More on comprehending your value

Last week we talked about adopting a client-centered mindset toward asking for referrals.  I said the key to that mindset is recognizing that you offer people valuable knowledge and expertise, and focusing your referral efforts on sharing those gifts with OTHERS, rather than on helping yourself.

This is a difficult paradigm shift for many advisors. In this new paradigm, you're focused on enhancing your client's life and the lives of people they know. But if you're like many advisors, you are so immersed in your own need to generate business that you tend to forget that your clients perceive you as someone who does, in fact, enhance their lives.

To comprehend the client-centered mindset, you've got to be able to think like your clients, and see yourself through their eyes. Your clients see you as someone who brings value to the table. That means you've got to recognize that value too. But this is something advisors often have trouble doing.

So today I'm going to suggest an exercise that may help shift your thinking. I want you to close your eyes and think of a trusted professional in your life—someone who has contributed to your life in some way and counts YOU as a loyal client. This could be an attorney, an accountant, an architect or real estate agent, a doctor—any professional whose services you truly value.

Take a moment and think about this person. Visualize the role they play in your life. If they've done something tangible for you (like built a house or healed your child), picture that. Think about how they've helped you or your family, and how their help has made a difference in your life. Really feel that relationship and their value to you.

Now, imagine that this person has just asked you to introduce them or recommend them to a specific person you know—someone they could help in the same way they’ve helped you.

For example, imagine that your cardiologist (who saved your life with open heart surgery) remembers that you mentioned your mother was having heart trouble, and asks if she might be open to a second opinion. Or your accountant (who saved you $20,000 on your taxes last year) says he recalls you play golf with the owner of a certain small company every Tuesday and asks if he might join the two of you in a round, on him?

Pay attention to how you feel about this request from this special professional in your life. Are you angry or offended? Do you feel they were out of line?  Are you likely to say yes to their request? How do you feel as you think about this scenario?

For most advisors, a light bulb goes off when they go through this mental exercise. Suddenly, they see THEMSELVES as that essential, valued professional their clients see.

Try it. It may transform how you think about referrals—and your relationships with your clients.

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