Recent posts have explored the role of payoff- free activity by advisors in building trust with clients. Quite simply, if all of your communication revolves around things that you make money from, some clients will question whether you are primarily driven by their interests or yours.One solution is to carve out time on a regular basis - whether it is weekly, monthly or quarterly - to seek out opportunities to communicate with clients on things that are truly important to them but from which you derive no apparent benefit.

Here's an instance of communication which fits into this category.

Recently, the Vancouver based firm Rogers Group included a separate page with its quarterly newsletter titled "Mortgages and You". Directed to clients contemplating taking out or renewing a mortgage, this flyer introduced the possibility of clients using a mortgage broker to research and shop the market for the mortgage that best fits each client's needs. In closing, there was an offer to provide a referral to a mortgage broker should clients desire this.

Another example: Last spring, an article in the New York Times focused on "umbrella insurance coverage", a supplementary insurance policy that covers very low probability events which can devastate a family's finances - but because the incidence of these events is extremely low, the cost is generally very affordable.

You could forward this article (the link is below) to clients, suggesting that they might find it of interest.

Better still, the next time you meet with a client, you can add to the agenda "umbrella insurance coverage" and ask if your client has this coverage in place. If the answer is no or if your client is unsure, you could do one of three things. You could give them the information to take away. You could ask if they'd like you to forward this to whoever handles their insurance coverage. Or you could offer to introduce your client to someone you know who can arrange to get a price for this coverage.

Note that if you offer to arrange for the insurance yourself or to introduce the client to someone on your team or at your firm, while the clients' interests will be served, you risk taking this from a purely trust building activity to something from which you are seen to make money. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you understand the implications.

If one of your goals is to build trust with clients, you need to make finding ways for payoff free communication a priority. Offering to introduce clients to a mortgage broker or forwarding an article from the New York Times on umbrella insurance coverage could be one place to start.
BUSINESS / BUSINESS | March 18, 2008
Umbrella Coverage for Preventing Your Ruin
By JOSEPH B. TREASTER
For those with major assets, an extra insurance policy can take care of one's liability for the nightmarishly unexpected.