The Advisor’s Guide to Sending Emails When the Market Is Crazy: 4 Simple, Client-calming Steps
Markets are getting wild. Tariffs have got people acting crazy.
Advisors, now is your time to shine. Moments like these are the reason your clients hired you—to help them make healthy financial decisions.
We haven’t seen this much volatility in quite some time, so if your client-calming strategies are a bit rusty, I get it.
If, like most advisors, you’re planning to reach out, here are three tips to keep in mind when it comes to communicating with your clients in times of volatility.
Be proactive
Michael Kitces had a poll on LinkedIn this week asking if advisors proactively email clients during times of market volatility. The majority said they send emails to everyone, but I was surprised to see the number of them who answered “Nope, don’t want to worry them.”
Are clients really more worried after hearing from their advisors? If so, I imagine that’s more a result of under-education than over-communication.
The #1 reason clients fire advisors is inadequate communication. Whether you reach out to all of your clients or just the Nervous Nellies, better to reach out than not.
Be direct
When it comes to written communication, advisors tend to beat around the bush. I get it. You don’t want the SEC coming after you and you don’t want clients to hold you to anything resembling a promise.
In times of turmoil, sending out an email that doesn’t provide any answers may actually be worse than sending nothing at all.
So what can you say without promising anything?
We’re aware of the situation – Most of the calls and emails that advisors get start with either “Did you see that [person] said [crazy thing]?” or “Did you see that [stock] did [terrible thing]?” Let your people know that you’re aware of what’s going on by including some details that have stood out to you. You don’t have to include commentary, just let them know you’re watching.
We’re monitoring the situation – Not only are we aware, we’re watching. In fact, we always are! It’s kind of our job!
There’s nothing new under the sun – I call this the “Ecclesiastes 1:9” message.
The stock market has been around for a loooooong time. Sure, it’s seen better days, but it’s also seen much worse days. Let your clients know that this is nothing new.
Remind them of the plan
The plan you built for your clients was never predicated on perpetual upward motion in the markets. While you didn’t know this exact thing would happen, the plan you built with them is sturdy enough to weather the storm.
Point them back to your investment philosophy and remind them of the plan you built together.
Be concise
Keep your emails brief and limit them to one per week (unless absolutely necessary).
Say what you need to say (see points 1-3 under “Be direct”) and get out of there. Resist the urge to pontificate or make predictions.
While some advisors choose not to communicate anything at all in order to avoid worrying their clients, if you send multiple updates per week you could end up creating more anxiety than peace.
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