Sticky is the new word for loyalty. Designing investment strategies around the way people function in the world today is not only smart, it’s your only path to business growth. And it’s your clients’ path toward real solutions.

 

Building relationships begins with giving people what they want. The days of the sales funnel are over. Buying—and investing—is no longer a process of creating awareness, attraction, desire, then purchase or investment.

 

Investors want an escape route from the jungle of information they are bombarded with every single day. Becoming a trusted resource for simple solutions will keep them coming back—to you.  

 

People are so hungry for simple solutions, they will settle for what’s easy over what is best. Take Apple products, for example. People “tunnel” in on purchasing the latest Apple gadget even if another product offers a better solution.

 

Translate that to the investment world and you get investors choosing high return alternatives they may not understand. They end up with more risk than they counted on and they may not have the liquidity they need at a critical point in their lives.

 

It’s easy to see how this translates to retirement investing, home ownership, and charitable giving—all critical areas of investment.

 

Retirement is no longer the picture of a gray hair sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair. It’s a gray hair starting a new business from a former hobby. Or running a marathon. Or living in a community with other active retirees, planning their own healthcare solutions. Or going back to school to get a psychology degree or an MBA.

 

So retirement planning morphs into retirement portfolio management. Income streams don’t just come from a pension or from Social Security. Healthcare goes beyond the scope of Medicare reimbursement.

 

Retirement is another segment of living instead of a golden age of reaping the fruits of one’s labor. Retirees have to focus on continued asset growth, not just income replacement.

 

On the housing front, home ownership is giving way to renting. The percentage of homeowners has dropped significantly from its high of 69% in 2006 to 65.4%.

 

The loss of so many homes during the mortgage crisis has made renting socially acceptable. It's no longer viewed as a sign of homeownership failure.

 

Even upper class neighborhoods are becoming scattergrammed with rental properties. Investors may choose to invest in rental properties to supplement their income or to take advantage of a depressed investment.

 

The growing interest in philanthropy is being led by younger generations who wish to have greater impact from their giving. Investors who want to give back also want to see how their gifts are being utilized.

 

They may have an entire philanthropic portfolio of personal causes, family philanthropic focuses, and investments in personal time. This means they need a philanthropic investment strategy, not just an annual gifting plan.

 

As each aspect of investing becomes more complex, the need for simplicity grows more intense.

 

The more transparent and straightforward you can be with your clients, the easier you will make it for them to make the right decision. The more often you prove yourself to be a trusted resource, the stickier your clientele will be.

 

Wealthy clients want simplicity. They have enough complexities in their lives. You can partner with them. You can help them decipher good information from bad. And you can offer them simple, high quality investment choices and strategies that match their day-to-day needs.