The Family Of Your Client is also A Client

You do not want 'Constant', what you want is 'Constant Growth'. And to achieve a constant growth, what do you do? You expand your reach, you target newer clients each day. And how do you target clients? You look for referrals, you hold seminars, you target your relatives, friends, colleagues, ex-colleagues, etc. There is still a corner left which you don't look into, and that is your clients family.

You always ask your clients for references, and some clients are very kind, they give you references because they believe in you and hope that you'd provide good service to the referrals also. Now, there is one question that you often tend to not ask from the client and that is about the financial planning status of the client's family members individually.

While we do consider the client's kids, spouse, parents, when we advise them. We design their Portfolio keeping in mind the family's requirements, but we seldom consider the latter as a separate entity.

Why should you regard your client's family members as separate clients?

Parents: Your client is doing financial planning for his family, but the client's Dad might also need some financial planning for him, he might want to leave behind some assets for his kids and grand kids. He might have kept his entire retirement corpus in a Fixed Deposit or worse in his saving account. He might be 70 + and doesn't have a Will. Though people do plan for their parents future, but they often ignore to sort their Parents' finances. In Indian families, the kid would prefer facing troubles later over gathering the guts to ask his father, "Do you have a Will?" Or "It's time you must have a Will". So, it is the financial advisor who has to take care of the succession planning of the elderly, you are the one, who'll explain him that money kept in savings account or FD is depleting day by day on account of inflation and expose him to better options of growing his wealth like MIP. So, when you advise a client remember to ask him about his Parents, ask if they need your help!

Siblings: A Client would give you ten references, his friends' and relatives', etc. but would often forget his own brother or sister. So, when you ask for references, ask specifically for the clients siblings. Ask if they have a financial plan, ask if you can help them.

Spouse: This is another overlooked section, the client's spouse. When you plan for the client's next vacation with his wife, or for his retirement years with his wife, all aspects of his financial plan involve her. But what about her own finances, she might be earning, she might have her savings too. Her salary might be getting accumulated in her salary account giving her an interest of 4% pa. So, you must ask your client about his spouse, if her finances are in shape.

Kids: The next, most overlooked and the most important zone is the kids of the house. Kids are generally not involved in financial planning conversations as we believe it would serve no purpose. But the reality is if they don't say today they will tomorrow, so make sure you talk to the kids about the basics, about savings and investing, why should they save and invest. If the kid has a goal of buying a pair of professional skates, how saving from his pocket money can help him achieve his goal. When a kid sees you advising his parents about money, when he learns from you about saving and investment, he starts trusting you, he looks at you as the money man of the house.

Why the advisor should acknowledge the client's kids:

1. Intergenerational transfer: Kids would require a financial advisor most in the inheriting stage. In many cases family's wealth is transferred to the kids at an early age. They would not know how to handle so much money. At this time, they know you have been handling their family's finances, they would look up to their money man to guide them.
2. They will be your clients after a decade or two: Those who are kids today, will be the breadearners of their family in the future. So, putting in efforts towards the kids, is like investing your time for tomorrow. They will never look at any one else but you for their financial planning.

So, when you ask for referrals from your client, ask for the in house referrals first. Each of your client's family member must be considered as a separate prospective client.

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