When the boot’s on the other foot…

I had reason to reflect recently on the fact that those of us who work in the financial services sector tend to have relatively little real-life experience of being on the receiving end of working with people in the financial services sector!

Much of the protection I have in place personally and of course my workplace pension have all been arranged by the team here at Solomon’s.

We rarely get to experience the adviser & client type relationships for ourselves from the opposite perspective.  We work very hard at Solomon’s to build excellent relationships with our clients … and we have the luxury of time, since we take on clients (and their families) with an expectation of a relationship that will potentially span decades (and ultimately … generations!).

So I was intrigued to get some personal insight recently as a result of a property transaction. I was very lucky indeed to have been able to use the services of a firm called London Money (a mortgage brokerage that we recommend liberally to our clients looking for mortgage advice).

After about six months of communicating by phone and email with a lovely lady there by the name of Cathy, it occurred to me that we had built a really strong connection and although it was a short-term one; it felt very open and authentic. I was impressed by Cathy on a myriad of levels. And I have since tried to understand how she achieved this balance between professionalism and warmth; to see if there was anything I could learn from her.  She was responsive, articulate, supportive, positive, efficient – there was most definitely an ‘X Factor’ there.  I can’t put my finger on it entirely and that’s the beauty and mystery of human relationships and interactions isn’t it?

She had empathy. She gave me her time and energy. She was patient. And yet – that ‘extra something’ isn’t really definable. Because sometimes people just connect and you never really know why.  Either way – she was a marvellous person to have on my side as the mortgage process trundled on and she made it painless and stress-free. We already recommend London Money; but I can now add my personal recommendation into the mix … if you need mortgage advice – definitely give them a call and be sure to let them know that we sent you!

Whilst I’m on – some of you will have noticed that we have been more actively and routinely asking you for feedback on what we do for you. Other firms are much better at this than we are … but all the professionals with whom I have worked recently in personal matters have asked me to provide reviews about their services – and because I was very happy with them; I was happy to do so.

I am hoping that in the same way … if you are happy with what we do for you, you will also be happy to provide a review for us.  My wonderful colleague Jemima has started asking clients to write Google reviews for us, but if you haven’t heard from her yet, please email jemima@solomonsifa.co.uk and she will send you some easy instructions to show you how to do this.