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rory henry, a behavioral financial advisor, is the director at arrowroot family office and co-founder of afo wealth management forward. he has created a program to help accounting professionals incorporate holistic wealth management and proactive planning services into their practice. |
clients don’t just want answers, they want empathy.
by rory henry
the holistic guide to wealth management
in his iconic work, “meditationes sacrae” (1597), sir francis bacon wrote that “knowledge itself is power.” many scholars believe bacon wanted to further the idea that having and sharing knowledge is the cornerstone of reputation and influence – and therefore power. all achievements emanate from this philosophy.
more: rory henry upends the traditional accounting firm | why now is the time for cpas to embrace wealth management
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but in many areas such as business, finance, sports and the military, knowledge can be a competitive advantage. therefore, many are reluctant to share their knowledge with others.
but as we move toward a future in which knowledge is a commodity, it’s becoming increasingly important for professional service firms to offer unique and valuable services to their clients. having years of experience, in-depth knowledge and highly technical skills isn’t enough anymore, because computers can now perform many knowledge-based tasks better than humans can. as financial advisors, advanced math skills and a strong memory were essential for success. but when you’re hanging your hat on knowledge about the tax code, investment theory and estate planning law, how can you stay competitive when artificial intelligence makes it simple for any to look up all those things and more in a matter of seconds – and synthesize it for lay people?
it all comes down to relationships – the human side of advice more so than the technical side. it’s also about coaching, encouraging clients to make the required changes necessary in their personal and financial lives to have peace of mind and fulfillment.
throughout history, great leaps in technology have transformed society. for instance, the industrial revolution transformed the u.s. from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing economy that created tangible assets (i.e., finished goods) out of raw materials. in recent decades, the u.s. went through a digital revolution moving us from a manufacturing economy to a service-based economy that produces intangible assets.
today, we are undergoing another revolution with artificial intelligence poised to take over many aspects of knowledge-intensive work that includes what many of you (and your staff) do for a living. as with so many previous technological revolutions, ai will decimate some industries, catapult others and give birth to many new ones.
a wall street journal report highlighted findings of a study that predicted accountants would be among the professionals whose careers are most exposed to the capabilities of “generative artificial intelligence,” such as popular ai tool chatgpt. the researchers from university of pennsylvania and openai, the company that makes the popular ai tool chatgpt, found that at least half of accounting tasks could be completed much faster with the technology. the same was true for mathematicians, interpreters, writers and nearly 20 percent of the u.s. workforce, according to the study.
while reports like that have been sending chills through many professions, it’s important to note that the aforementioned study was co-authored by the company that makes chatgpt and if you read past the headline, the new ai tools will replace many of the “tasks” done by the aforementioned professionals – not necessarily replace those professionals who learn to adapt to this new technological landscape.
ai can certainly automate the process for doing tax returns, financial plans, estate plans and insurance, and it will give us projections for our businesses. it will synthesize the data, and in a matter of seconds spit out the appropriate course of action. what ai probably won’t be able to do for a while is establish trust and build relationships with clients.
in tomorrow’s economy, those who own relationships, empower clients with belief and help them make necessary behavior changes are the ones best positioned to succeed in the future.
as some of you know, the tagline for my podcast is: “team up with the robots, don’t fight them.” openai and rapid development of other technologies are transforming our lives. machines have even passed the bar and the cpa exam. many say it won’t be ai that puts you out of a job, it will be a professional who uses ai who will.
the individuals and businesses that thrive in the future will be those that can effectively utilize technology while also possessing an essential quality that computers lack – being human. clients don’t just want answers to their financial questions. they want empathy; they want to feel listened to by the one(s) who are guiding them through their very important and personal financial decisions. and that takes a living, breathing person who has shared their experiences as a fellow human, not an impersonal computer or robot. it must be someone they can trust.
from advisor to advis-ror™ (return on relationship)
before we go much further, i’d like to talk about the word “advisor” because it can mean different things to different people. because you have committed to reading this, you may see yourself as a tax advisor, a business advisor or a financial advisor. as my friend randy johnston, entrepreneur and accounting industry technologist, said in a recent accountingweb interview: “advisory is very proactive. many accountants have run their firms in a reactive mode. compliance services like tax or cas tend to be rear-view-facing, where advisory services are looking forward out the windshield,” he explained. “for advisory, what you really have to do is ask clients questions and listen to responses and try to figure out what resources are needed to solve those problems.”
to that end, i want you to start thinking of yourself as an “advis-ror™” rather than as an advisor. the suffix “ror” refers to the acronym “ror” (i.e., return on relationship). on my podcast, in my presentation and throughout my book, i will continue beating the drumbeat about the importance of relationships in our work. my contributing authors and i want you to shift your focus from merely providing services and advice, to building relationships. after all, the deep relationships you have with clients are what will help you survive and thrive in the age of rapid technological advancement.
you will hear from some of the world’s leading advis-ror™s (many of whom i’ve interviewed on my podcast). they’ll share their secrets for transforming your practice as well as the lives of the clients you serve. the advis-ror™ philosophy is based on a “virtual family office” (vfo) model. thanks to advances in technology, a vfo can provide clients with access to a wide range of experts located anywhere who can be brought in as needed to provide specialized expertise in accounting, tax, estate, insurance, legal, philanthropic, investment and administrative matters. however, because the majority of those experts are not in-house, overhead and cost structure is lower in a vfo, and that enables a wider range of families to benefit from their collaborative expertise. again, as the client’s cpa and most trusted advisor, you own the relationship and remain the central point of contact.
our modern family office, aka virtual family office model, also allows cpas and accounting firms to access wealth management and family office-level services for their clients through collaboration and tech-enabled solutions.
the vfo model is based on taking a 360-degree view of client’s situation, values, relationships and finances before proposing solutions. it’s about having a single quarterback (you), overseeing the work done by all the specialists on the client’s behalf.
i’m all about measuring success. as a profession, we’re very good at measuring returns earned for clients and/or dollars saved, work completed and deliverables met. but we also have to measure the qualitative value of our relationships, which is something the profession is only starting to acknowledge. we will help you identify and improve upon the qualitative nature of your relationships.
for instance, my friend, donny shimamoto cpa, citp, cgma, a leading accounting industry innovator, will tell you more about the three things that are most essential to client service:
1. peace of mind
2. vision and clarity
3. hope
my goal is to inspire you to find innovative ways to transform your business and the people you serve. you deserve. your clients deserve it. your friends, family and community deserve it.