Many financial advisors want to work with doctors, but most fail miserably. They send LinkedIn invitations that get accepted, only to be ghosted immediately after. They can’t set up appointments
After 15 years of helping financial advisors succeed in the medical market, I’ve learned to spot the difference between those who will thrive and those who will struggle. When a financial advisor reaches out wanting to hire me as their coach, I look for four specific qualities before I say an enthusiastic YES to taking them on as a client.
If they lack these qualities? I often direct them toward working with healthcare executives instead of clinicians. Here’s why.
Quality #1: They Are Cut From The Cloth of Service
The most successful financial advisors I work with genuinely care about doctors as people, not just a high-income prospects. They understand that doctors can smell insincerity from a mile away. After all, physicians spend their days reading people. They know when someone is genuinely interested in helping versus just interested in their money.
The best way to communicate to doctors that you care about them is to actually care about them. The best way to demonstrate value is by delivering value at every single encounter.
What happens when this quality is missing? Doctors shutdown. They become polite but distant. They’ll take your call but won’t engage meaningfully. You’ll find yourself having surface-level conversations that never lead anywhere because doctors can sense you’re just going through the motions.
Quality #2: They Are Genuinely Curious
Successful advisors truly want to know what’s happening in the life of the doctor. They’re much more likely to leave a conversation with a great question than with a great pitch. They understand that doctors will tell you exactly what they want and need – if you just ask the right questions and actually listen to the answers.
This curiosity isn’t manufactured or strategic. It’s authentic interest in understanding the unique pressures, challenges, and dreams that shape a physician’s life.
What happens without curiosity? You default to generic sales pitches that fall flat. Doctors have heard it all before, and they can tell when you’re reciting scripts instead of having genuine conversations. You’ll find yourself talking at doctors instead of with them, and they’ll politely disengage.
Quality #3: They See the Long Game
The advisors who succeed with doctors aren’t looking for quick wins. Their goal is to become the go-to person in the doctor’s dining room, in the surgeon’s lounge. They want to become so trusted and respected that whenever a new doctor enters these circles, colleagues automatically say, “You’ve got to see Jim” or “You’ve got to see Sarah.”
They understand that building this kind of reputation takes time, consistency, and genuine relationship-building. They’re willing to invest in relationships even when there’s no immediate payoff.
What happens when you’re focused on short-term results? You come across as pushy and transactional. Doctors can sense when you’re trying to rush them into decisions, and they’ll pull back. You might get a few quick wins, but you’ll never build the sustainable referral network that creates long-term success in this market.
Quality #4: They Harness the Power of Physician Evangelism
The most successful advisors understand how to get doctors to open the red velvet rope and provide access to other physicians. They know how to activate the law of reciprocity – doing something valuable for doctors that naturally creates a sense of obligation to reciprocate.
But it goes deeper than simple reciprocity. These advisors position themselves under a “veil of credibility” by associating with trusted voices in the medical community. They understand that doctors trust other doctors, and they leverage this peer-to-peer credibility to build their own reputation.
What happens without this understanding? You remain an outsider looking in. You might build individual relationships, but you’ll struggle to break into the broader medical community. Each new prospect feels like starting from scratch because you haven’t learned how to leverage the interconnected nature of medical professional networks.
The Bottom Line
These four qualities aren’t just nice-to-haves – they’re essential for anyone serious about building a thriving practice with physician clients. When I evaluate potential coaching clients, I’m looking for advisors who either already possess these traits or show genuine willingness to develop them.
The medical market rewards authenticity, patience, and genuine service. It punishes those who try to take shortcuts or treat doctors like any other high-net-worth prospect.
In the spirit of offering practical, helpful tools, here are 20 questions that will help you demonstrate curiosity and genuine care in your conversations with physician prospects:
Professional Journey and Purpose
1. What attracted you to a career in medicine?
2. What is the proudest moment you’ve had as a doctor?
3. If you could go back and give your medical school self one piece of advice, what would it be?
4. What’s one medical breakthrough or innovation that excites you most about the future of healthcare?
Values and Legacy
5. If you had a magic wand, what would you create?
6. What would you do if you found that an uncle you never met left you $300 million?
7. What kind of legacy do you want to leave both professionally and personally?
8. If money were no object, how would you spend your time?
Personal Insights
9. What’s something most people don’t know about being a doctor that you wish they did?
10. Outside of medicine, what’s a skill or hobby you’re passionate about?
11. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received, and who gave it to you?
12. If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Life Perspective and Growth
13. Up to 70% of physicians reported experiencing burnout during the pandemic. Were you part of that group, and how did it impact your life?
14. What did you learn about yourself, your money habits, and your wealth-building approaches during the pandemic?
15. What’s one thing you believed about money early in your career that you’ve since changed your mind about?
16. If you could work anywhere in the world for a year, where would you go and what would you do?
Family and Future
17. What traditions or values from your childhood do you want to pass on to the next generation?
18. How do you define “financial freedom” for your family?
19. What’s one experience you want to make sure your family has together?
20. If you retired tomorrow, what would you miss most about practicing medicine?
Try a few of these questions, and let us know how they work for you!