Communicate to your clients in plain English


If you're in the finance industry, there's a simple way to make your clients a lot happier: communicate in plain English.

Too often, when an adviser talks to an investor, the result is glazed eyes and shuffling feet.  The reason being that the gap between financial jargon and how the average person speaks is too great.

If advisers want to keep their clients happy, try speaking in plain English.

A US Fund manger recently completed a survey of 800 investors to find out which words and techniques work best, and which don't. The results were loud and clear: Investors hate jargon and technical language.

Finance people may talk about "equities," "fixed income" and "asset allocation." Normal people talk about stocks, bonds and diversification. When the surveyers tested the phrase "institutional-quality money management," one focus-group member asked why prison inmates were handling the money.

But there  is more to effective communication than just the use of plain English. The survey found some other key elements to successful communication.

Be positive rather than employing "fear-based communications".

Customers don't want to be scared into buying investments. Instead they want a realistic, optimistic tone.
Don't tell them they'll end up in the poorhouse if they don't buy a product. Balance the downside with the upside.

Be plausible.
Don't try to sell them the moon. After the past decade, and especially the past few years, they're not buying. These days, they're more interested in a "comfortable" retirement than a "dream" one.
 
Similarly, the term "financial security" was better received than "financial freedom," by 85% to 15%. In the late 1990s, a majority were dreaming of "financial freedom."

Offer personalized benefits.
Customers don't want to hear big-picture economic forecasts or other predictions. By a thumping 60% to 16%, investors are far more interested in hearing about what an adviser can do for them.

William Lutz, professor emeritus at Rutgers University and a co-author of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Plain English Handbook for the finance industry, concurs with the advice. "Put yourself in the other person's place," he urges. "I don't think financial people do that." Too often, he says, "what they're trying to do is impress, not to communicate."