We thrive on continuous development and staying informed of what’s hot and what’s not to financial planners and their clients.

Last week, we attended Humans Under Management London 2018, masterminded by HUM founder and host, Andy Hart.

The line up was impressive with plenty of thought provoking content from the speakers.

But we all know that although knowledge is important we frequently fail to take the important next step of turning knowledge into action. We share our key learnings and ‘so-what’s’ to remind ourselves what we’re going to do differently as a result.

1. Neil Bage of Be-IQ kicked things off by reminding us that our behavioural journey still has far to go. There is so much to learn about human behaviour, our biases & behavioural finance. Neil summarised it well when he said ‘we’ve only just begun’.
2. Then we heard from Robin Powell who shared that ‘Behavioural coaching is the single most important way that a financial adviser adds value’. Strong words but as the day unfolded, this statement felt increasingly accurate.
3. Robert Caplan took to the stage explaining how things are not always what they seem and why the most important question is always: What matters most?
4. Later Seb Dovey shared his wisdom on the need to understand every step of the customer journey – how much do we think we know versus reality? We can always understand more to improve client relationships. A point to revisit.
5. At the heart of human behaviour comes emotion. There is no manual on how to interpret and manage peoples emotions. Fiona Sharp shared her experiences of learning the hard way that when advisers first meet clients at the start of the journey, it can often be at a very emotional time in their lives. Understanding what, how and when to say it can be instrumental to building a solid rapport.
6. What’s your money story? 3 great questions from Catherine Morgan:
   What words would you use to describe money?
   How do you feel about money?
   What did you learn about money growing up?
   Asking these questions removes the need to use jargon when discussing finances.
   By simplifying the language we use helps create an emotional connection.
   It makes sense.
7. Sam Sloma got us thinking about ‘the value of happiness’. He referenced making a list of what makes you happy and comparing that to what you do everyday – then adjust accordingly. A small task that can have a big impact. He went on to share that he doesn’t think you can truly focus on making other people feel happy if you don’t feel it yourself. This certainly struck a chord with us, at Uniquity we will be making that list!
8. David Jones from Dimensional did a brilliant job of demonstrating how to create memorable presentations. It was a great reminder that ‘They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel’ Carl W Buehner.
9. David Ferguson’s Ninjago themed presentation reminded us that while most valuable part of the value-chain to the client is the advice, this is still not reflected in the distribution of costs.
10. Dan Egan ended with the proposition that as technology evolves we should put our focus on ‘creative non-routine work’. There are still many areas where being human makes the ultimate difference.
    

What is clear as we reference our learnings above, is the extremely powerful recurring theme that ran through the course of the day. Ask the right questions to make the right emotional connections and you will truly understand what matters most to your clients.

We should never stop asking questions or wanting to learn. As the more we discover, the better placed we all are to help and add value to our clients.

Andy’s aiming for an even bigger and better event next year and we hope we’ll see you there!

Footnote: After this event Nick Lincoln will now forever be known to us as Mr Darcy but you’ll have to ask him about that!