I’ve got a cautionary tale for you about paying attention to your business. Recently I was at a board meeting where the Chairman was telling a story about a financial advisor who made a really dumb mistake. For the sake of this article, I’ll call this financial planner, Mr. Careless. One of Mr. Careless’s clients owned a couple of dry cleaners in town. 15 years ago, this Dry Cleaner had opened an account with Mr. Careless – and over the years his stocks and bonds grew to almost $500,000. Mr. Careless had a lot of multi-million-dollar clients, so The Dry Cleaner didn’t get much attention. That is until Mid-December when he saw the Dry Cleaner shopping for Christmas presents at the local Bass Pro Outdoor Store. As a courtesy, Mr. Careless stopped the man and asked, “Hey, how’s the dry-cleaning business?” The Dry Cleaner said, “I don’t own that business anymore. I sold it last month for $13 million dollars.”
Stunned, Mr. Careless said, “I had no idea your business was worth that kind of money.” Turns out the Dry Cleaner had invented a fabric cleaning solvent that had a valuable patent. Mr. Careless blurted, “Good for you! We should get that dough invested…and map out the tax consequences.” The Dry Cleaner said, “Oh, yeah, I should do that. I’ll give you a call after the holidays. But right now, I just want to spend some of that money on my family.” Mr. Careless said, “Congratulations and Merry Christmas! I’ll check in with you after the New Year.”
Christmas comes and goes.
On January 14th of the new year, Mr. Careless is reading the local news online and sees an obituary for The Dry Cleaner, “Survived by his wife Esther and his son Derek.”
Mr. Careless tracks down the Dry Cleaner’s wife and tells her he was their stockbroker. She said, “Really? He never mentioned you. I didn’t know we had a stockbroker.” Mr. Careless said, “We’ve been working together for over 15 years.” She counters with, “I thought every penny went back into the business. I wish I had met you a long time ago.” Mr. Careless said, “Me too. But it’s not too late. I can help manage your money for you. It can be very complicated, what with taxes and…” Mrs. Dry Cleaner interrupts, “Excuse me, but I don’t know you. You and I don’t have any kind of relationship. I’ve decided I’m going to let my son, Derek, manage his father’s estate. Derek has always been very careful with money. He will call you to transfer whatever money is in there.”
Now you know why I’ve called this guy Mr. Careless.
In 15 years, Mr. Careless hadn’t bothered to learn about the Dry-Cleaning business, the man’s family, or his potential heirs. Worst of all, he assumed when The Dry Cleaner passed on, Mr. Careless would be automatically installed as the ‘manager of the money’ from the sale of the business.
The lesson is this: You can never know your client too well. If a client trusts you enough to give you his or her money, you need to earn every family member’s trust. That way, if the worst-case scenario ever happens, you are in position to be an advisor (and maybe executor) of your client’s wishes.
If this sounds like a story of your own neglect, it’s not too late to start making Zoom calls and in-person appointments to shore up your relationships. Start today.
Ross Shafer is the author of (10) business book on resilience, self motivation, customer experience, and tactics for success. He is also a 6-time Emmy winning TV host and keynote speaker for more than 2,500 events. Visit www.RossShafer.com for more free articles and videos. For keynote inquiries, contact AllisonDalvit@gmail.com.
- Ross Shafer website: www.RossShafer.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/rossshafer
- Twitter: @RossShafer
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RossShaferConsultants
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossshafer/