Three Easy Calls

The first day of summer is but a few days away. If you’re like me, the summer solstice shows up when most of us have already morphed into the change of pace that comes with warmer weather. That is unless you live in Asheville, NC where our furnace fired up last week as night temperatures dipped into the 40s. Brrrrr!

For advisors, summer suggests what I would call a practice downshift. Clients and prospects take long weekends at the coast, make long-delayed visits to parents in distant states, or simply wind down with a staycation close to home. Life changes gears for most of us in June, July, and August

During my practice years, I found these summer weeks offering wonderful excuses to make easy calls simply to touch base with clients. Here are three that come to mind:

Call your clients who have children or grandchildren. Ask about their activities and whether or not they are headed to a camp or an adventure closer to home. Some of your clients’ children have attended that favorite camp experience never missed. Others may have a special needs child headed to enrichment experiences where they can swim, play, take up craft activities, and be in a highly nurturing environment. “What’s going on with you kids (grandchildren) this summer?”

A second easy call is to clients who have anniversaries during the summer months. Many of us married during these warmer months of the year. Kathie and I will celebrate our 48th anniversary in July. Maybe it’s me, but it seems that more of our friends pass these milestones at this time of the year. 

If you don’t have your clients’ wedding anniversaries noted in their profile, now is the perfect time to call and learn that date. The easy part of the call is saying, “I am embarrassed to admit I’ve never asked you and your wife/husband’s anniversary date.” That simple question will not only give you the data you need but may well segue into a story about those clients you both want and need to know. 

The third easy call – in fact the easiest of all – is “for no reason whatsoever.” When we call clients for a non-business conversation, we fertilize the relationship in ways no one can ever predict. “I had to call today for no other reason than to ask how your summer is going?” Then imagine the smiles as they tell you about a vacation that just passed or one coming up. Others will glowingly share a story about getting with extended family. 

If you know your clients are grandparents—you do know that, don’t you?—listen for the story about seeing them and the joy emoted with every syllable. 

Summer is such a pregnant season of the year to nurture, deepen, and grow your ties with your clients. You will surely have many business-focused conversations over these weeks, but the easiest and most memorable conversations may be discovered on those calls. When you do, you affirm to those you serve that life is a gift in no small measure because you, their advisor, get to take life’s journey with them.