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As the Breadbasket transforms into a frozen glacier, I pay homage to all the advisors who hail from that part of the country. Okie dokie? Here are the facets of Midwestern style I’d love to see you bring into your brands.
How you melted the heart of this cold New Yorker
I’m not trying to pander here, but lately it’s become obvious that I hold a soft spot in my heart for Midwestern advisors. It’s not that I don’t admire, respect and enjoy advisors from other parts of the country, or that I’m saying all people behave a certain way based upon where they work. Those are stereotypes.
But I do find certain cultural norms are upheld by people from that part of the United States to be – well, for lack of a better term – endearing.
Why does that matter?
I’ve made this point in many ways – dressing with personality, using humor, choosing a certain hairstyle, including photos of pets and real pictures of you instead of stock photos in your marketing. These are expressions of humanness. It’s a way of connecting with your audience on a personal level and it goes way deeper than you could ever impress on anyone with your credentials or knowledge of the CAPM.
And here’s where I’m going to make a sappy statement. Get ready, because, as you know, I’m as hard driving and shrewd a businesswoman as they come. It’s painful for me to express corny remarks like this but here it is:
Your heart knows best what you really want.
Got that over with! It’s hard to ignore your human feelings. If we don’t listen to our hearts, it causes us conflict and all of a sudden we find ourselves hesitating and we may not even know why.
Here are some of the things that the Midwestern advisors do that, in my experience, make it easier to connect with them on a human level.
- They use kind, humanistic expressions
You cannot help but smile when you hear someone say these words:
- Dontcha know?
- Ope! (translation – whoops!)
- Not too gooda (a polite way of saying “bad”)
These phrases convey the sense of being warm, welcoming and a real person – not an aloof master of finance – without explicitly stating that as your intention (which makes it more believable).
If there’s one thing I’ve tried tirelessly to convey to you all, it’s this: Talk like a real human being!
- They passionately express agreement
These expressions aren’t just adorable, colorful and entertaining. These priceless Midwestern phrases convey agreeableness in an irresistible way:
- You betcha!
- Right-o!
- You got that right!
- Okie dokie! (my personal favorite)
A word to the wise: In one-on-one interactions, it’s way better to be agreeable than to be right. Nobody ever got a deal signed by making the client aware that they were doing something wrong. Nobody ever made a prospect want to do business by making them feel they weren’t as intelligent as him or her about muni bonds.
Those things turn people off.
Don’t act like a pushover – but these expressions make you want to find a way to make the listener feel good about whatever the person is saying.
“Yes” is the road to the close, folks!
- They gotcha with those vowel sounds
Whether you’re from Chicahgo, Minnesoota, Wiscahnsin or another city or state in the Midwest, chances are your vowels are getting pronounced in an attention-getting way.
It may be insignificant, but it carries a lot of tone and breaks up the monotony in an industry where boring speech is the norm. For those of you podcasting or making YouTube videos, pay attention to your intonation.
- They love tellin’ stories
“I says how about a pop (pap), then she says there’s (dhere’s)…”
I never have to worry about suffering through awkward silence when I get on a conference call with an advisor from the Midwest, because inevitably the first thing they do is tell me a story. But it’s not a boring story about some trades they just made or a Barron’s article they read – it’s a story about someone they know. They do this because they love people.
I’m always encouraging advisors to bring out more tales of the client experience in their marketing. Remember, it’s not about you, it’s about them. When you pay sincere attention to the stories of other people, you give them the gift of being heard.
- Football
Enough said.
There’s a great deal of pride that Midwesterners have for where they’re from (and their sports teams). I wish more advisors would convey a sense of passion for their local people – without saying the cliché, “We work with affluent families and businesses in order to serve the local community.”
How about getting more specific so that it sounds more sincere?
“With two kids that played basketball for the Hoosiers, we proudly support our college-bound families and their efforts to help their student-athletes reach their potential.”
‘Retirement shouldn’t be spent worrying about every dime – it’s about good times with the grandkids at the lake.”
You love those lakes, dontcha?
Let the Midwestern pride show and it’ll catch people’s attention.
Sara’s upshot
This article isn’t a tribute to the people of a particular region for fun’s sake. I’m calling attention to the psychological aspects of human interaction that work – regardless of where you are from, you can make your communication more successful.
Are you a proud Midwestern advisor? Send me a message and let me know, wontcha?
By the way, if you want to learn to slay on LinkedIn I’m having a webinar on this subject which you can sign up for here.
Sara Grillo, CFA, is a top financial writer with a focus on marketing and branding for investment management, financial planning, and RIA firms. Prior to launching her own firm, she was a financial advisor and worked at Lehman Brothers. Sara graduated from Harvard with a degree in English literature and has an MBA from NYU Stern in quantitative finance.
Read more articles by Sara Grillo
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
