Things you can do to help your clients right now

Martin Lindstrom wrote in "Buyology" about our changing world and how we navigate change. The more unpredictable the world becomes, the more we grope for a sense of control over our lives, the more rituals help us through today's world. He quotes from a study published in the Journal of Family Pschology:

"In families with predictable routines, children had fewer respiratory illnesses and better overall health, and they performed better in elementary school."

By offering regular (and right now that probably means monthly or every other month) meetings with your clients in which you go through the same set of steps, ritualizing the process along the way, the better clients feel after each visit. This might mean little gestures, like having them watch a fun clip from youtube at the beginning of each meeting and closing with a clever quote, or getting them to write down the top 3 questions they have from the blitz of media coverage on the economy before you discuss the portfolio, and be sure you close the meeting with them being able to state the answers.

Whatever rituals you create, make it a repeatable process, so that they come to expect it each time they visit you. In the end, they'll place more confidence in you-they won't tell you it's from your rituals, but research shows it's a very comforting process. Since they can't control what's going on in the market, they need to feel control in other areas of their lives. Your meetings with them are the closest access they have to the markets so make sure each office visit brings them a little bit of ritual.