37. Motivational Interviewing: Guiding Clients Towards Change Without Being Pushy with Jeremy Keil Artwork

Planning & Beyond®

Planning & Beyond® transforms how financial advisors approach client relationships by bridging psychological insights with practical planning strategies. Hosted by Ashley Quamme, a licensed therapist and financial behavior specialist, each episode delivers actionable techniques you can implement in your next client meeting.

Unlike traditional financial planning podcasts that focus primarily on technical aspects, Planning & Beyond® explores the behavioral and psychological elements that shape client relationships. Through in-depth conversations with leading experts in behavioral finance, financial psychology, and financial therapy, you'll gain evidence-based strategies to navigate emotional client situations, build lasting trust, and create more meaningful relationships.

Whether you're preparing for discovery meetings, helping clients through major life transitions, or looking to deepen client connections, you'll walk away from each episode with practical tools and confident approaches to enhance your practice. Join a community of advisors who understand that exceptional financial planning goes beyond the numbers.

Topics include:

Mastering discovery and prospect meetings
Navigating difficult money conversations
Understanding client psychology
Building trust and deepening relationships
Managing emotional client situations
Enhancing communication skills
Developing behavioral finance strategies
Supporting clients through life transitions

New episodes release bi-weekly. Subscribe now to transform how you connect with clients.

All Episodes

Planning & Beyond®

37. Motivational Interviewing: Guiding Clients Towards Change Without Being Pushy with Jeremy Keil

November 20, 2025 • Ashley Quamme

Text us to share what you found helpful!

You've been to those conferences. Every speaker says "the key to success is asking great questions" - then they stop talking. Maybe they give you one or two magic phrases, but nobody teaches you how to actually have these conversations.

In this episode, CFP Jeremy Keil breaks down motivational interviewing (MI) - a framework that transforms how advisors guide clients through financial decisions. Jeremy shares how he discovered MI through his wife (an elementary school counselor), invested in the training, and completely shifted his approach to client conversations. The result? Clients feel more empowered, make better decisions, and actually follow through on recommendations.

We explore the OARS framework (Open-ended questions, Affirmations, Reflections, Summaries) and why asking fewer questions often leads to better conversations. Jeremy shares real stories - including losing a life insurance client because he skipped the permission step, and helping a widowed client work through guilt about using life insurance proceeds for a family vacation.

This isn't about adding more techniques to your toolkit - it's about fundamentally changing how you show up in client meetings. Whether you're navigating discovery conversations, helping clients through major transitions, or presenting recommendations, MI gives you a structure to meet clients where they are emotionally while still delivering the technical guidance they need.

Jeremy explains how to balance the psychological depth of MI with the technical demands of financial planning, and how to guide conversations without interrogating clients. He also shares the surprisingly affordable training options available

If you've ever felt like you're talking at clients instead of with them, or wondered why smart recommendations don't translate to action, this conversation provides the framework you've been missing.

Resources and Guest Information:

Connect with Jeremy Keil: