Whether you are a fan of Rachel Ray or Julia Child or Emeril Lagasse, consider this for a moment: why have they chosen to openly share their hard-won trade secrets with millions of people? Rather than simply open a restaurant and make their famed dishes night after night for their fans to consume and delight in, they open up their cookbooks for others to actually do what they do. Think about that.
I don’t claim to be Emeril, but I take very seriously the responsibility to educate clients about the choices available to them in the world of financial services and products. In fact, my biggest fear is that a client of mine is asked why they own a particular financial product and they respond by saying “because my guy sold it to me.” Unacceptable.
As I share often, particular financial products are neither good nor bad. They just sit there on a shelf until someone puts them to use. Instead, it is how they are put to use that determines their effectiveness…their “goodness” or “badness.” Translate: if you own a “bad” product, it usually means it was sold to you for the wrong purpose.
The great chefs understand the role of education in their process. They understand that their willingness to educate their “clients” turns them into raving fans instead of remaining customers. It’s a big difference.
Caveat: raving fans are those who actually use the cookbooks and make the dishes described in the recipes. The same works for recipients of solid financial education and advice. If you don’t really want to know how things work, that’s your decision. The best relationships and outcomes involve both the educator and educatee to share the same goal. That’s when the magic happens.