Date of Award

12-2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Specialization

Communication and Leadership

School or Department

School of Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. John Caputo

Second Advisor

Dr. David Givens

Abstract

The economic events of recent years have unquestionably had an impact on the financial services industry; however the challenge to retain quality financial services professionals has been a struggle for decades. A review of the literature found that Cognitive Bias Theory, Social Judgment Theory, Cognitive Dissonance Theory and the Narrative Paradigm Theory uncovered two potentially valuable communication techniques that could be used by financial professionals: asking questions and sharing stories. The philosophical and ethical underpinning of this study assumed that all financial professionals view every client relationship as if it were personal; so that when a financial professional experiences success his/her clients will be experiencing equal measures of success. This study examined the hypotheses that successful financial representatives would ask more questions and use more stories in their client interactions than their unsuccessful peer group. A survey was conducted of financial representatives in their 18th -36th months from one Fortune 500 Financial Services Organization. In addition, interviews were conducted with a systematic sample of three successful and three unsuccessful financial representatives. The hypotheses were not supported by the research as the results were mixed and therefore inconclusive. Future research should incorporate a qualitative analysis of the caliber of questions asked and stories shared to determine effectiveness as opposed to sheer volume.

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