services in Manchester, Connecticut
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6. No matter how much you want to help someone, if they are not ready to work with you (or anyone else), don’t push them as you will create resentment and give them more fuel for their anxiety around planning. Instead, offer to keep in light contact and let them decide when it’s best for them … which might be never.

— William J. Nunn, CFP, financial planner, founder, Horizon Financial Planning in New Orleans, Louisiana
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7. The best gift a prospect ever gave me was to turn me down. I had met with the prospect for an introduction meeting, and then followed up with written questions. The questions were about my approach, outcomes, and the like. The questions helped me to understand what prospects truly want to know, and since it was early on in my career they really made me think. In the end, the prospect went with someone else.

They explained that all of us had effectively the same price, but the other person was just a better fit. It made me feel better about my pricing and help me to understand that sometimes fit is what matters. It isn't about letters, certifications, or knowledge. Sometimes it is just about fit.

— Jay Zigmont, PhD, CFP, founder, Live, Learn, Plan in Water Valley, Mississippi
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8. The first and most humbling lesson is simply not everyone sees eye to eye with you and your process. It took some maturity in the business to realize this. Earlier in your career, you are just trying to land clients, but at some point, you cross this invisible line and realize there are enough people out there that need our services, so you can become more selective in trying to find a good fit for both you and the potential clients.

That is why a discovery meeting with a prospect is so important. I usually say that the “only agenda I have today is to see if I can add some value to your financial life and see if we are a good fit to work together.”

— Ashley Folkes, CFP, CPWA, CRPC, RICP, senior financial advisor, director of growth strategies, Bridgeworth Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama
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9. Top lessons: 1. What you offer should not be for everyone who walks through the door. So don’t change your service model or services just to land a prospect. This is disingenuous!

We strive to have our prospect experience be an interview from both sides to ensure the highest quality fit for both client and our team. This way if our team’s collective knowledge, experience, and services isn’t what a prospective client is looking for it actually becomes a positive thing to identify this early in the prospect experience in order to help those individuals find the resource(s) that fit their needs best.

2. If you have to work extremely hard to help a prospect see value in a fee-only business model over the others available, it may be a better use of your time to find prospective clients who already know your value and align with your firm’s ethics.

— Aaron Clarke, CFP, AIF, wealth advisor, Halpern Financial in Ashburn, Virginia
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10. As an investment advisor working with individuals as well as retirement plans, I think the biggest lesson I have learned is to show the prospect how you can best solve the problem they are looking to solve, vs. what I believed was the biggest “pro” of taking me on as an advisor.

We work hard at differentiating ourselves and providing the best suite of services that we can. Sometimes the prospect is very focused on one aspect of our services in particular. Instead of really digging into what matters most to them, I have found myself wasting time with all the other things we believe we are great at, or even what we think they should be most interested in. At the end of the day this is really just overselling, and in hindsight takes away from the service they were most interested in.

— Jonathan Pasqua, CFA, CFP, manager, client services, Pasqua, CPA, in New York, New York and Harrison, New York
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11. There are countless answers that come to mind when reading your question. Two thoughts are: You might be fishing in the wrong pond. If we assume the messaging and sales pitch is good, being rejected by a client may mean that you're not getting in front of the right people. Effective marketing/advertising is not only about generating leads, it's about preventing people who would reject you from reaching out in the first place.

Contrary to popular belief, I don't think sales is about convincing people who are on the edge to purchase a product or service, I think it's about finding people who already know they want to purchase your product or service. In practice, "Sell me this pen" is not how my day to day works.

— Michael R. Caligiuri, CFP, EA, founder and CEO, Caligiuri Financial, in Columbus, Ohio
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Related: 12 Warning Signs That a Client Is a Bad Fit

Nobody likes being rejected. But being rejected by a prospective client can be a teachable moment — perhaps nothing more than a sign that the advisor and client weren’t a good fit, several advisors told us.

We asked advisors to share with us the top lesson (or two) they’ve learned from being rejected by a client or prospect.

Check out their wide-ranging responses in the gallery above.

Jeff Berman

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