Fear not, advisors. What follows isn’t a directive to go to medical school, read related journals or even audit an undergrad biology class. All that said, neuroscience can provide valuable insights for advisors, particularly when it comes to improving soft skills.
Yes, a favorable fee structure, access to sophisticated investments and strong performance are among the factors that are impactful in the prospect-to-client conversion process. Important elements to be sure, but there’s more to the story and that includes emotional intelligence and the ability to convey trust. Those are what’s known as soft skills.
A 2014 study entitled “Antagonistic neural networks underlying differentiated leadership roles” holds important clues for advisors. Not to oversimplify things, but the study says there are two prominent neural networks in our brains: an analytical network and an empathetic network. Here’s the rub. Those neural networks are competing forces. When our brains enter one of those modes, the other is turned off, meaning humans can’t be analytical and empathetic at the same time.
Thing is, advisors need both to be successful. In fact, the importance of the empathetic neural network may come as a surprise to some advisors.
A Delicate Balancing Act
Obviously, much of what an advisor does on a day-to-day basis is analytic, so it pays to have that network focused and sharp.
“Now, which network do you think financial services specializes in? If you’re thinking the analytic network, you would be right,” notes Dr. Timothy Habbershon of Fidelity. “This network is described as best suited for non-social calculating tasks, like metrics, forecasting, financial planning, problem solving, and decision-making.5 Much of what we do! Being analytical is an important part of our role and our success.”
However, for as important as the analytical network is, when that network is firing, it’s impossible to establish the personal connections so many clients crave – the connections that keep clients with you.
“And our clients know it. This may be why they only go so far with us, or use us for certain things, or in some cases won’t engage,” adds Habbershon. “And it might explain why clients sometimes feel we have other outcomes in mind or that we are selling, even with when we have the best intent.”
Relationship as a…
In analytical mode, our brains are apt to frame relationships as a service. Indeed, advisors are providing services, but there is a sterile feeling in service translating to relationships. Here’s where empathy comes in. Habbershon suggests the concept of “wealth-intimacy topics.”
By shifting gears from analytical to empathetic, advisors open the door to broader conversations about more personal topics, which can be critical in building trust. To get there, awareness, competencies and cues are necessary. Awareness is implicit – it’s knowing when one neural network is working and needs to be toned down. Related to that are the cues that tell us it’s time to move to empathetic from analytical. Of course, mastering awareness and cues takes some practice, i.e. building comeptencies.
“And because we only toggle to points of competency—and default to our highest points of competency—you must learn and practice the skills to toggle you and your client into the empathetic relationship space,” concludes Fidelity’s Habbershon.