Build a Bionic Practice, Not an Artificial One
Many advisors are asking themselves, “How do I build an AI-powered practice?”
I think a better question is this:
If everybody has access to the same technology, how am I going to stand out?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a fan of AI.
I use it regularly, and I encourage financial advisors to learn it and experiment with it. It can help you become more productive, more organized, more efficient, and in many cases better prepared for client conversations.
With the advent of AI, the barriers to creating content are rapidly disappearing. Research is becoming easier. The ability to generate emails, newsletters, social media posts, meeting summaries, and marketing campaigns is becoming available to almost everyone.
The financial advisory business is first and foremost a human connection business.
Your ability to attract clients, retain clients, and earn introductions to new clients depends largely on your ability to build trust and create meaningful relationships.
Technology may change how we work, but I don’t believe it changes THAT reality. That’s why I believe advisors should embrace technology, not resist it. The goal isn’t to choose between technology and relationships. The goal is to combine the strengths of both.
The Bionic Advantage.
A bionic practice allows technology to do what technology does best while freeing you up to do what humans do best. That is, use the efficiency, automation, and intelligence to create more opportunities for connection and meaningful client experiences.
I believe the future belongs to advisors who learn how to blend these two powerful forces.
If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ve probably heard me joke that AI spelled backward is IA. Sometimes I say that stands for Inauthentic Intelligence. Lately, I’ve been thinking it might also stand for “Inauthentic Activity.” Because one of the dangers of AI is that it can help us create more activity without creating more connection.
They are confusing efficiency with effectiveness.
I can usually spot AI-generated content pretty quickly. It’s often polished. Sometimes it’s even clever. But it can feel generic. Something is missing.
The goal isn’t to let AI replace your voice. The goal is to let AI amplify your voice. This takes a little more work and patience – but that’s what it takes to convert robot language into human language.
This article is a good example of a bionic approach. Some of these ideas came directly from me. Typing them with my little fingers. And some parts were refined with the help of AI. The technology helped me organize my thoughts and improve my communication, but the message itself is still mine.
Imagine 2 Advisors
The first advisor embraces AI and uses it for everything possible. Content is generated in minutes. Follow-up emails are written instantly. Meeting notes appear automatically. Marketing campaigns are launched with a few clicks.
The practice becomes incredibly efficient.
But over time, something subtle begins to happen. The advisor doesn’t really use the time that’s been freed up to strengthen client relationships. Communication starts to feel less personal. Conversations become more transactional. The efficiency goes up, but the human connection slowly begins to weaken.
The second advisor uses many of the same tools to automate administrative work, streamline workflows, and use AI to save hours every week.
But instead of filling those hours with more tasks, they invest that time back into relationships.
They make more phone calls. They schedule more lunches and coffee meetings. They spend more time understanding what’s really happening in their clients’ lives. They write personal notes. They ask better questions. They listen better. They create more opportunities for meaningful conversations.
In other words, they use technology to become more present, not more distant.
Both advisors become more efficient. Only one becomes more human. And that’s the advisor I believe will have the advantage in attracting new clients.
Technology serves but does not attract.
Technology scales information.
Relationships scale trust.
The feeling of trust helps you win and keep your clients. And, as I’ve been teaching forever, it’s the principle of borrowed trust that drives referrals and introductions. In fact, I would argue that as AI becomes more common, trust will become even more valuable.
If clients can get information anywhere, then information alone is no longer the value proposition. If everyone can create content, then content alone isn’t the differentiator.
And if everyone has access to sophisticated technology, then technology itself isn’t what makes you the advisor of choice.
What remains is your ability to connect with people. Your ability to listen.
Your ability to understand what’s most important to a client and help them navigate life’s biggest decisions.
These are deeply human skills, and they’ve become more important than ever before.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve spent so much of my career teaching Relationship Marketing. Most clients still choose their advisor through trust and relationships. They meet an advisor through a friend, a colleague, a family member, a center of influence, or some other trusted connection. Technology may influence the process, but relationships still drive the decision.
Embrace AI
Learn the tools. Use the efficiencies. Get organized. Save time.
But don’t use technology to replace the very thing that makes you valuable.
The purpose of AI isn’t to help you become a better computer.
It’s to free you up to become a better human.
If you’d like help growing your business through stronger relationships, more referrals, more authentic client connections, and communicating your value more effectively, I’d love to have a conversation. Let’s schedule a complimentary strategy call.
Send an email directly to me at BillCates@referralcoach.com.
Let’s explore some ways you can create more organic growth while remaining authentically human in an increasingly automated world.
I look forward to hearing from you.
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