Psychology is going to change everything about an adviser's business, according to Paul Boross, Business Psychologist.
Speaking at the PFS conference (November 12), Boross discussed how if the profession could get its psychology right, businesses would "flourish.
He said: “Everything is based on the psychology of communication. You are in personal finance. You are in front of people, whether you like it or not, even if you're emailing them, you are making a connection.
“I've spent my life working with some of the biggest financial institutions in the world, some of the biggest businesses and also some of the biggest stars, and they all have one thing in common, they understand the psychology of great communication. That is the difference. That makes a difference. If you get that right, your business will grow.”
Boross believed communication and the psychology of connecting with people were the things adviser businesses were not focusing enough on.
He said the best communicators were passionate, had good eye contact and had instant rapport.
They were also enthusiastic, confident and were great relationship experts with the right attitude.
“Listen twice as much as you speak. Doing what you do, the client will always tell you what they need. But sometimes we're just too eager to tell them all our knowledge and all the things we can do for them. Listening is the key skill,” Boross explained.
He went on to say his biggest piece of advice was to make sure that advisers walked into a room with the right intent.
“If you're walking into a room to meet a client and you're going in with the wrong intent, they've made their mind up about you. And you know how hard it is to turn people around once they've made their minds up.
"They don't want to change their minds. We don't as human beings. That's our basic psychology. So all our behaviour is some kind of communication,” Boross said.
He also told members to make a good first impression, they should look a person in one eye rather than both, highlighting how key eye contact was to be able to effectively communicate with a client.
“When you meet somebody, you look them in one eye, and you take note of their eye colour, which then forces you to properly look at them,” Boross added.
alina.khan@ft.com
