The value in being a person

When was the last time you spoke to a real person?

This may seem like a strange question. Of course, we speak to people all the time. 

But what about when it comes to the services industry? It’s more often than not that in these scenarios we encounter people who look real but interacting with them often doesn’t feel it! They’re simply reading off a script or being told what they can and can’t say. This can be very unhelpful. Especially when we’re relying on their support.

Let me illustrate this with a conversation I had with a potential client recently. 

She’d had a right morning before speaking to me; she’d had a gas leak and had to rearrange a dental appointment to make way for the engineers who’d initially arranged to come that morning. They then had to delay until the afternoon, which meant she had to phone the dentist back and try to retrieve the original appointment, but it was too late!

After all that she spoke to me and I asked her what she was looking for in a financial adviser and what she wanted help with. Just those few questions enabled her to communicate exactly what was worrying her in a direct way, there was no difficult explanation or apologising or tactical rearrangements or asking favours that she’d had to do with the other calls she’d been making that morning.

And the relief was palpable. She thanked me for being a person. And it really struck me! All I’d done was listen attentively and provide a description of my potential solution, but the value of this was immeasurable to her.

It hit me that although we might spend time talking and interacting with people, it’s often on a level that doesn’t feel real or meaningful. It’s apologising, negotiating, hoping they’re not going to sigh and huff and puff down the phone when we’re asking for something that’s slightly off script.

It’s not individual, bespoke or human.

But being human and off-script is what I’m all about. It’s the only way I can do my job! Everyone’s different, and everyone needs to be listened to properly for me to create a solution that’s right for them. 

This feels a world away from the off-pat answer down the phone scenario when you’re trying to rearrange a flight or speak to the HMRC... But it’s extremely valuable in a world that’s so often like this.

Where am I going with this? 

Well, the value of financial advice is always tricky to communicate. When I get asked about pricing I often say I’m not the cheapest but I’m not the most expensive either. But it’s difficult for people to gauge the value of something people haven’t yet experienced, especially when that thing is invisible. 

But imagine the opposite – speaking to someone who has little knowledge, understanding or empathy with you and your situation. When it comes to your finances, this seems grossly unfair to me.

Specialist, focused advice

Because I work with a very small number of clients who are – in the main – at a similar stage in life, I offer a highly specialist service that gets to the heart of what they want. I can adapt to anyone in those scenarios. I remember things about them that may not seem relevant to their finances, but that actually might affect those decisions further down the line.

It’s a little bit like if you were to visit a high-end tailor. They’re so specialist in what they do that they can tell as soon as you walk through the door what your neck and waist measurements are. Before you know it, they’re there with their swatches and chalk and giving you exactly what you want before you’ve even asked them!

I was having my own technical problems the day I spoke to my new client, which were driving me a little potty. For some reason I tried to sort it out myself before admitting defeat and picking up the phone to the software provider who gave me a solution straight away. 

Why did I struggle for two hours when I could have got that sorted in 2 minutes? I think it’s because it’s sometimes hard to make that mental shift, to take a step back and think about things rationally. The ego wants to deal with it itself.

But once you’ve met someone who you know can fix things, instantly and with little fuss, it’s a tool in your armour that you have for life.

It’s a big step, a big risk, to put your worries into the hands of another, but if it pays off, it works. 

It may not be life changing, but it’s life-long. Because those people are – hopefully – there for you for life. Well I am anyway! Listening, suggesting, and helping you to make the choices that are right for you. It’s a light touch approach, without bells or whistles, but sometimes that’s what we need.  

It’s the subtle things that can count for so much. Especially in a world of automatons.