Behaviorally SMART Meetings

Power your meetings with Financial DNA by connecting Science, Methodology, and ART.

Getting to know clients is both an art and a science. Use the below SMART meeting approach to have customized meetings with your clients that are meaningful. Follow each step in every meeting, whether it’s a prospect or a client you have known for years.

A 5-Step Process to Power Your Meetings with Behavioral Finance

With over 20-years of behavioral finance experience, our team has developed this easy-to-follow 5-step meeting approach. It all starts by sharing your unique link with a client to have them discover their Financial DNA.

S

Style Review of Self and Client

Learn How

M

Modify to Match Client

Learn How

A

Ask Client About Their DNA

Learn How

R

Review DNA Results

Learn How

T

Talk About Next Steps

Learn How

Delivering A SMART Meeting:

Style Review of Self and Client

Style Review of Self and Client

Start by reviewing your style as well as that of your client. For starters, check your Financial Behavior Report to learn your style. For a quick reference on your client, review the completion alert email you receive from DNA that lists your clients’ environment keys.

Additional Tips:

Locating the DNA Insights: Review the DNA completion emails sent to your inbox, and client’s Financial Behavior reports to understand their unique style (for example, “Strategist”) and their preferred environment for meetings (for example, “Provide me with the big picture”).
Review the Unique Style group: Financial DNA groups financial advisors and investors with similar styles. We call these groups the Financial DNA Unique Styles.

The 10 Unique Styles

Modify Approach to Match Environment to Client

Just like your clients have their own unique preferences, so do you. First impressions are critical; therefore, it’s important to create an environment to match your client’s style, not yours. DNA research shows that only 40% of your clients will communicate as you do; that’s why you must modify your style to make your clients feel more comfortable and emotionally engaged when in meetings.

Using the communication keys provided in your report and completion email, create an environment with your client in mind. Set the tone and style of your meeting to match your client. Put yourself in an empathetic listening mode.

Additional Tips:

For couples: If meeting a couple, create an environment that’s comfortable for both. To make a great first impression, you want to be sure that both people in the couple feel understood and have their needs met. Research shows that women own 70% of the decision-making when it comes to choosing an advisor, so you want to ensure that you are attending to each person in the couple.
Unsure of the best environment? If you are unsure of the best environment, it’s best to always ask. This goes for same-sex couples, families with different styles, and clients who are opposites (and yes, opposites do attract, and we have the research to prove it).

Ask Client About Their DNA Results

The “A,” “R,” and “T” of the SMART is an art, where each advisor can make it their own. Here, you will customize your approach based on the meeting agenda, context, your personal style, and the needs of your client.

For your first meeting, ask the client how they thought/felt about the results and leverage questions in reports to customize conversations; in subsequent meetings, ask about what the client wants from the meeting. In the Financial DNA training, advisors role play this; below are the most common way advisors ask this:

Common ways advisors phrase this:

“So (insert name) how did you feel/what did you think about your Financial DNA results, did you feel they were accurate?” Use “feel” for more relational clients, use “think” for more results-focused clients.
What stood out to you most in the report?
Did anything surprise you about the discovery?
Was there anything in your report that you disagreed with?

What if your client doesn’t agree with the results?

Be curious and have a conversation about what the client disagreed with. For instance, ask for examples of how this shows up in their life.
Suggest that the client talks with someone close to them to see if this could potentially be a blind spot for the client (eg their spouse, partner, or a close friend or associate).
Be respectful of the client’s position, don’t insist that the report is right/the client is wrong.
Remind clients that discovery measures natural hard-wired behavior and they may have a lot of learned behavior around this trait/behavior that may be more reflective of them.

Review DNA Results vs Life Experiences and Goals

Now that you have understood your client’s initial reaction to the results, the next step is to clarify how the results play into their life experiences and goals.

Experienced financial advisors use this step of the SMART meeting method to address client’s obstacles for success, such as a client’s strong desire to spend (these are low scores on the 3^rd graph on the Financial Behavior Report).

Use this review to discuss goals that the client has and how you as the advisor can help them meet those goals. Think about what might get in the way of meeting certain goals or where a client may have a challenge and ask them about how you need to play a role in assisting them.

Examples of how to weave in DNA results with life experience:

“I noticed that your Financial DNA results showed that you have a tendency to be a spender rather than a saver. Would you agree? If I were to help you develop a spending plan so that you had fun money to enjoy, would that help you?
“Your Financial DNA results show that you are a cautious decision-maker; when you make financial decisions, do you seek reassurance?”

Explore the Financial Behavior Report

Talk About Next Steps

The last step of the SMART meeting method is to talk about the next steps. This step is flexible based on the context of your agenda and relationship with a client.

If this is your first meeting, use the Financial Behavior Comparison Report to tell the client how you are a great fit for working with them based on your DNA styles being a good behavioral fit.

Here you have the opportunity to drive the meeting to a strong close by guiding your client into the next step in your process and assuring them that you understand them and are prepared to do the work to make a perfect match as you work together.

Common ways advisors sell themselves to the client using Financial DNA:

When the scores are opposite: If your client has a high score in an area, and your score is low, explain that you will bring a different set of eyes or different perspective to your client.
When the scores are similar: Explain that you complement each other in these areas and see “eye-to-eye” in that aspect of financial planning.

Behaviorally SMART Meetings

A 5-Step Process to Power Your Meetings with Behavioral Finance

S

Style Review of Self and Client

M

Modify to Match Client

A

Ask Client About Their DNA

R

Review DNA Results

T

Talk About Next Steps

Delivering A SMART Meeting:

Let’s connect

Let’s Explore

Let’s meet

Behaviorally SMART Meetings

A 5-Step Process to Power Your Meetings with Behavioral Finance

S

Style Review of Self and Client

M

Modify to Match Client

A

Ask Client About Their DNA

R

Review DNA Results

T

Talk About Next Steps

Delivering A SMART Meeting:

Let’s connect

Let’s Explore

Let’s meet

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