What a wonderful conference of financial planning and 401k peers! The sharing of ideas deepened my understanding of this industry and inspired me to do more. And yet, one of the speakers on the stage encouraged all of us to be more effective at hunting and gathering. Huh.
In 35 years in the industry and 20 years running my 401k practice, I have never thought of myself as hunter and/ or a gatherer. My practice has been entirely built on word-of-mouth and referral. My reputation for doing the right thing for the clients always has opened doors for me. I am equally proud of the number of prospective clients I have turned away as I am of the clients I get to work with. I am not right for everyone. I am not cold-calling prospects off of 5500s (which may work for some 401k advisors). Truth be told, I would rather have a root canal than cold call.
We see and treat our clients as family. And yes, that has come back to bite us on some occasions when a client fires us. Yes, dang it, it hurts! But I cannot see conducting our practice any other way. Clients have come to us naturally and we cherish the relationship.
The other issue I have with the language or phrase "hunter/ gatherer" is that it seems to suggest the client is a trophy or a prize to be won. As you can see in the photo above, the relationship between the wooly mammoth and the hunters is clearly adversarial. Is that how you want your client relationship to start? And if it starts that way, what does that mean for the future of that relationship?
Language matters both in how you perceive the world and in how you try to develop relationships. My way is not the right way. It is simply a way and one that works for me. What do you think?