Deferred Gratification and AUM

What do marshmallows have to do with gathering more AUM? 

Famous study

In 1990, three researchers studied preschool children to determine the impact of deferred gratification. The original study was done in the 1960’s and 1970s.  Children were given the option of consuming one marshmallow right away or waiting a short period of time (fifteen minutes) and being able to consume two marshmallows.  Subsequent studies (in 1988 and 1990) showed a positive relationship between children who deferred gratification and higher academic achievement and other positive characteristics.

In 2011, another follow-up study (40 years after the first one), using neuroimaging techniques, found anatomical differences in the brain structure of those who deferred gratification.

This study is often cited for the proposition that deferred gratification can yield significant, long-term benefits.

Immediate gratification works against you

Here’s how you can use this study to increase your AUM.

As an “advisor,” you are almost compelled to “advise.”  This compulsion often results in a lot of talking and relatively little listening.  It’s not surprising some of my coaching clients initiate contact because they’re frustrated by their low conversion rates.

Few understand that our inclination to talk has a sound basis in neuroscience.  Judith E. Glaser, an expert in conversational intelligence, explained it this way:   The more we talk, the better we feel. Our bodies start to crave that high, and we become blind to the conversational dynamics.

No wonder we don’t want to “yield the floor” and listen!

Harness deferred gratification

Here’s where deferred gratification comes in.  When you empower others to talk, you’ll be giving up the hormone-based pleasure you derive from talking, but you will reap the benefits, albeit in a deferred way.

Your prospect will feel great about you.  Those feelings are likely to translate into feelings of likeability and trust, which often equate positively with conversion.

What I have just summarized is the essence of The Solin Process℠.  In the past 4 years, my coaching clients have generated over $1 billion in AUM.

But they first overcame the need for immediate gratification.

Resource of the week

I highly recommend this insightful blog by Judith E. Glaser.