Mastering Client Behavior and Money Energy
By Bill Hortz
Beyond the Know Your Customer rule, the catch phrases of “client-centered” or “client-focused”, and the quest for the Holy Grail of client engagement marketing technology, there exists a small but growing realm of financial services practitioners that are borrowing from a diverse set of cross-industry behavioral and wellness tools, methodologies, skills and forging them into a true art and science approach to client engagement. This effort is selectively combining a rich and wide-ranging body of human knowledge and resources that seems to be resulting, not just into a sum of the parts, but more into a truly powerful, alchemical combination. One that can, not only, provide a huge jump in an advisor’s value proposition and competitive positioning, but most importantly, provide an effective, personalized advice delivery process leading to deep client connection and an energized pathway for clients to reach their most important goals.
This was made most clear to me at the DNA Behavior Fall Mini-Conference in Atlanta last month. Their 2022 Fall Conference on “Mastering Your Money Energy” took behavioral science and its application to financial services and client engagement to a deeper more impactful human level.
More of a launching of a movement than a typical financial services event, all the financial advisors and life coaches participating were there to share and borrow from each other the influences and processes they have integrated into their practices and in working with their clients. Discussions amazingly ranged from epigenetics, meditation, quantum field, visualization, longevity, essentialism, heartmath.org, kinesthetics, Aristotle, Einstein’s e=mc², Newton’s Laws of Physics, technology, API/platform development, and a “behavioral chip” to embed it all into an advisor’s practice. Interestingly, these discussions did not dwell or overly focus on the deeper philosophical/spiritual nature of the topics but were geared to extremely practical and successful applications in building, nurturing, and guiding clients to financial wellness, peace of mind, and life enjoyment.
The leader of this movement is Hugh Massie, Founder and CEO of Atlanta-based DNA Behavior International which he has built into "The Behavior and Money Insights Company". Maybe best described as a behavioral technology company, the firm is powered by its proprietary Financial DNA®, Business DNA® and Communication DNA® behavior tech platforms and its small army of API and tech developers that can incorporate and embed their behavioral tools and approaches into any firm’s systems through their “behavioral chip” technology.
The bulk of the DNA Behavior Conference targeted the concept of “Money Energy”, which is the inherent power and capacity to generate wealth that resides internally as a stored force releasable into one’s life at any time. Money is omnipresent in our lives. It interrelates and is tied into all facets of our lives. Money, both consciously and unconsciously, plays a key part in our dealing with life’s challenges, whether it is a career choice, life decision, or personal goals. A person’s relationship with money is based upon who they are fundamentally and their life’s perspective. It is a combination of natural and learned behaviors and is ever-present directing our reactions and responses to pretty much everything around us and that challenges us. Unfortunately, money can be a huge source of stress that can negatively impact our decisions and the resulting outcomes.
Understanding the client’s unique financial stress points, and helping people build a healthy relationship to money, is incredibly powerful. This can position financial advisors to help their clients learn to talk about money, encourage a balance between heart and mind, thereby amplifying a client’s positive relationship to money leading to better decisions and outcomes.
DNA Behavior’s ability to capture behavioral insights is designed to reveal the foundation of a person’s identity, which is fundamental to their life, including their relationship to money. Armed with this information, advisors can then amplify the client’s money energy in quantum leaps by guiding their mindset towards striving for equilibrium and balance in all aspects of their lives by knowing their authentic self.
A key element in financial services practice management training focuses on uncovering client needs and goals – usually through asking a series of direct and linear questions. But the over-riding question remains as to how exactly do you truly engage your clients and prospects? What does effective engagement look like? What are the appropriate questions to ask? How far can you and do you need to go in building a connection that can lead to quantum benefits for the client?
It is clear to me after attending the conference that there has been massive growth and maturity on the perceptions of what client engagement and financial advice can become. Behavioral insights can be embedded into a financial business to “Know, Engage and Grow” every employee, advisor, and client on a real-time basis. Can this behavioral technology application become a major catalyst responsible for actualizing and driving advisors into the next-generation of financial advisors – further propelling financial services away from a sales industry to an advice profession - to meaningfully engage and advise their clients to a true holistic state of wealth management?