Building a strategy

Our message to clients:

It’s important to have conversations about your priorities and concerns. This helps us set ambitious yet realistic goals. Armed with a clear sense of where you want to go, we build a plan that fits into your life.

Tips, tools, and resources

Prepare the client for a great Strategy meeting

Create your Strategy meeting agenda

agenda

"We worked together to build a plan that met his goals, including protecting his family if a disaster happened."

Jim Mellin

Follow up on the strategy

Set ambitious yet achievable goals with the client

tips

IU-3098732(06/20)(exp.6/22)
FOR INTERNAL/FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL USE ONLY - NOT FOR USE WITH THE PUBLIC.

Profile Action

Prepare the client for a great Strategy meeting

TIPS

Remind the client when and where the meeting will take place. This gives them mental picture of the meeting.

Let the client know what to expect. This way they can mentally prepare for what a successful meeting will look like.

Reiterate some of the goals you’ve heard from the client so far. Hint that there will be trade-offs to be made as we build the strategy together.

Get the client to do some thinking ahead of time. By reflecting on some questions, the client will come into the meeting more prepared to make decisions.

Create your Strategy meeting agenda

PURPOSE

To help clients articulate their priorities and concerns relating to their purpose, lifestyle, and finances, and to create some clear goals they want to achieve.

DESIRED OUTCOME

The client agrees to a strategy that fits with their life and goals.

Prepare a Strategy starting point

To build your Strategy meeting agenda, first create a point of view on what the strategy should be. Review any notes or recollections from past meetings and use them to inform your point of view. Put the strategy in writing so it’s easy to understand.

Bring the client into your thinking

When sharing your strategy point of view, share with the client how their previous conversations with you led to the point. Be explicit about how you’re connecting the dots between what you learned about them in Discovery, the vision they revealed in Profile, and the potential strategy you are presenting now. Ask for feedback, and adjust accordingly based on that feedback.

Identify and agree upon the most important goals

Talk with the client about which goals are more important than others. Note any goals that depend on other goals. Once you’re aligned, let them know when you will take action on their behalf, and set up a review cadence going forward.

Connect the client with our expert network

As an Equitable Advisors Financial Professional practicing holistic life planning, you get a unique window into people’s lives beyond finances, to encompass their purpose and lifestyle. You aren’t going to suddenly become an expert in all aspects of your clients’ lives, but you should be able to help point people to the expertise they need. That’s why we are exploring the idea of establishing a network of like-minded professionals that can assist your clients for their other needs. We would love your feedback on who should be included in such a network. Please contact hlp@equitable.com with your ideas.

Follow up on the strategy

TIPS

You’ve met with the client a few times now. Acknowledge the things that are happening in their life: jobs, kids, hobbies, etc. This strengthens the relationship.

Provide a quick summary of the strategy you will pursue. If possible, explain how this is specifically tailored to the client’s life and behavioral habits.

Let the client know how long it will take before you review the strategy with them again. This sets clear expectations.

Set ambitious yet achievable goals with the client

Goal setting is a moment when you can show up for your client as a focused and trusted professional who has their best interest at heart. The key is to remain empathetic as you help people plot their course.

Emphasize lifestyle goals, rather than material ones

If people have their heart set on specific material outcomes, without taking factors of lifestyle and purpose into account, they may achieve those outcomes and still be miserable. When you encounter this, ask questions like "what's your idea of comfortable?", "what does the good life look like to you?", and "how important is leisure to you?" to get at the heart of the client’s vision for their life.

Apply a multipronged approach

The client's achieving his or her goals isn’t a binary choice between investment and protection. Assure the client that he or she can account for worst case scenarios while still building toward the future. Work with them to find the balance that works for the goals and personal temperament of the client.

Present a range of possible outcomes

There’s a whole range of possibilities between base-level goal achievement and best case scenario. First, understand what it would take to achieve the base-level of your client's goals, then show the client what budgeting and consistency looks like under this scenario. Then show the client how their life could look different based on adjustments to budgeting and consistency.

Provide encouragement

When setting goals, sometimes the client just needs a little reassurance. This is particularly true for clients who live well below their means. Often what's at the root of this behavior is a preoccupation with what could go wrong. If the client needs to apply a little more discipline to their approach, offer that suggestion with kindness.