How to have difficult conversations with clients

Traditionally, these have always been face-to-face but post-pandemic, more remote conversations have been taking place.

While there are advantages to remote meetings over Zoom or Microsoft Office, there are of course other issues that might need to be considered, such as being aware of a client's body language and tone of voice - things picked up more easily during in-person meetings.

These things are true of clients who do not currently have a diagnosis of mental ill health, and can be even more so for those who do have mental ill health.

Indeed, as the Financial Conduct Authority's own work on vulnerability has highlighted 75 per cent of customers with mental health problems have serious difficulties engaging with at least one commonly used communication channel, such as the telephone, email or letters, so understanding these preferences is a helpful first step.

So how should advisers set about helping to structure conversations when it comes to financial planning or guidance for people with mental ill health? And once conversations have begun, what sort of questions can be asked - without being intrusive - in order to get the best possible financial plan for clients? 

"Customers self-evidently will have different needs and will want and warrant different approaches", says Peter Hamilton, head of retail protection for Zurich. Therefore, getting to know your client, in the way that best suits them, can take time but will be valuable for them - and for the adviser.

For Kathryn Knowles, co-founder of Cura Financial Services, it is useful to be as flexible as possible when it comes to even setting up that initial meeting. She explains: "You may need to have an in-person conversation, they may want to chat solely by email until they are more comfortable or they may not want to chat about their mental health at all."

Andrew Wilkinson, director of Moneysworth, agrees making the client feel comfortable is vital, because only when they feel they can trust the adviser with their personal information will they trust the adviser with managing their finances.

So treating all customers as if they could be vulnerable, and giving all potential clients a sense of control at the outset, will help build trust. 

Empathise and let the customer speak freely. Understand there are different degrees of mental health issues, so you can’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to helping those with disclosures of this nature. Glen Carnall

He says: "Some people don’t want to have to speak to anyone about their mental health but are still interested in applying and an adviser should be able to facilitate this, for example by arranging for a link to be sent to the client to complete their application online."

Ms Cura agrees this approach can work for some people: "A lot of people with mental health conditions feel they may be judged by the adviser and insurer, which can be why they don’t want to discuss their health and maybe want to complete application forms themselves."

However, she adds: "This has been possible for a couple of years and it can work well for some people, but we do not like to use this route, because without knowing their mental health history, it is not possible to advise on which insurer is going to be right for them."

This is why, when it comes to specific client needs, such as protection insurance, it is also helpful for the adviser to introduce mental health gently into the fact-finding process. 

Mr Wilkinson says: "In many situations an adviser will not be aware that a client has a mental health condition when they begin their conversations about protection insurance. Asking about health conditions should be part of the fact finding and if the adviser explains why this is important, then it provides the adviser with a chance to mention mental health before the client does.

"A good thing to say to a client at this point might be: 'When it comes to mental health disclosures, some clients are happy to discuss their mental health with an adviser but others would prefer not to have to speak to anyone and we/I can work either way with our clients, depending on their preference'.

"By using this approach you are giving the client control while introducing mental health into the protection conversation."

Avoid assumptions, ask questions and listen

Glen Carnall, team leader at Cavendish Online, advocates approaching difficult questions and vulnerable clients in the same way: "with openness, empathy and understanding."

The team, which advises on pensions, investments and protection, says the adviser cannot "shy away" from asking the difficult questions as these are intrinsic to the advice process. 

However, Mr Carnall adds: "Empathise and let the customer speak freely. Understand there are different degrees of mental health issues, so you can’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to helping those with disclosures of this nature."

He also advocates frequency of communication: "I also try to help them feel in control of the process throughout by being a bit more hands on – especially if there are long delays [with a provider], I tend to check in weekly or more frequently to reassure certain customers.”

Ms Knowles says it is important to "not make assumptions". Many of Cura's clients have mental ill health or have suffered from an episode of historic mental ill health, and it is vital to remember that everyone is different - and nobody knows the client's condition as well as they do themselves. 

She explains: "Just because you have helped someone with bipolar disorder before it doesn’t mean you are now an expert in how they think or feel. It is essential that you adapt yourself to suit that person’s needs.

"You may need to have an in-person conversation, they may want to chat solely by email until they are more comfortable or they may not want to chat about their mental health at all."

Listening actively is a core soft skill for financial advisers, so there would be no difference between listening to a client without any known mental ill health and listening to a client who has disclosed a condition. 

However, it is also wise to focus on your tone and language when it comes to those clients who have disclosed a vulnerability; there may be clients who find it hard to grasp long sentences, convoluted language and jargon and who could get lost in the conversation as a result. 

Ms Knowles says: ""To try and put people at ease, it is a good idea to focus upon the language and tone that you use. Actively listen, avoid the word ‘suffer’, use open questions, ask them to clarify anything that you are unsure you have understood correctly."

A big no-no is simply to summarise terms and conditions of policies to clients without considering the impact of the wording. For example, saying 'commit suicide' may have negative connotations for someone with a known mental health problem and could create anxiety during the conversation. 

She advises to consider phrases such as 'suicide attempt' or 'attempt to take your own life'. 

And while such tricky conversations may not come up frequently, if the client is asking about writing money into trust or looking into life insurance as part of a mortgage, these words and phrases might well come up as part of the fact-find process. 

The duty of an adviser is not to avoid such conversations as these are important to making sure the client gets the right policy for them, so Ms Knowles also advises to prepare clients gently for the questions that are about to come up.

"I take the stance of apologising for how intrusive they may seem and assuring them I am only asking what is necessary, so I can find the right insurer for them. I also say that if the questions become too much, we can stop at any time and I can also arrange for them to chat someone to support them if they find the process triggering."

Behavioural finance

It is also important to consider the behavioural aspects of financial planning. Understanding behavioural insights and how clients interact with their money is important for all clients, according to Barry Neilson, chief customer officer at Nucleus.

Taking these into consideration with clients who have known mental ill health can also be helpful in structuring financial planning conversations. 

Speaking as his company announced it had launched a white paper in association with Be-IQ, Mr Neilson said: “Being able to understand clients on a deeper, emotional level is set to be the next evolution of financial planning.

"Not only will this make advisers more effective in how they already manage their relationship with their clients, but it will also set firms innovative enough to implement a service proposition driven by behavioural insights apart from their peers.

“Behavioural insights can give firms the ability to be much more tailored with their client communications and give a framework for advisers to intuitively shape advice that responds to the personality traits of their clients.”

Nucleus' white paper aims to enable advisers to learn more about how clients make financial decisions and how firms can apply these insights to the financial planning process.

Written by Neil Bage and Dr Ariel Cecchi of behavioural insights firm Be-IQ, it provides an overview of the behavioural principles most relevant to financial planning. It looks at how advisers can help clients to understand their financial behaviour, and the difference behavioural insights can make to the advice given to clients. 

The idea is to provide advisers with practical knowledge and resources to help clients recognise their individual biases and adapt their financial behaviour accordingly.

According to Nucleus: "Knowing more about a client’s financial decision-making strengths, weaknesses and personality traits should support firms in further tailoring their advice, and also in designing interventions where necessary to keep clients’ plans on track".

This is just as important in helping to advise clients with mental ill health, as well as clients who do not have a diagnosis of such; it is also worth considering that post-pandemic, more people may have anxiety as a result of their financial situation than before, which ties into both behavioural insights and vulnerability.

Prepare for any conversation 

The key point is that when a client approaches an adviser, it is very rare the client will be open and upfront about any mental health conditions. Therefore all clients should at the same time be treated as if they could potentially be vulnerable, without making it overt.

To do this, Mr Wilkinson advises: "I would advise all adviser/providers before they do anything else to first read Mental Health UK’s recently published report Affording Protection; Mental Health and Insurance.

"It is groundbreaking, with survey statistics on the protection insurance industry from people with mental health disclosures. Key findings include the protection journey for the majority not being a happy one with many thinking it's unfair and many ending up feeling distressed by the process. Some 31 per cent say they would rather not have to speak to anyone in order to apply for life insurance."

For general guidance on how to (and how not to) conduct the mental health part of protection insurance conversations with clients both the ABI and Mental Health UK are useful sources of guidance.

Mr Wilkinson adds: "When it comes to the client’s mental health history I usually ask the client to talk me through in their own words starting from when they first experienced mental health symptoms up to the present.

"That way again they are in control of what is said and how it is said, using their own language to describe and usually by the end of it I have most of the information I need about their mental health."

Zurich's Mr Hamilton believes advisers are already well-placed to have these conversations with customers but also recommends advisers take time to liaise with providers, especially when it comes to the protection aspect of the financial planning process.

He suggests discussing with "providers' underwriting experts to discuss any history of mental health issues, so the adviser can get an idea of the cover available and the cost, and help to manage customer expectations at the outset".

Moreover, most providers have now a better understanding of vulnerabilities. Mr Hamilton adds: "From a provider perspective, the needs of vulnerable customers are factored into all aspects of our products and service. 

"Front line staff are fully trained so that they know to keep conversations straightforward and easy to follow – this includes not overburdening them with jargon or technical terms and relaying conversations to customers to help validate understanding."

Ultimately, whatever the customer's financial planning needs, taking the time to understand the client at the outset is the most important aspect of any financial planning conversation - and this applies to all potential clients, regardless of vulnerability. 

simoney.kyriakou@ft.com