If you make no effort or your efforts are mismatched to your client’s needs, you are less likely to help your client. I got the irrigation I wanted but it wasn’t a good experience.
Both the electrician and the sprinkler guy reinforced the negative aspects of jargon. We all would have been better off with less but the way they dealt with the jargon issue differed greatly. Neither one solved the problem but fact is, now I say, “I have an electrician.” I don’t say, “I have a sprinkler guy.”
Communications is multi-faceted. Jargon is an impediment, no doubt. Words matter. But other factors are also at play. Time invested in real conversation that lets us meet clients where they are is time well spent.
Dan Moisand, CFP, has been featured as one of America’s top independent financial advisors by several publications, is a past president of FPA and is a popular speaker on all things related to retirement advice and the profession of financial planning. Moisand practices in Melbourne, Fla. You can reach him at www.moisandfitzgerald.com.