"Will you talk with my financial advisor?" No.

This is an often seemingly reasonable request by a client to have a new proposal reviewed by their current advisor to ensure that they are making a good decision for their circumstances.

However, there is more going on than what is being perceived by the client.

All financial advisors are salespeople in their own ways (myself included).

As salespeople, we are trying to build a business of clients with assets and insurance policies.

We are not necessarily competing with each other... until circumstances require that we compete with each other.

I don't compete. I dominate.

However, I also don't like being put on the defensive to justify my thoughts, processes, products, etc. to someone who has nothing to financially gain from such a meeting, other than getting my ideas at my expense.

I'm not in the business of educating my competition.

For myself, I don't like being put "on the spot." I don't care how nice and objective you believe they are. I don't like such confrontations, so I don't do them.

I don't want my clients to introduce their new agents and advisors to me either. If you like what they have to say, go with it. If you don't, then don't.

These kinds of encounters often end up as a debate, rather than discussion, that looks more like a PhD arguing with a toddler. It just doesn't look good. (This is also why I refuse to engage with industry trolls who have no intention of learning anything and put down anything they didn't hear from their company. They are often cultists without critical thinking skills. While I may be accused of the same thing, at least I can back it up.)

Here's the truth: the CLIENT doesn't want to take the risk of making a bad decision, so they want to see whose ideas are "best", so let the advisors 'battle it out' and they'll go with the 'winner'.

I don't play that game, so I won't do them.

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My job is simple: to bring a higher level of thinking than you're used to hearing and getting to allow you to make a new informed decision of what you want for your future.

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The pressure to make that decision is on the client, and the client alone.

If the client cannot or will not make the decision to work with me, then I will make the decision for them and simply revoke the invitation.

I get to say 'next' while the client can still own their current situation as it is. If they cannot or will not make the decision, then my revoking the invitation relieves the pressure on everyone involved.

I can go away, but the client keeps the problems and risks that they originally had when we first met.