In a recent post, I pointed to some interviews with clients who felt pressured by their advisor to buy an investment they weren't sure about. In one case, this was the final catalyst for a decision to switch brokers because the client's advisor had twice suggested he look at a structured product underwritten by his firm, despite being told on the first occasion that this investor wasn't interested - in the client's words, the broker "wouldn't take no for an answer".As I thought about this, I'm reminded of a project which I undertook in the 90s to produce short videos of interviews with top performing salespeople from a variety of industries such as high end auto sales, computers and leasing.

One of our subjects was a top real estate agent at a large national firm. She talked about what she does to maintain visibility and build relationships with clients and then she shared what she considers to be the single most important driver of her success.

Years before, she started using the same eight words at the beginning of meetings with her clients, whether they were buyers or sellers. Those words: "The last time we met, you indicated that .....". If talking to clients looking to buy, for example, she might finish that sentence with "your priorities are to find a house in the King Edward School area, with a big backyard and close to a park".

After recapping what clients told her in the last conversation, she checks that is accurate and that nothing has changed. She then goes on to say: "Based on what you told me last time we spoke, here are the houses we're going to look at today" or "Here's what I propose to do to help sell your house in the next while".

In her view, there are two benefits to doing this. First, it forces her to listen to clients and ensure that her advice is in fact aligned with what they have told her. But more important, it positions her recommendations as reflecting not her needs or agenda but rather those of her clients. She's not showing clients those houses because she has the listing and gets a commission on both sides or because the seller is desperate and has boosted the commission for agents, but because she is responding to what clients have told her.

In sales training parlance, this is called "bridging" recommendations back to stated client needs. Yes this does take a bit of time. And to be effective, you do have to find different combinations of words to reaffirm client objectives before you introduce the solution you suggest, otherwise you risk sounding insincere after a time. You need to mix your bridges up - for example, try starting with "I have been giving some thought to our last meeting and some options that make sense given your situation".

The bottom line: It's not enough to think about clients and do research between meetings, to get full value from this you have to ensure clients know that you've been giving thought to their situation and that you give their circumstances the same priority which they do. Fail to take the time to preface recommendations by reaffirming and bridging back to your clients' objectives and you risk being seen as "pushing product" rather than providing advice with clients' needs squarely in mind.