Many years ago, I developed an approach to consulting — one that we have used in my firm for the past dozen years. It is called naked consulting, and yes, it is as much fun as it sounds.
The heavily service-oriented world of finance isn't unlike management consulting. Financial advisers and consultants build their reputations and client list based on their competence, intelligence and relationship management.
Certainly, clients expect their advisers to have a certain level of experience or competence. At the same time, clients can be skeptical as to the intentions of their consultants.
By being vulnerable — or naked — advisers and consultants will find themselves spending less time selling and more time enjoying productive client relationships and continuing loyalty. Employing the naked approach to service can provide a very powerful competitive advantage to those who are willing to take the risk and embark on a new way of working with clients.
But first, they must address their fears.
At its core, naked service boils down to the ability of an adviser to be vulnerable — to embrace uncommon levels of humility, selflessness and transparency for the good of a client. Most of us live our lives trying to avoid awkward and painful situations, which is why it is no surprise that we are all susceptible to the three fears that sabotage client loyalty:
Fear of losing the business. Worrying about losing a client's business may cause service consultants to avoid the very things that ultimately engender
trust and loyalty.
Fear of being embarrassed. Rooted in pride, this fear can lead service consultants to withhold their best ideas from clients.
Fear of feeling inferior. To avoid feeling irrelevant or being overlooked, consultants try to achieve and preserve a high level of importance in clients' minds.
We find that clients are more interested in candor, modesty and transparency than they are in confidence, authority and perfection. Once we have reached a certain level of knowledge and competence, the best way to differentiate ourselves from the competition is to be vulnerable with clients.
Vulnerability is about honesty and authenticity. It is only by facing and overcoming those fears, and getting comfortable being naked, that we can earn the kind of trust that creates loyalty with clients.
What does being naked look like in practice?
Naked consultants kindly confront clients with difficult information and perspectives, even if the client might not like hearing it. Naked consultants ask potentially dumb questions and make potentially dumb suggestions, because if those questions or suggestions ultimately help their client, it is worth the potential embarrassment.
They also admit their weaknesses and celebrate their mistakes. Even before landing a client, a naked consultant will demonstrate vulnerability and take risks.
They will give away their best ideas and start consulting to the prospective client during a sales call. In fact, they will do no real selling at all, forgoing that activity in order to find a way to help an individual even if he or she never actually becomes a client.
For example, we recently hired a new firm and team to do our company finances and 401(k). Several advisers came to our office so every employee could each have a short debriefing about their own financial needs and tailor a 401(k) recommendation accordingly.
One adviser who embodies the naked approach took the extra step of taking multiple statements from other firms to provide a comprehensive look at all investments and made recommendations on accounts outside his firm's scope in order to help the client achieve his or her overall financial goals. For a couple of the employees, this was the kind of comprehensive service that they had paid financial planners thousands of dollars for and received less in return.
The adviser offered sound advice without being disrespectful of the other brokers' allocations and never tried to capture new accounts.
The level of trust this adviser established led many of his new clients to follow his advice, and they in turn provided the consultant with new client referrals.
Not everyone is fit to be a naked consultant. However, anyone who is willing to set his or her ego and fear aside can practice the approach successfully.
Patrick Lencioni, the founder and president of The Table Group Inc., a management consulting firm focused on organizational health, is the author of “Getting Naked” (Jossey-Bass, 2010).
