By Derrick Kinney, Podcast, Health and Growth Performance Editor
For years, I thought becoming a better advisor meant having better answers.
Better investment answers. Better retirement answers. Better tax answers.
Then I discovered something surprising: the advisors who attract the best clients aren’t necessarily the ones with the best answers. They’re often the ones who ask the best questions.
One question, in particular, changed the trajectory of my career. It helped me become a top-producing advisor, build deeper client relationships, and ultimately become a sought-after speaker and coach to financial advisors across the country.
The question is simple:
“What would be the greatest service I could provide for you?”
No clever script. No closing technique. No persuasion tactic. Just one thoughtful question.
Yet I’ve watched this question consistently transform conversations and dramatically improve prospect-to-client conversion rates. In our coaching programs, advisors who intentionally lead with questions like this have experienced a 43 percent increase in new client conversions.
Why Most Prospect Meetings Sound the Same
Most prospects walk into an advisor meeting expecting a presentation. They expect to hear about your investment philosophy, your planning process, your credentials, and what makes your firm different from every other advisor they’ve met.
In other words, they expect you to talk about yourself.
Then something unusual happens.
Instead of launching into a presentation, you ask, “What would be the greatest service I could provide for you?”
Almost every time, the prospect pauses. I’ve seen executives lean back in their chair and say, “That’s a great question.” I’ve had coaching prospects tell me, “What a thoughtful question. Thank you for asking.” When I was an advisor, prospects would often smile and say, “I like that question.”
Psychologists call this a pattern interrupt. When someone expects one thing and experiences something different, their brain is forced to stop, engage, and think. Instead of preparing to listen to another advisor presentation, the prospect begins reflecting on what truly matters to them.
That’s where the real conversation begins.
The Costly Mistake Even Top Advisors Make
There’s another reason this question is so powerful.
Over the years, I’ve had countless advisors tell me the same story. They leave a prospect meeting feeling confident. The conversation flowed. The prospect seemed engaged. Everything appeared to go well.
Then the prospect disappears.
No returned calls. No response to emails. No new client.
The advisor is left wondering what happened.
When we review those meetings together, we often uncover the same issue. The advisor spent most of the conversation explaining their process, philosophy, and services. What they never truly uncovered was what the prospect actually wanted. They never identified the prospect’s primary concern.
The meeting felt productive because the advisor communicated clearly. The prospect left feeling like their biggest concern was never fully understood.
That’s an expensive mistake.
Many advisors enter meetings with a presentation they intend to deliver. The problem is that prospects rarely arrive with the same agenda. One prospect is worried about retirement. Another is worried about taxes. Another is concerned about caring for a spouse if something happens to them. Another is preparing to sell a business and wondering whether they’ll be financially secure afterward.
If you don’t understand the concern keeping someone awake at night, it’s difficult to position yourself as the solution.
That’s why this question is so effective.
“What would be the greatest service I could provide for you?”
The answer immediately tells you where to focus. Instead of guessing what’s important, you know. Instead of leading with your priorities, you discover theirs. Rather than delivering the same presentation you’ve given dozens of times, you create a conversation centered around what matters most to the person sitting across from you.
What Happens When You Ask the Question
One of the things that continually surprises advisors is how different the answers are from what they expected.
Many advisors assume prospects are primarily looking for better investment performance, a more sophisticated financial plan, or a second opinion on their portfolio.
Those concerns certainly matter, but they’re rarely the deepest concern.
When you ask, “What would be the greatest service I could provide for you?” the answers often become much more personal.
A prospect may tell you they want to know their spouse will be okay if something happens to them.
Another may admit they’re terrified of making a retirement mistake they can’t recover from.
Some want confidence that they’ve done enough. Others want to stop worrying about money every night. Business owners may want clarity about life after a sale. Parents often want reassurance that their children will be prepared to manage wealth responsibly.
The answers are rarely about spreadsheets.
They’re about fears, hopes, relationships, and peace of mind.
That’s an important distinction because people don’t buy financial plans. They buy confidence about their future.
When you understand what matters most to a prospect, you stop presenting and start solving. The conversation becomes less about your expertise and more about helping them achieve the outcome they care about most.
That’s where trust accelerates.
Why This Leads to More Clients
The reason this approach works is simple:
People don’t hire advisors who understand money. They hire advisors who understand them.
The question shifts the conversation away from products and toward problems. Away from services and toward outcomes. Away from what you do and toward what matters most to the prospect. That’s where trust begins.
Too many advisors start conversations by describing their process. The problem is that prospects don’t buy processes. They buy confidence. They buy certainty. Most importantly, they buy solutions to problems they care deeply about.
When someone answers the question, “What would be the greatest service I could provide for you?” they’re revealing what they value most. It might be peace of mind. It might be confidence about retirement. It might be reducing taxes, creating a legacy, or ensuring their family is protected.
The specific answer matters less than what the answer reveals.
It tells you what they care about. It tells you where to focus. Most importantly, it tells the prospect you’ve been listening.
Curiosity Is the New Competitive Advantage
We live in a world where expertise is increasingly commoditized. AI can answer questions. Search engines can provide information. Financial content is available everywhere.
What remains scarce is the ability to make another human being feel truly understood.
The advisor who wins isn’t always the smartest person in the room. More often, it’s the advisor who understands the person in the room better than anyone else.
That’s why I believe this question is so powerful. Not because it’s a script. Not because it’s a technique. But because it reflects a philosophy. A philosophy that says the client matters more than the presentation. Their concerns matter more than your credentials. Their goals matter more than your agenda.
And when prospects feel that difference, everything changes.
The next time you’re sitting across from a prospect, resist the urge to immediately explain what you do. Instead, pause and ask:
“What would be the greatest service I could provide for you?”
Then listen.
Really listen.
You may discover that the fastest way to grow your business isn’t having better answers.
It’s asking better questions.
Because in this business, words equal wealth.
Derrick Kinney
- Keynote Speaker | Built, scaled & exited a Top 1% advisory firm
- Teaching advisors and entrepreneurs how to attract $3M–$10M clients
- WSJ & USA Today Bestselling Author | Client Conversation Expert
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This article appears in The Sports Issue: The New Money Game from Modern American Advisor.
Explore the full issue for more on client engagement, advisor growth and the changing relationship between sports, wealth and financial advice.
