How Financial Planners Should Respond When a Client Wants a Second Opinion From Another Adviser
Here's the counterintuitive bit 💖: the planners who lose clients over a second opinion request are almost always the ones who reacted defensively to it. The ones who respond calmly and supportively very often keep the client — because the second opinion, once sought, tends to confirm the original advice was sound.
What Most Financial Planners Get Wrong
The instinctive reaction is to treat the request as a vote of no confidence and respond by re-explaining or re-justifying the strategy on the spot. This can come across as pressure, which is exactly the wrong note to strike when a client is already feeling uncertain enough to seek outside input.
The Script
"That's completely reasonable — it's your money and your plan, and getting another view is a sensible thing to do, especially for a decision this size. I'm happy to put together anything you'd need for that conversation, like a summary of your current strategy and why we recommended it.
Once you've had that conversation, I'd love to hear how it went and talk through anything that's come up — no pressure, just keeping the conversation open."
The Mechanics: What to Prepare
Have a standard, quick-to-produce summary of a client's current strategy ready to share — building this as a template saves scrambling under time pressure. Avoid asking who the second opinion is coming from; it's not relevant to how you respond, and asking can feel like scorekeeping.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Reacting defensively or trying to talk the client out of seeking a second opinion
- Making the client feel they need to justify wanting one
- Failing to follow up afterwards, leaving the relationship in limbo
- Withholding documents or information that would make the second opinion process harder
Frequently asked questions
Should you charge for preparing a strategy summary for this purpose?
Most practices treat this as a normal part of client service rather than a billable extra, since it supports the existing relationship.
What if the second opinion leads the client to leave?
That's a real possibility, and it's better handled with grace than resistance — a client who leaves after being treated well is more likely to return or refer than one who felt pressured to stay.
Is it appropriate to ask what prompted the second opinion?
A gentle, open question ("is there something specific on your mind?") is fine — the key is asking out of genuine curiosity, not to defend the original advice.
Does this apply the same way to long-standing clients as new ones?
Yes, though it can feel more personal with a long-standing client — the same calm, supportive response is still the right one.
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