Always be Giving

Don’t be the primary consumer in your relationships. Jesus said, “It is better to give than to receive.” – Acts 20:35. The point here is that it is most important to deliver value in all your relationships. Strive to be the producer rather than the consumer therein.  This is true with employees, clients, vendors, sponsors, your broker dealer, your church, your children, and your spouse.  Produce something of value before you ask for anything from a relationship. Always keep the scales of giving tipped in your direction. It doesn’t mean that others can’t give to you or that you should refuse the generosity of others. But, when you become the primary consumer in a relationship, bitterness can take root in the heart of the producer. Always be the producer and people will love you for it.

Give Happily

Invest in your relationships with generosity and joy. You can’t fake this. Insincerity is a dead giveaway. You have to genuinely love and appreciate people for who they are. “God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Corinthians 9:7. Continually strive to add value to your clients’ lives, not just to their portfolios. Don’t begrudge the time a client wants to take showing you pictures of her newest grandbaby or discussing his improving golf handicap. This past Valentine’s Day, we held a special banquet for our clients who had lost their spouses. We didn’t discuss any business. We just loved on them. Given our average client profile, we lose several clients each year to death. Of course, we attend every funeral. I take time to hear my clients’ stories, listen to their problems, and learn about their struggles and triumphs. I ask probing questions and give genuine encouragement and council wherever appropriate. If something is really heavy on their hearts, like a threatening medical diagnosis, and if the moment seems right, I offer to pray with them right there in the meeting. I always take my time, and I am never in a hurry. These kinds of things don’t pay commissions, but they are the right way to love people, and loving people is the right thing to do. Make generous and cheerful giving a way of life.

Giving Pays Dividends

Being the producer in a relationship, rather than the consumer, is the best way to make good will deposits into your relationship accounts. “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” – Luke 6:38. That is a long quote, but it illustrates a basic principle of life: you reap what you sow. Giving produces gratitude and a forgiving heart. If I have built up a high level of good will equity in a client relationship, that relationship will endure errors and foul ups in my operations department, it will withstand poor investment performance, it will put up with long waits in my lobby, and it will still produce quality referrals. But, if I strain a relationship that is already thin on good will, it will break, and I will eventually lose the client to an advisor who knows how to give better than me.