Financial advisers must learn the right things to say to their clients at claim time and how to say them, according to a leading grief and trauma specialist.
Director of Psychological Services for Prova Profiling, Stephen Smith, says all advisers must be prepared to serve their clients and/or their loved ones when it matters the most. But he says serving their clients at these times means not just knowing what to say and do but equally knowing what not to say to those who are grieving.
Mr Smith advocates advisers are best to avoid suggesting to those who are grieving that they ‘know how they feel’, even if the adviser has experienced similar events in their own lives. Instead, he has a series of suggestions of phrases and words to use that will sit better with clients and show the right level of empathy without stepping across a line into their clients’ own grief process.
Mr Smith adds that the grief process relates not only to the loss of a loved one but also extends to lost career and employment opportunities as well as the often substantial financial losses associated with death, illness or accident.
The risk store has engaged Mr Smith to address advisers at its 2011 Annual Life Risk Forum. risk store founder, Sue Laing, told riskinfo the area of how advisers support their clients’ grief at claim time is “… an area we don’t much talk about – it’s all about the financial management.”
… there has been little to no support offered to advisers in the past
Ms Laing said that while most advisers believe they will have a natural empathy with their clients when it matters most, there has been little to no support offered to advisers in the past to help them appreciate the do’s and dont’s associated with supporting a client in a grieving and stressed state. “The other area Stephen is going to address for delegates is the stress they experience themselves when supporting a grieving client”, explained Ms Laing.
Ms Laing added that claim time is where ‘the rubber hits the road’ for advisers. She said this historical lack of support for advisers when it comes to knowing how best to deal with their clients’ grief is why the risk store has engaged Mr Smith to share his insights with advisers in order to arm them with better skills in this area.
Ms Laing noted the risk store had engaged Mr Smith to talk to advisers before any of the natural disasters that have occurred in Australia and New Zealand in recent months, all of which serve as examples of the fact that the unexpected can and does happen and that people need the right help in these and other times of grief.
The risk stores’ ‘Sailing Through Life’ 2011 Annual Life Risk Forum is being held from 16 – 18 August on Hamilton Island. Click here for more details.
