“Undressing the Mind: The Skill of Serving Different Generations,” a highly anticipated and heavily promoted session dedicated to understanding and communicating with different participant generations, took place Tuesday afternoon at the Wealth@wor(k) conference in Las Vegas.
Far from simply rehashing each demographic’s supposed quirks and characteristics, presenters Holly Knight and Faith Teope aimed directly at advisor marketing and educational material and what it really communicates to clients.
“As advisors, we educate, educate, educate, but it’s not enough,” Knight, Senior Advisor with WellCents – NFP, explained. “It’s the equivalent of helping someone build a house by delivering the lumber, tools, and dirt and then handing them a construction manual and sending them off. We say we help people who help themselves, but this falls short of duty.”
Teope emphasized what is known about human nature, no matter the decade of birth. They want to be seen, understood, and they want to be validated; they have lifestyle desires, and they have dreams.
“If they can’t tell you their dreams, they often can tell you their fears, and those serve as indicators of what they value,” Teope, CEO of TPA Leverage Retirement, added.
Reaching various generations is not only a business projection but also a duty, Knight and Teope claimed, and not doing so risks a future loss of clientele. The language advisors choose to use dictates who they reach.
Boiling it down to the two most extreme ends of the business model, Teope first noted, “Focusing on the older generation and ignoring the direction of the younger generations means we actively enable the future loss of roping [the younger generation] back to the world of financial advice.”
Commenting on the other extreme end, Knight added that “Focusing on the younger generation ignores the problem of fortifying existing assets so that they can sustain through retirement and other life events,” Knight added, commenting on the other extreme end.
Teope pointed out that if advisors think some of their material or marketing falls on deaf ears, it is worse: it is sending a subliminal message that they may never reach their goals.
“There is no neutral messaging for advisors; either you lay a foundation of positivity, or you don’t.”
While Teope noted the psychological influence of advisors’ marketing materials could widen the savings gap between personality types, Knight recounted a conversation with one young participant client about her saving habits.
“She was 22 and saving $700 a month. I expressed how great it was that she was saving so much. She said she saw the hardships her parents experienced and never wanted to go through that. She formed a group of women at work to discuss financial issues, but they don’t talk about money. It’s always three questions—what’s going on, what are you doing, and how do you feel? This is what younger generations are doing.”
The crux of Knight and Teope’s session revealed that the conversation has less to do with dissecting the minds of every generation and instead about examining the advisor’s own mind.
“What preconceived notions do [advisors] have? What ideas from your expertise have you crafted from your lengthy career telling you what [clients] need? Good or rigid. What financial belief system are you protecting?” Teope said.
The small conversion from “I know what my client needs to do” to “I see a path for them” is a growth mindset shift that breaks past our bias to understanding our clients.
They concluded with three critical takeaways:
- Stop educating: “Stop fire-hosing on what we know if it doesn’t align with how they view their life.”
- Practice: “Practice listening and adjusting.”
- Lower their guard: “Ask creative questions to guide them in articulating clearer answers.”
“The business model begins with how we see people,” Knight concluded.
“This is not profound. This is bringing to the forefront a concept we all know we need. We are talking about a fresh level of growth mindset,” Teope added.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
