Reality is a bitter pill. It's also obscured behind our beliefs that what we're doing is best for our clients. It's much easier to claim client-focus than to actually demonstrate it. In fact, many advisors can't even identify what those behaviors look like, much less consistently demonstrate them.

If you want a quick way to determine how client-focused you really are, look at what you pay attention to, and in particular what's measured and rewarded.

For example, do you focus on numbers - sales volume, closing rate, money under management, profitability, earnings or share price? If so, then you are probably seller-focused, not client-focused. We're not suggesting that you stop paying attention to those things. Those are vital to maintaining your business. We're saying that those things are no longer enough. Such data is important - but only to you, not the client.

Change your focus or . . .

The seller-focused approach is an obsolete remnant from the Industrial Age, and the post-WWII production frenzy. Both were times of mass markets when the buyer had limited options and no control. Slowly over the years, power began shifting from the seller to the buyer, as more choices became available in every product/service category.