In general terms, most customers can never be right about everything all of the time, especially regarding money. If they could DIY (do it yourself) they wouldn’t need to meet with you. So, an engagement letter can be a good start to a new relationship that lays out what you’ll do and what you won’t do as well as what you expect the prospect or client to do. Establish your areas of expertise and offer the team approach of outsourcing to other financial professional you partner with that have specific skills or knowledge.
But first you need to do a background check on all your recommended partners or those you outsource to. A good start is the state insurance department and/or broker check. It’s shouldn’t be a revelation to most financial professionals that they are not the fount of all knowledge. They are not suddenly intelligent because they passed a licensing exam or earned an industry credential. Confessing to a client or prospect any inadequacies on your part, may very well enhance the relationship not hamper it. Once you’ve settled your own boundaries, you can engage the public with more confidence without having to know everything.
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