Roleplays for Financial Services Teams: Fostering Trust + Building Rapport

Although it’s an underrated tool, leveraging roleplays for financial services teams can be a worthwhile way to invest in your team.

In our comprehensive overview, we’ll tell you everything you should know about this kind of roleplay enablement, including the advantages of financial roleplays, how to design meaningful roleplay scenarios, specific use cases for financial professionals, and common pitfalls to avoid. 

Roleplays for Financial Services Teams: Using Them for Enablement

Roleplaying is an excellent tool for enablement and training — especially when it comes to teams working in financial services. From financial advisors to banking and insurance professionals and everyone in between, roleplays for financial services teams can take your employees and their skills to the next level. Here are just a few ways team leads are revolutionizing their training programs with roleplay.  

Ensuring regulatory compliance 

It’s common for folks working in the financial industry to face hefty consequences for non-compliance. An industry so heavily regulated needs its workforce to adhere to any rules and regulations. For both new and inexperienced folks in financial services, roleplays for financial services can be designed to ensure regulatory compliance.

Roleplays can be a safe space for folks to get used to certain regulatory requirements and expectations. Financial professionals can practice compliance in conversation roleplay without risking actual consequences, which makes it a perfect onboarding tool. 

High-stakes negotiation prep

Although perhaps not relevant to everyone who works in financial services, building negotiation skills is another way people are using roleplays for financial services teams. Practicing high-stakes negotiation and emulating the environment of a high-stress situation is nearly impossible without roleplay. But by using a roleplay platform to simulate that environment, folks working in financial services can experience that pressure without any risk. 

Building rapport and trust among clients

For the majority of sectors in the financial industry, building trust and rapport among clients is paramount. Although it comes naturally to some financial professionals, others can hone their ability to build rapport through roleplays for financial services teams. For example, those working in financial services can practice having conversations to improve their client interactions across the board. 

Improving communication skills for complicated financial concepts

Similarly, teams can also boost their ability to articulate complex financial concepts to customers. Financial services are inundated with jargon and complicated concepts that the average person — especially someone new to investing or other financial services — may not understand. Folks who work in financial services need to be able to explain these concepts in plain language. 

Although we’ll take a deeper dive into some common scenarios to practice, teams can experiment with scenarios like:

• Explaining investment portfolios to new clients
• Answering common questions about retirement plans
• Reviewing and explaining portfolio diversification and risk tolerance

5 Key Benefits of Using Roleplays for Financial Services Teams

Not surprisingly, there are tons of advantages to using roleplay as a means of enablement and training for employees in the financial industry. From improvements in sales performance and growth to better client retention rates and cross-team collaboration, the benefits of this type of training are certain.

Here are some of the most worthwhile benefits of using roleplays for financial services teams. 

1. Boosted confidence among financial professionals 

Especially when it comes to new or inexperienced financial professionals, roleplays for financial services teams can play an essential role in equipping professionals with the skills they need to feel confident. Being able to practice their technical skills in a safe space without worrying about lost clients or opportunities increases their self-confidence. Plus, having confidence is integral to building and keeping relationships with clients in the financial sphere. 

2. Better sales performance

Roleplays for financial services teams also yield improvements in sales performance and overall growth. Employees who work on the sales side of things — like financial advisors, stockbrokers, or similar roles — can leverage roleplay to practice different sales methodologies and techniques without risk. They can even prepare for specific situations ahead of time to run through different methods and see which works best. 

Allowing your employees to work through these scenarios and sharpen their ability to sell can do wonders for overall sales performance and revenue growth. 

3. Increased client retention rates

Leveraging roleplays for financial services teams can also lead to better client retention rates. Teams who build upon their existing abilities and commit to upskilling can increase client retention rates by improving their interactions and overall relationships with customers. These kinds of roleplays in particular can help teams work on active listening, building empathy, and effectively communicating — all of which can lead to stronger, better relationships with clients. 

4. Enhancing cross-team and cross-departmental alignment

Designing specific roleplays for financial services teams can also refine cross-team and cross-departmental alignment. Investing in your team’s collaboration skills via roleplay can improve cross-team communication and help both teams and departments become more aligned, especially with regard to shared objectives. 

Engaging in some relevant scenarios (like cross-team brainstorming sessions or pitch meetings) can be a great way to improve alignment. 

5. Decreasing error rate in financial services

Because errors in financial services can have major consequences, financial services teams are always aiming to decrease their error rate. Industry leaders can lean on roleplays for financial services teams to give professionals a chance to practice and refine their approaches. This can lead to lower error rates across the board in financial services. 

Designing Solid Roleplays for Financial Services Teams With Yoodli

For industry leaders new to roleplay as an enablement tool, it can feel overwhelming learning how to design roleplays. However, for folks looking for next-level roleplays for financial services teams, Yoodli offers a comprehensive, state-of-the-art experience. 

Yoodli — a popular roleplay solution and communication coach powered by AI — offers some of the most realistic roleplays for financial professionals to hone their skills. In fact, anyone can use Yoodli for training and enablement, from financial experts to healthcare professionals, students, and folks looking to improve their small talk skills. Brands such as Google, Dale Carnegie, and Korn Ferry have all used Yoodli for at-scale training and certification.

Designing your own custom roleplay scenarios

Although Yoodli has a massive collection of existing roleplay scenarios — from performance review simulations and skills training to sales roleplays — its Builder tool lets teams design their own custom roleplays to fit their specific use cases. For example, industry leaders can design unique roleplays for financial services teams to run through specific scenarios, like negotiating with a high-stakes client or explaining investment portfolios to new customers. 

Whatever the case may be, users will engage with an AI-generated partner to engage in realistic conversation. The back-and-forth banter will give financial professionals the roleplay they need to build and improve their abilities. Plus, they can even tailor the AI partner’s personality to get practice working with different kinds of people, from folks who are frustrated or stressed to friendly professionals. 

But Yoodli’s benefits don’t end with the roleplay. As a communication coach, Yoodli gives users a detailed report based on their performance that has insights around their listening, delivery, and speaking patterns. Based on user performance, Yoodli provides folks with specific, actionable tips they can use to improve. 

No matter what financial environment your team works in, you can start using roleplays for financial services teams for free at https://yoodli.ai/ to sharpen your team’s abilities to advise and communicate with clients. 

5 Essential Scenarios for Roleplays for Financial Services Teams 

Because roleplay isn’t as commonplace as it should be for financial services enablement, you might need some inspiration to get you and your team started. Here are five essential scenarios for roleplays for financial services teams.

1. Client and customer onboarding

Client and customer onboarding encompass a typical situation that many folks in the financial services industry face on a daily basis. With this scenario, have your team practice interacting with a brand new client, completely new to their financial journey. The goal here is to have your employees work on explaining the expectations, typical processes, and services offered in a clear, comprehensive way. 

This kind of situation prepares teams for a smooth, clear-cut onboarding process. Practicing this type of roleplay for financial services teams gives financial professionals a chance to work on their client interactions and long-term relationship building. Plus, it can help them prepare for and anticipate common customer questions. 

2. Delivering difficult news to financial clients

One of the conversations financial professionals dread most involves delivering difficult news to financial clients. Even though it’s not great, sharing less-than-ideal news with a customer is something financial advisors and other professionals do on a daily basis. 

To make the process easier and prepare your team for these situations, consider a scenario where one of your team members needs to inform a client that their portfolio has underperformed. This kind of scenario forces your team to think about how they’d communicate not only the reasons for underperformance but also the next best steps. Have your team really hone in on the empathy side of things, as well as promoting transparency (even when it’s awkward or uncomfortable). 

This scenario in particular is a good opportunity to practice communicating with customers who might be upset, frustrated, and angry. Being able to stay calm and rebuild trust and rapport with a client are skills any financial professional can use. 

3. Facing moral dilemmas in financial planning services

Sometimes, what a customer says they want doesn’t align with their previously-stated long-term goals. Thus, there’s a dilemma.

Imagine a scenario where a client wants a specific investment that goes against what their long-term objectives are. How would you expect your team to react and handle the situation? 

This type of roleplay helps financial professionals understand the ethical or moral dilemmas they may face in their role while also preparing them to effectively communicate their reasoning for hesitating. It also gives employees a chance to be transparent while also fostering trust and building rapport. 

4. Handling objections to investment plans

Practicing objection handling is a common roleplay scenario, and it has a place in roleplays for financial services teams, too. For financial advisors in particular, preparing for client objections with regard to investment planning is a worthwhile scenario to try. 

With this scenario, imagine you’re working with a customer who has major objections to an investment plan. For example, maybe they’re concerned about cost or risk, and how it fits in with their long-term goals. Have your team run through this scenario with a simulated client to work on addressing customer concerns, reframing these concerns as opportunities, and active listening to show the client they care about what they have to say. 

This type of scenario can help your team improve client relationships and retention rates. 

5. Compliance with regulatory audits and client questions 

As mentioned above, compliance is a common theme in the financial industry. As such, imagine a scenario where one of your team’s clients reaches out for compliance information with regard to one of their investments. Have your team practice interacting with a customer who wants detailed information and has specific questions about compliance. 

This kind of scenario can help teams prepare for not only communicating about compliance but also providing documentation, answering questions, and reassuring their clients. Teams will be better equipped to discuss regulatory expectations and field questions aftering practicing. 

Common Challenges With Roleplays for Financial Services Teams

Implementing roleplays for financial services teams — especially if roleplay enablement is new to your team — can be tricky. It comes with a host of challenges and hurdles that you may need to overcome before incorporating roleplay into your everyday training efforts. However, planning for some of the most common challenges can help you overcome them easier as a team and ensure the best chances of success. 

Making sure your team’s roleplays are relevant

One of the most common pitfalls with roleplays for financial services is failing to ensure they’re relevant to the situations your team faces on a routine basis. For example, the roleplays that would help prepare financial advisors for common scenarios might be completely different than roleplays tailored to insurance agents. As such, make sure the roleplays you use for your team directly reflect the situations they see on a daily basis. 

To ensure the roleplays are relevant, you can get opinions and feedback directly from your employees. For example, you could send an anonymous survey asking which situations they see most often, what they’d like to be more prepared for, and other relevant questions to narrow down your focus. This will make sure you’re preparing your team for the most useful scenarios instead of preparing them for situations that they’ll never experience.  

Aligning organizational goals with roleplay goals

Another common pitfall is not aligning your organizational goals with the goals for your roleplays for financial services teams. For example, if an organization-wide objective is “improve sales performance,” you don’t want your roleplay goals to differ so wildly that they don’t benefit future sales performance.  

Instead, design your roleplays for financial services teams to boost sales performance and revenue growth by investing in your team’s ability to sell. Perhaps you create specific roleplays to identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling, for example. 

Managing resistance from employees or stakeholders

Because roleplay is a relatively underrated form of enablement, you might face resistance from key stakeholders or your team. If you notice resistance, it could be worthwhile to demonstrate the ROI of roleplays — in other words, the tangible and intangible returns from investing in roleplay. The actual metrics you use to define ROI will depend on your use cases and goals, but it can show both employees and stakeholders why roleplay is a meaningful investment. 

The Bottom Line 

Leveraging roleplays for financial services teams can revolutionize the way your team interacts with clients long-term. From boosting employee confidence to increasing sales and client retention rates, there are tons of benefits to investing in your team this way. 

Plus, with a tool like Yoodli to facilitate designing intelligent roleplays, why wait? Start improving your team’s skills and abilities today.

Sources

• LinkedIn: “How to Deliver Bad News to Clients without Losing Trust,” “How to Handle Clients Changing Investment Strategy.”