A Little Humor May Help.

It does help.

When I worked at that law firm, I always felt I was Al  Czervik , the Rodney Dangerfield character from  Caddyshack  while the Managing Attorney was like Judge  Elihu  Smails  or maybe  Smails ' wife since the Managing Attorney was female. Regardless, I was always treated as if I didn't belong. Didn't matter if I brought in business or got my name quoted nationally or gave away U.S. Open tickets at Bethpage, the Mana ging Attorney didn't like me.

They were so serious there. Like the Joker in The Dark Knight, I always wante d to know: "Why so serious?" If you read my blog posts and articles, besides the grammatical errors, you probably notice the humor. Maybe I'm a failed comedian, but comedy here and there is my way of making the audience more comfortable when they have to digest some dense topics like ERISA and 401(k).

You should never take yourself too seriously. You shouldn't belittle what you do, but a little humor goes a long way in breaking down walls that might be placed up by an audience that feels they're going to be bored with what you're going to say in your role as a retirement plan provider.

Don't operate your business as a retirement plan provider as a stuffy country club. Marketing materials and discussions tinged with a little humor is a great way of breaking down barriers with potential clients who view talking about retirement plans the same way they think about going to the dentist.

It's one of the greatest lines in a movie and even my 11-year-old daughter knows it. Harrison Ford playing Richard Kimble finds the gun that Federal Marshal Samuel Gerard played by Tommy Lee Jones dropped in The Fugitive. Gerard's job is to track down Kimble. Kimble points the gun at Gerard and tells him he didn't kill his wife. Gerard said he didn't care because his job as a Marshal was to bring Kimble back into custody.

One of the biggest problems in dealing with clients is when they feel you don't care. While I've never come across a plan provider who told their plan sponsor client they didn't care, I've seen quite a few that let off an attitude that they didn't care. Whether it's the third party administrator that butchered compliance testing or the advisor who can't bother to visit the client at all,  there are enough plan providers who show clients that they don't care. Don't be that provider, don't ever give the perception that you don't care about your clients.