“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.”
– Jim Rohn
Hey Sunday Brewers!
In this edition of the Sunday Brew, you’ll discover:
✅ Survey says: What 80% of people plan to do with an inheritance…
✅ Warren Buffet’s secret persuasion tool for making stronger arguments…
✅ How to access to the best tips, scripts, and templates for growing your business as a financial advisor in 2023…
…and SO much more!
The First Sip
Money was incredibly tight for the Butts family back in 2010.
Mom (Krista) was out of work and dad (Jeff) was putting in 80+ hour weeks with the Exeter Police Department in order to provide for their three young boys.
“We were depending on our church for help with Christmas presents, and we got food baskets from them,” Krista explains.
One week, Krista had saved up enough money to get each of the boys a haircut.
But when she went to the register to pay, she learned that all three haircuts were paid in full by a stranger.
Looking back, she says she probably should have kept the money she saved. (They had NO money at the time.)
But she didn’t…
The random act of kindness from that stranger inspired her family to perform their own random act of kindness later that day.
Krista took her sons to Walmart and bought three gift cards.
Each son was given a gift card and encouraged to walk around the store and give it to someone they felt might need it.
One of the recipients was a mom with young children.
When asked why they chose her, Krista’s sons said, “Because she reminded us of you.”
Each year since, the family has continued to perform random acts of kindness every December.
“It can be as simple as helping someone, holding a door, paying for a coffee,” Krista says.
“We usually try to pay for at least one family’s meal, we reward public servants with food and treats… or meals to neighbors or strangers.”
There are opportunities for random acts of kindness – or RAKs – everywhere around us.
I’d encourage each member of Shift Nation to look for opportunities to show kindness to others this week.
1 Caffeinated Neurohack
A new survey reveals that 4-of-5 of Americans who are poised to receive an inheritance plan to work with an advisor to manage the money they receive.
Interestingly, 66% of people say they’re likely to work with the same advisor as their parents/relative passing down the money.
Most advisors are looking at this statistic thinking – good, that’s encouraging! – but I want you to consider the flip side of that statistic.
It means 33% of millennials inheriting money will be making a change.
But here’s the silver lining: 7-in-10 prefer to work with a human advisor rather than a robo-advisor or automated service.
I know I’m throwing a lot of data points at you here, but I think they’re important to file away.
According to the study, here are are the top priorities people have when selecting an advisor to manage their inheritance:
- 67% want the highest return possible
- 64% want personalized attention
- 45% want to avoid high fees
- 43% are interested in estate planning
With millions of people poised to inherit a collective $68 trillion in the coming years, it might not be a bad idea to start thinking about how you can reach these individuals.
This may include:
- Webinars around the topic of inheritance
- eBooks and guides helping people choose an advisor for the first time
Another option would be to brand yourself as THE advisor within your niche for millennials inheriting assets.
There will be 7-figure businesses built around this specific demographic/life event over the next two decades.
☕ TL;DR: New research reveals major boon for opportunistic advisors
Marketing Psychology Quick Hit
If you’ve ever read one of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway shareholder reports, you might have noticed something peculiar…
On the first page of each report, he mentions something he or the company did wrong during the previous year – a mistake they made.
In fact, you can go check last year’s report and he says these exact words: “I make many mistakes.”
And there’s a very specific reason he does this.
It’s tied to a principle that best-selling author Robert Cialdini calls “pre-suasion.”
Buffet’s “leading with a weakness” technique is an intentional tool that he uses to establish trust and put his shareholders in a mindset where they trust what he says next.
“I own stock in the company, and when I read that, I think, “This guy is being straight with us,” Cialdini writes.
“Next he talks about the strengths of the previous year. [Thus], he’s arranged for me to believe this information more fully because it’s coming from a manifestly trustworthy source.”
You can use this same pre-suasion technique as an advisor.
Whether you’re sending an email or having an annual review with a client, try leading with the weaknesses, disadvantages, or risks.
Then use the word “but” and quickly pivot to the strengths, advantages, or opportunities.
If you talk about your strengths after the “but” – instead of before – you’re in a much better position to win over prospects and clients.
As Cialdini puts it…
“The time to make your strongest argument is the moment after you’ve mentioned a weakness because you’ll be providing deep evidence that counteracts it.”
☕ TL;DR: To be more persuasive, lead with your weaknesses.
What’s New in SHIFT Nation?
Watch this video for access to the best tips, scripts, and templates for growing your business as a financial advisor in 2023!
Weekly Industry Catch-Up
🔹 Positive signs. New research shows life insurance applications stabilized in November after a 5.6% decrease year-to-date. Experts say this may be a sign that clients are starting to recover from the effects of market volatility and are once again focusing on getting their basic financial affairs in order.
🔹 What they’re searching. Speaking of…ThinkAdvisor has compiled a list of the 10 most popular questions Google users ask about life insurance. You can find them here.
🔹 Trust wanes. It’s been a rough year for crypto after a multi-year bull run that took Bitcoin into the $60k+ range. Today, in the wake of the FTX collapse and plummeting prices, just 8% of Americans have a positive view of cryptocurrencies.
Always learning,
Jeremiah D. Desmarais
CEO, Advisorist
#1 in ROI-Driven Training for Advisors
