Focus On Progress, Not Outcomes
How the modern advisor can help client celebrate small wins and feel successful today
It’s the start of a new year, and many financial advisors will be spending the first part of the year meeting with clients and talking about goals and desired outcomes. As we consider what things we want to accomplish this year I want to discuss my thoughts on outcomes vs behavior.
When I started out in this industry my goal was to be the best financial advisor ever. I wanted to get a lot of designations and help as many clients as I could. I imagined after a few years of working as an advisor for a number of firms I would launch my own RIA and build the firm of my dreams.
Time came and went and now I work with a fintech company helping other advisors build modern service models. About 6 months ago I transitioned all my clients to another advisor, and I don’t own my own RIA. In an industry that focuses heavily on the career of the financial advisor, and with my own expectations for my career, it would be easy for me to feel like a failure.
Did I accomplish what I set out to achieve?
No.
Do I feel successful?
Yes.
Why?
I focus on finding success in my behaviors and in the person I’m becoming RATHER than the outcomes I hope to achieve. By celebrating the behavioral and character wins, I can be happy and fulfilled today rather than waiting 20+ years to realize that I’ve accomplished what I set out to achieve.
Our society is obsessed with outcomes. We have libraries of books dedicated to the topic of setting goals and working to achieve desired outcomes. Financial advisors spend much of their time working with clients to identify desired outcomes and objectives.
I remember a few years ago during a discovery conversation with a new client I asked how they would know if they are financially successful. The client said something like “I’ll know I’ve made it if I can have $15 million by the time I’m 55.” My natural reaction was to say “let’s see if that could work,” and then to get all the data I needed, plug it into my planning software, and spit out a list of recommendations that needed to be implemented to achieve that objective.
However, out of curiosity with this client I followed up with something like this “that’s a great objective, and something I’m sure you can achieve. But your definition of success seems to be only attainable in 20+ years, I’m curious if you’ve thought about how you’ll know if you’re successful in 3 months from now?” His answer to me was something like “I’m not sure, I figured you’d tell me.”
I can see why our culture focus so heavily on future outcomes. Defining success by the outcomes we achieve is really easy to measure—it either happened or it didn’t. Defining success by the progress we are making and the direction we are headed is a lot harder. Some may be farther along the journey making quick progress, while others may be behind the curve but still making steady progress.
Let’s take, for example, the graph below. This client may be at the very beginning of their journey to achieve some desired outcome, and they may still be years away from getting there. While they’re in the thick of it, grinding their way toward some desired outcome I’m sure it is difficult to feel successful.
However, if we can help the client focus on progress, however little it may be, we can help them enjoy the journey and continue to feel motivated to achieve what’s most important to them.
By focusing on the progress our clients are making, and not the outcomes their trying to achieve, the modern financial advisor can help their clients stay motivated and feel more satisfied day-to-day. And if we can create the systems and the service models to help call attention to the progress our clients make, we will be able to retain and attract more modern clients.