Discuss a time you helped a client through a difficult financial situation. What were the keys to making it a success for the client?

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How you answer could inform them whether you have the skills to help their client effectively. Explain the importance of an empathetic approach with such clients and how it, in addition to suggesting the right products and services for their needs, helps them get through a difficult time.

As Bank of America advertises on their website, "Enabling financial health. We support individuals and businesses with financial solutions that are simple, safe, transparent and convenient, from promoting homeownership and small businesses' prosperity to help underserved groups pave their paths ahead." Your interviewer is curious how you would support this Bank of America Business principle in context with this question.

"During the recession in 2008, I had a big client call to request that all of his funds be pulled out of the stock market. Knowing that this move was a poor strategy, I needed him to hear that in the most personal and educated way possible. With an active listening approach, I repeated what he had told me and reiterated that he wanted to sell them at a low price and hopefully buy them back down the road at a high price. This made the client take a pause and think. This was my opportunity to talk about the market history and the odds that his stock prices would rebound over time. He decided to keep his funds in the market at the time, and a few years down the road, he called to thank me for the sound advice. Taking a personal approach while educating him in the process to make his own decision was the key to success in this situation."

"When I need to have a difficult conversation with a client, I use a personal and empathetic approach. I once worked with a client who wasn't meeting their personal retirement goals to be done working at age 62. At that time, she was 55 years old. After a quick assessment of her finances, I talked to her about letting her two kids be responsible for their college tuition. As a mother, her intuition was to support her children in every way possible, but the reality was that it was hurting her own goals. I told her that there are no loans available for retirement and that she was doing herself and her kids a favor by taking the route I suggested."