Deepening Discovery – Practical Coaching Tools to Add Client Value
Powerful Tools to Enrich Your Client Conversations
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Money Personality Frameworks: Just as people have different personalities in life, we each have a money personality. Some of us are natural savers who find security in a growing bank balance, while others are spontaneous spenders who see money as a means to enjoy life’s experiences. There are also those who invest confidently and others who avoid money issues altogether.
Tools like Sanlam’s Money Personality (Sanlam AI-powered coach | Money personality) quiz (a framework popular in South Africa) can help identify whether your client is, say, a “Prepared Protector”, “Spontaneous Buyer”, “Calculated Planner” etc. By having a client take a short money personality assessment or even just discussing which description they relate to, you gain insight into their automatic behaviours around money.
How it adds value: Knowing a client’s money personality lets you tailor your advice and communication. For example, if you discover your client is a “High Stakes Achiever” personality who is very goal-oriented might appreciate you challenging them with ambitious targets. Recognising these traits early in the relationship builds rapport and helps you customise your approach effectively.
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Money “Scripts” and Beliefs: Digging a bit deeper, Dr. Brad Klontz’s Money Scripts (Klontz Money Scripts Test) concept is a powerful coaching tool to reveal underlying beliefs that silently influence client decisions. Money scripts are essentially the unconscious beliefs about money that people develop, often in childhood.
Klontz identified a few common scripts, such as “Money is bad” (Money Avoidance), “More money will solve all my problems” (Money Worship), “My self-worth equals my net worth” (Money Status), or “I must save and be vigilant with money at all times” (Money Vigilance). You don’t need to administer a formal psychology test to use this idea, simply having a conversation about early money memories or attitudes can be illuminating.
How it adds value: Suppose during discovery you ask, “What messages about money did you learn growing up?” and the client reveals, “My parents always fought about money, and they said ‘rich people are greedy.’” This is a clue that the client may have a Money Avoidance script – deep down, they might be uncomfortable accumulating wealth or taking investment risks because they associate money with negativity or greed.
As their advisor, knowing this helps you navigate recommendations more sensitively. You might spend more time discussing the positive impact wealth can enable (like charity or family security) to reframe their belief, rather than just insisting on the logic of investing. Or consider a client who constantly checks their accounts and is extremely anxious about financial security despite being well-off.
They might have a Money Vigilance script. Recognising that, you can address their need for control by providing extra reassurance, detailed plans for worst-case scenarios, or more frequent updates to keep them comfortable. Uncovering money scripts adds a whole new layer of understanding about why a client might resist certain advice or have certain financial habits. It allows you to preempt issues and coach them through any belief that is hindering their progress.
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Open-Ended Powerful Questions: One of the simplest coaching tools, and one you can start using immediately, is the art of asking powerful open-ended questions (Coaching Questions – The Money Panel). These are questions that encourage the client to reflect and speak more about their values, fears, and motivations, rather than just giving factual answers.
In a typical fact-finding, we ask, “How much do you have in savings?” or “What are your financial goals?” Those are important, but consider expanding the scope:-
“What does financial freedom look like for you personally?”: This invites the client to paint a picture of their ideal life, which might uncover goals or priorities they didn’t mention initially.
- “Can you tell me about a time when you felt really good about a money decision, and what that was?” : This can reveal the client’s values and what competence or independence with money means to them.
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“What’s your biggest worry when it comes to money, the thing that keeps you up at night?”: This question often opens the floodgates to the real concerns the client has (for example, fear of losing everything, concern for their children’s future, or anxiety about not having a safety net).
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