Listening Key To Keeping Clients Happy And Earning Their Trust

Developing a rapport with clients really boils down to one thing: listening.

At least that is how Merrill advisor Christopher Cook, 57, sees it.

“If you listen to people and ask questions, people are going to know you care. They will come to trust you,” Cook said.

Cook, a top ranked Forbes-SHOOK advisor, joined Merrill 32 years ago and built a successful wealth management practice, the GCCA Group based in Florham Park, NJ.

Cook’s 12-person team manages $2.5 billion in assets and serves 450 households with an average net worth of $10 million.

“The advice I would give to any advisor starting out is listen, listen, listen,” Cook said. “It is something I wished I had done more of when I got started.”

Cook said listening allows advisors to ask the right questions and provide solutions. “I think of myself as a sort of financial doctor.”

Cook adds: “In my experience, the best advisors have a high emotional IQ and they are a behavioral coach who can remain cool in the eye of the storm.”

To be sure, Cook’s prescription seems to work. GCCA was selected as a top 100 Forbes-SHOOK team. Cook is both a Forbes-SHOOK Best-in-State Wealth Advisor and a Forbes-SHOOK Top Wealth Advisor.

It all stems from understanding people and building relationships, Cook said, noting that he got his start early.

At age 16, Cook borrowed his father’s self-propelled Snapper lawn mower and started a landscaping business. Cutting lawns and planting shrubs helped Cook pay his way through University of Richmond. He graduated with a degree in finance and went to work for MCI at age 24 selling telecommunications services.

In 1992, Cook joined Merrill as a trainee. At the time, the brokerage industry was just beginning to move away from traditional commission-based stockbrokers.

“At the time, financial planning was something new,” Cook said.

Embracing the shift in focus, Cook said he hired a trust and estate planning specialist when he began building a team. “It was a big differentiator.”

Cook recalls the story of one client who lost her husband in the 9/11 tragedy, leaving her with four young children aged 2 months to 8 years.

At the time, an estate attorney created trusts for each child which were funded with proceeds from the victim’s compensation program. Each trust was written to pay out the proceeds at age 25.

As the children grew older, there was reason for the mother to be concerned that a large payout at age 25 could do more harm than good as one of her sons was struggling with health problems.

Cook said his team suggested that the client look into “decanting” the trusts into a new trust for each child, but the original attorney and others she had spoken with said it could not be done.

“We were able to refer her to a different attorney who met with her in our office and concluded that if certain conditions were met, a new trust could be put into place,” Cook said.

“We participated in the planning meetings, reviewed the draft documents, and worked as a team with her, the other co-trustee (also a client), and the attorney to see the process through to its completion,” Cook said.

“Our clients (the mother and the other co-trustee, who happens to be her cousin) were extremely relieved and grateful.”

Cook said services like this have allowed GCCA to prosper. “We realize that people are hiring us to make their life easier and they are willing to pay for this service,” Cook said.

Low staff turnover has also helped GCCA. “Our team members have been here their entire career,” Cook said. “The only people who have left are people who retired.”

Cook said the team builds deep relationships with clients who become part of the GCCA family. These relationship are very rewarding for both clients and team members, Cook said.

“Clients like consistency and stability,” Cook said. “What clients share with us is very private. If you have a revolving door of people coming and going, that is going to make clients uncomfortable.”

As for the future?

“I am never retiring as long as my mind is sharp,” Cook said. “I love what I do. We keep clients calm during turbulent markets and talk them out of making impulsive decisions.”