Persuasion and influence are still at the very core of what it takes to be a successful financial services provider.

In the past decade, regulators and legislators have tried to ensure that financial advice moves away from its sales roots – a vision widely supported by consumers who feel financial services sales have a stigma attached to them.

A financial services industry that is not based purely on sales, but is driven by knowledge and professional skills based on fiduciary duties and the principle of putting your client first, is very noble. Is this reality, however? And if not, could it ever become reality? Can our industry survive if it is not selling products, whether directly or indirectly?

Daniel H Pink’s book To Sell is Human gives insight into this important topic. Pink makes the point that selling at its purest level is really just about persuasion and influencing the decisions of others. Is that not what financial advisors and financial planners are doing? Each and every day, we are persuading and convincing clients to pay us for services, to engage in the financial planning process and to implement our recommendations.

Will we ever succeed in our industry if we do not know how to ‘sell’ our clients on the value of the financial planning we offer, and motivate them to act on our recommendations? It is not a question of selling insurance and/or investment products, but rather of persuading and convincing clients that we have the skill and knowledge to diligently take care of their financial matters.

We must forget about high-pressure sales tactics as these are not in the best interest of consumers and not in line with the General Code of Conduct. The entire world is shifting from ‘caveat emptor’ to a world of ‘caveat venditor’, as Pink has pointed out.

The buyer must be wary of being taken advantage of by a knowledgeable seller and the seller must be careful because businesses that serve clients poorly will lose referrals and growth to those that treat customers well.

A second paradigm shift needed is to realise that consumers have more access to information and the ability to buy products and services online, so the role of the financial services provider is starting to shift – he or she is curator and clarifier of information, rather than protector and purveyor.

This will mean – now more than ever – that effective financial service providers must be aware of and understand the needs, concerns, and interests of their clients. Pink talks about the skill of ‘attunement’ and being able to see the world from the perspective of a client.

Maybe it is time to take a fresh look at our industry and realise that persuasion and influence are still at the very core of what it takes to be a successful financial services provider. As Pink notes, a significant amount of time is spent in ‘non-sales’ jobs doing things that are essentially still ‘selling’, or at least convincing or persuading someone to give up something they value for something on offer. This he calls ‘non-sales selling’.

The fundamentals of influencing and motivating clients are rarely taught, despite being crucial to success as a financial services provider. Often, if sales are taught, the education is based on either the ‘old’ way of selling and doing business, or built upon narratives of ‘what worked for me’, rather than hard science.

Is it not time to reconsider learning and training in these very important soft skills? Financial planning education may have fallen behind in giving basic education on how to market and sell as a business owner and on how to help motivate clients to implement their financial plans.