“We all need people who will give us feedback. That's how we improve.” - Bill Gates

Ashima & Apoorv Sahni, are married since three months. Both of them are too fond of each other and they go out of their way to keep each other happy. Ashima gets up early in the morning to prepare and pack lunch for Apoorv. However, Apoorv finds the food cooked by Ashima overly spicy and at times, he gives it away to the office boy and calls for a pizza. But he has never told his wife about his distaste because he feels she puts in immense efforts and she won't appreciate any criticism. So, what is happening here is Ashima is trying hard to please her husband's palette but her efforts are going in vain day after day, as she is unaware that she's going offtrack. The solution to the couple's problem is simple, A Feedback, Apoorv has to tell Ashima that the food is spicy, and with a minor alteration in her cooking, she just has to take a smaller spoon for the masalas, things will be sorted.

This tale reveals the importance of feedback, how it helps us decode our everyday riddles, and imparts peace and harmony into our lives. Like this couple, we all need feedbacks, it helps us identify flaws in our ways, it extends an opportunity to improve. In Financial Advisory business, there is a substantial human element involved, therefore the role of feedback becomes paramount for an unfaltering growth of the advisor. There is often a huge disparity between the advisors' judgment of clients' preferences and actual client choices. Despite the fact, many advisors are reluctant and keep on deferring the feedback solicitation activity for years, may be because they are apprehensive about negative comments. But in reality a negative feedback is an opportunity to correct our practices, to improve, and to evolve into a better business.

Client's feedback is the Report Card of your performance. This report card will show you where you stand, what are your strengths and what are the weak areas that you need to improve. Like Ashima in the above story, all advisors go the extra mile to keep our clients happy, but many times there are gaps between what we impart and what they expect. Feedback tells you:

What you don't need to do: Feedback helps you identify gaps in your service and offerings. Say for instance, an advisor is committed to provide optimum service to his clients at all times, and in the course of his mission, he at times goes overboard in trying to please his clients. This risk the investors, but they don't really express their displeasure. This gap in service can be filled only when enlightenment dawns upon the advisor, and that will happen only when he gets a feedback.

What you need to do: There are also times when, although we are trying our best to protect the investor's interests, we are not able to stand upto their expectations, there can be a shortfall in service quality, product, knowledge or the advice itself. We'll be able to fill in the blank only when we are able to see the blank. We'll see the blank when someone shows us the blank by giving us a feedback.

The process builds client's confidence: Feedback not only gives you an opportunity to improve but also creates customer satisfaction. When you ask a client for his feedback, he feels important, he feels being heard, and it leads to greater client engagement, which lies at the core of any client driven practice. Asking for feedback from investors also gives a positive impression, investors can sense your genuineness and that you care for them. You can further strengthen their confidence by sending a progress report on their feedback. Our service practices are aimed at gaining customer confidence, and asking for feedback works as a super tool in this respect.

The above paragraphs explain why is client feedback so important for the success of a financial advisor. However, when a client is dissatisfied, you would know only when he switches to a different advisor. Clients are disgruntled but you would seldom face a client who specifically shows up just to give you an assessment report. So it is the advisors' responsibility to step out of their comfort zone to gauge their clients' dissatisfaction by asking for a Feedback. You can club the feedback solicitation activity in your regular investor meets, or you can ask for a feedback or suggestions in your one on one meetings, but make sure you do it at regular intervals. All the best for surprises!

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Learning is a never ending process. We learn all our lives, in the form of formal education, practical education, experiences and life lessons in general. While learning and growing is important for everyone, as advisors, it is of utmost importance.

The word advisor itself signifies that your job is to advice individuals regarding their investments and financial planning. However, to give good advice, one has to be good with understanding the basics and also whatever update that happens. The financial industry is very dynamic and everyday there is something new to learn from it. Thus, to keep your edge, to be good at what one does, an advisor has to continuously keep on updating oneself.

Apart from the fact that you should be updated because your job is to advise someone, emerging competition from online and digital advisors is another reason why you shouldn't undermine the importance of continued education and knowledge. Even clients these days are more aware and mature and have certain expectations from their advisors. In fact, as an advisor, you also have a duty to educate your client and make them more aware, this is only possible when you yourself are aware and evolved.

Thus, to help you be better and maintain your edge, here are a few tips that will help you become more aware:

1. Keep updated on daily developments

No one expects you to be reading 10 different newspapers and magazines everyday and to be aware about everything, but as someone who's business evolves around the workings of the financial markets, it is important that you keep yourself updated on developments.

Thus, make a habit of reading a few articles everyday and understanding the direction of the market, whatever is the latest happenings and why is it happening. For example, recently the market experienced a slump because of the IL&FS crisis, now as an an individual who invests, anyone would be a little tense and thus would call up their advisor. Now, in this case, if the advisor himself/herself is not aware of the reasons, having him would make no sense to the investor. Therefore, not only is it advisable, it mandatory for an advisor to be updated with the daily developments.

2. Learn about new products

Your job is to tell an individual where he or she should invest. Thus you should know what all are the options that one can invest in. While, it is impossible to keep track of every new investment instrument that exists in the market or is newly launched, one should definitely learn about the instruments which can help your clients achieve their goals.

Also, stay updated on the performances of the current products and their relativeness to the client. Basically, stay updated with the performances of not only the products that you have suggested but also on the products that you have not suggested. This is because, you can only judge performances in a better manner when judging them in relation to other products.

3. Engage in meaningful conversations with your colleagues and industry experts

You learn not just from the traditional medium and your experiences but also from the experiences of others. Engage in conversations with other advisers, understand what outlook they have and what they are doing. Attend as many meetings and conferences as you can because you never know what you learn and also, engaging with others gives you a chance to gauge yourself, to know how deep in the water are you.

But, also, make sure that you are cutting the noise. When in the market, you will hear and listen to a lot of things, learn to chaff the wheat. Don't accept everything and also don't reject everything. Attend conferences, even we at NJ arrange for periodical sessions which can help you understand the market and the workings better, attend them, be active in them and take lessons home.

4. Meet your clients regularly

How will meeting your clients help you with getting better? It will help you understand your clients' needs and his perspective better, which in turn will help you understand the direction you need to take to serve them better. Also, educate your client, help him or her understand what is going on, this will help both of you in the future and also give you a better sense of confidence in your advice when you realise that you and your clients are on the same page.

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Having a Client Centric Approach is indisputable for running a successful advisory business.

Client Centric Approach can be broken down into: Client + Centric.

The subject is self explicable. This means the client is at the centre of the business: the policies, operations, products, services of the business all revolve around the client. The well being of the Client determines the existence of the business, in this case, the Financial Advisor. If the Client is pushed away from the Centre, the role of the Advisor becomes a question.

It is not just about advisory, rather it is applicable to any other business. Businesses who have adopted a client centric approach have outperformed their competitors. In our business, however not having a client centric approach is not an option. It is about how efficiently you apply and practice it.

Having a Client Centric Approach, is what most advisors try to inculcate in their business practice. However, what actually happens, is another point. When you dig down deep, you'd realize that what you have been doing was not Client Centric, rather it was Client Focused.

What is the difference between Client Focused and Client Centric?

There is an investor Harish, aged 50, working in a mid level position in a government company. He is a father of a 15 year old college going son and a 24 year old daughter and his wife is a home maker. Harish has been a traditional debt investor, he has been investing in PPF since he started his career, and he also has certain Fixed Deposits. Harish lives in a 2 bhk flat in navi mumbai and owns a 2 bhk flat in a small town in Madhya Pradesh, which he intends to sell to fund his daughter's wedding.

Now Harish wants to invest for his son's higher education and he also needs a medical Insurance of Rs 5 Lacs, which covers his entire family, he is a little confused about where to invest. So he needs a financial advisor to help him.

There are two Mutual Fund Advisors: Manish and Ashish. Let's see their approach towards the client's requirements.

Harish meets Manish:

Harish discusses his financial position and his requirements with Manish. Manish carefully listens to the investor's requirements, he sees that the investor's goal is 3-4 years away, and he suggests him to invest in ABC Balanced Mutual Fund, which is a good performing scheme. Manish also suggests him a good Life Insurance policy, which fulfills his requirements. The advisor has given a well researched, honest advice and the investor is very happy as he got what he wanted.

Harish meets the other advisor Ashish:

Again Harish discusses the entire background along with what he wants with Ashish. Ashish too carefully listens, but he has a different advise for Harish. Ashish on analysing the investor's financial position sees that his entire portfolio is concentrated in debt and real estate, and is totally illiquid. So, Manish has the following solution for his client:

Firstly, they decide an ideal asset allocation for him, based on his profile and his risk taking ability. He suggests liquidation of a few assets and investment into some other assets to match the ideal asset allocation. He also suggests him to start an SIP.

Secondly, Ashish sees that Harish is planning his daughter's wedding in a year or two, so he suggests him to sell the property and keep the money in a liquid asset class, like a Liquid Fund, since if he waits for the last moment, he may not be able to find a buyer or a good deal on his property.

Thirdly, Ashish sees that a family medical cover of Rs 5 Lacs is not adequate for the investor. So he suggests him to take a medical insurance of Rs 5 lacs plus a top up policy of Rs 10 Lacs. He also suggests him to take a critical illness cover and an accident cover.

Now, both advisors helped the client by suggesting good investment products. The difference was the first advisor Manish catered to the investor's wants and the second advisor Ashish catered to the investor's needs. Manish had a Client focused approach, his advise met the client's expectations. He said what the client wanted him to say. Whereas Ashish's advise was Client Centric, he looked under the hood, and saw what the client actually needed, which even the client himself didn't know, and gave a solution to those needs. A Client Centric approach will ensure that the investor will get what is right, it will deliver him a superior investing experience. And what's right for the investor, eventually is right for the advisor too.

Though the difference is very loud and clear in this example, but practically, many times there is a thin line between the two, and you many not realize when you cross that line and change your focus to Client at the Focus from Client at the Center. So, you as an advisor, must always look back to see that whether your approach towards advising clients is Client Focused or Client Centric. Client Centric Approach will help your investors, it will ensure that your clients will come back to you and will make you a successful financial advisor in the long run.

A common mistake that we all commit is we try to sell our product, and not what the customer wants to buy. In advisory business, positioning yourself or your product before your client is considered a faux pas. Your clients are looking forward to know how their interests are being taken care of, and not how great your product or your company is, even if you have brought the best products of the industry to the table. You must adopt a client centric approach, your clients are the only reason you exist and you have to direct all your efforts to keep him happy and satisfied. However, adopting a client centric approach is easier said than done. It is always more comfortable to talk about yourself, your company and what you have to offer. And moving out of the conventional P's of Marketing to C of the customer requires patience and can come only with time.

Client at the center approach has been adopted by many big companies as well. Let's take the example of an e-commerce company, say Flipkart, they have integrated customer satisfaction at the grass-root level. They are offering a wide choice of products, multiple brands, colours, styles, material of the same product is available, same day delivery options if the customer needs the product urgently, hassle free return and refunds, festive discounts, cash on delivery options, etc. They even surprise the clients with free goodies, quiz, lottery, etc. The recent monsoons have literally lead to floods in Gurgaon, and people are stuck in jams for long hours. Now the e-commerce companies and restaurants are offering discounts specially for the peak jam hours. While you can't move, you can shop and they delight you by offering special 'jam discounts'. They have understood the fact that if they don't care about their customers, they'll fade out eventually.

You can follow these basic steps to inculcate a customer centric approach:

Know your customer: To begin with, you must understand your hero, his skills, his needs, where did he come from, how he views challenges and how he describes success, what are his expectations from you. You should know what has he endured in the past, specifically related to financial losses and what's the reason behind his resistance to a particular product. You have to step into your customer's shoes to understand his behaviour and preferences. The best you can do is research and listen to him carefully, before you present a solution.

Devise a strategy: Once you know what the client wants, you must devise your sales strategy in line with his expectations. Your strategy must be fool proof and focused on meeting the client's requirements. You must be brisk, in the sense that if you have a strategy or a product in mind, however, on meeting the client, you feel that he would not really require it, you must be flexible enough to devise a new strategy quickly.

Create an experience: The time has come to implement your strategy, to leave an experience for the client worth reminiscing. Your interaction with the customer should be such that he is completely immersed in your speech. Is is about customer experience and it can be enhanced by keeping certain points in mind:

• Your speech must be revolving around him, you should be talking about his typical problems.
• You should sound genuinely interested in his problems and concerned about his wants and goals. You have to demonstrate that you'll be there for him in times of need.
• Create a story of his life. Place him at the protagonist's position, bring in a villain i.e. the problems he might face, give him strategies to fight with the villain and portray a picture of him emerging as the winner in the fight I.e, how he fights with the problems and meet his goals with the help of various investments.
• You must speak what he wants to hear; his appreciation and a happy ending.
• Narrate your customers' success stories. You may also also narrate some special moments of your clients, that how their investments helped them achieve something, which could have never otherwise achieved, and how it brought a contented smile on their face.
• Finally, help them understand the gains or losses that they have made. Especially in case of losses, what went wrong and what can be done to rectify it. Show them a ray of hope.

If you are successful in creating a happy investment experience for your client. He'll never go to another advisor, since you have just established a life long relationship with a happy customer. He might also recommend you to his friends and word of mouth is the best marketing strategy after all, while if you are not able to provide a pleasant experience for him, it can go the other way round as well. Remember a happy customer might tell a friend, but an unhappy one will tell the world.

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