25 Quick Tips to improve your interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills are skills used by a person to interact with other people, both individually and in groups. It is a key life skill which we use everyday in both our professional and personal lives. It is our interpersonal skills at work when we try to use our emotions, intelligence, relations and our personality /attitude together in our interactions in order to do get results that we desire.
From a professional perspective as financial advisors, we can list some key skills under the umbrella of interpersonal skills....

Why focus on it?

Firstly, good interpersonal skills is not only critical for many roles in employment, business or profession but is also essential at a personal level. For a financial advisor, its' importance can never be overestimated given that relationships are at the heart of our profession. Advisors with who have worked on developing strong interpersonal skills are usually more successful in both their professional and personal lives.

Secondly, interpersonal skills, though it may sound as a character trait or part of personality of an individual, it is something than can be learnt and improved easily. Frankly, its' a misnomer that it cannot be taught to someone. Just improving on interpersonal skills can meaningfully change perceptions about you as your ability to project yourself as a solution provider with positive attitude will improve.

Benefits of good interpersonal skills...

By now you must already be convinced that interpersonal skills are important for financial advisors. But how? Lets' just jot down a list leaving the rest to your imagination...

• Relationships

• Work Environment

• Productivity

• Goodwill

• Success

25 Quick Tips to improve your interpersonal skills

There are many ways and means of how we can improve our interpersonal skills. We can get into each part /area of the skill and then talk upon it. Instead, we are just listing 25 tips that we came across. We believe that our readers will be smart enough to understand what we mean with these points...

1. Work on your attitude

2. Be a good listener

3. Give respect, appreciate others

4. Watch your body language, be positive

5. Choose to be assertive, not aggressive

6. Stay focused and always be alert

7. Always reflect /assess later on your interactions

8. Be open to change and accept you need to improve

9. Be genuine, don't dramatise

10. Be clear and honest

11. Avoid negativity (words, arguments and ideas) and use humour

12. Have reasonable expectations

13. Work on expressing yourself better

14. Understand your clients /people with whom you interact

15. Work on developing empathy

16. Set goals for interactions & relationships

17. Don't presume or assume things not clear

18. Don't force a conversation

19. Find common ground and then use it

20. Avoid complaining, be accountable

21. Smile and be appreciative

22. Use surprise / delight as a secret weapon

23. Resolve problems

24. Manage self better

25. Think from the other side

In brief:

Good interpersonal skills are important for financial advisors. Even though we may think ourselves to be good at it, there is always some scope for improvement. And the good news is that there are many things we can learn and develop which we may have never observed or thought of before. Improving interpersonal skills is an ongoing journey that may begin from the list of quick tips above but which probably will and should never end. One thing that we can promise is that those who run on this journey will be miles ahead in success from those who just walk. So all the best and let the journey begin!

Your 2 year old baby is ill. You are new to the city and do not know much about the local doctors. Your heartthrob has not had anything since 24 hrs and you have to take him to a doctor. On googling, you get 3 options in your area; Dr Anil Karmakar, MBBS, DCH, MD (PED.), Dr Sunil Pandey, MBBS and Dr Ajay Bhatia, MBBS, MD (Ortho). Which of the above will you go to see? The obvious answer would be Dr Karmakar, who is a specialist in child health, and not Dr Pandey, who hasn't obtained any other specialisation or Dr Bhatia, who is a specialist in Orthopedics. Similarly, when someone is looking to consult an advisor for his hard earned money, whom would he approach? A B.Com graduate or a B.Com graduate with a CFP or a CWM certification? The answer is simple, the person will choose the latter, because he is a specialist in the field.

A certification attached to the name of an advisor creates an impression in the mind of the client even before meeting him personally, and as they say "First impression is the Last impression". So in order to make a lasting first impression, it is very important to acquire knowledge and certifications which will make you a specialist in your domain.

In the modern day competition, you have to go an extra mile to stand out of the crowd. You need to gain knowledge and keep yourself updated with the latest developments in the advisory field. And certifications will help you renovate your knowledge and skill repository. There are various institutions offering numerous courses and certifications for financial advisors. And each of these courses involve time and money. There are courses which cover financial advisory on the whole and then there are specialised courses which focus on specific areas like estate planning, retirement management courses, etc. You have to pick and choose the right fit according to your expertise and target areas.

Following are a few certifications which you can pursue to enhance your knowledge and name:

NISM VA-Mutual Fund Distributor Certification Examination: It is a mandatory exam for anyone who want to make a career in the mutual fund industry to take this exam. The objective of the exam is to familiarize the candidate with the basics of mutual funds. It is conducted by NISM, which is the regulating body of Mutual Funds in India. Hence, for any advisor the first step is to acquaint himself himself with the fundamentals of Mutual Funds, take and pass the NISM VA-Mutual Fund Distributor Certification Examination exam and become an advisor.

Just like an MBBS is not enough for a doctor, he needs a masters degree to enhance his knowledge and gain recognition. Likewise, an NISM VA-Mutual Fund Distributor Certification Examination exam is not enough, you need to enhance your knowledge through further certifications.

CFP^CM: A Certified Financial Planner certification is the most prestigious accreditation in the field of financial advisory and financial planning. CFP^CM is a trademark of specialisation in personal finance for individuals and small businesses. This course is accepted and recognised worldwide and FPSB India awards the CFP^CM certification in India through an agreement with FPSB Ltd. You must fulfill the following criteria for this certification:

• You must be 12th pass at the time of enrollment and must pass the 5 module CFP^CM Certification Education Program through an Authorized Education Partner and pass corresponding Exam 1-4 facilitated by NSE.
• Pass the CFP^CM Exam, which demonstrates that you possess the required level of competency to apply your knowledge to real life financial planning situations.
• Either Pre or Post CFP^CM examination(3 Years for Graduates & 5 Years for Non-Graduates)
• After meeting the above criteria, you must agree to abide by FPSB India's Code of Ethics and Rules of Professional Conduct, Practice Standards and Disciplinary Rules and Procedures.
• Once Certified, you must fulfill the Continuous Education requirement to stay current on Financial Planning strategies, products and trends affecting their clients. This will help you keep yourself abreast of the developments in the Financial Planning field.

CWM: The Chartered Wealth Manager Certification is the only Wealth Management Certification in India and is the most prestigious and internationally accepted Wealth Management Certification. This course aims to polish your wealth management skills as required by the industry and focuses on Investment Strategies, Life Cycle Management, Intergenerational Wealth Transfer, Relationship Management, Behavioral Finance, Alternative Products, Real Estate Valuation and Global Taxation. This certification is provided by the American Academy of Financial Management^TM.

In India, the ultra High Net Worth population is growing, and therefore the need for Chartered Wealth Managers is also growing. Wealth Management is one of the fastest growing and highly paid careers. The course helps advisors to to gain in depth knowledge of advising HNIs and ultra HNIs on managing, growing and transferring their wealth. Registration Pathways:

• Compulsory Pathway: The eligibility criterion to register through Compulsory Pathway is that the candidate must have passed minimum 12 Standard.
• Experience Pathway: The eligibility criterion to register through Experience Pathway is that the candidate must have passed Graduation with 3 years of minimum work experience.

CTEP: The Chartered Trust and Estate PlannerTM focuses on Estate and Trust Planning. This course deals with all the aspects of Estate Planning and Trust Planning like Asset Protection, Intergenerational Wealth Transfer, Succession Planning, Creation of Trusts, Trust Management, International Trust Structures, Philanthropic Planning, Cross Border Estate Planning, Maintenance of Dependents and Estate Tax Planning issues Globally. The participants get in depth view of Wills, Power of Attorneys and Succession Laws etc.

So, in our example you wanted to go and see a Child specialist for your 2 year old baby. Similarly, if someone is looking forward to transfer his huge estate to his heirs, he would choose an advisor who has a CTEP certification. So, if Trust and estate planning is your cup of tea, so it is wise to perfect your skills by going for this certification.Succession and inheritance laws are very complicated in India and people are moving in the direction of availing professional services for the same in order to avoid complications later. Therefore the need for CTEPs are on the increase. This course is certified by AAFM India.

We, at NJ offer comprehensive training programmes for the above courses in addition to the basic trainings. We assist you in the registration process, provide detailed course material, practice questions and classroom trainings. NJ aims to create a force of quality financial advisors who possess the right knowledge to offer the excellent advisory services.

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