CLEAR framework for discovery
Michael Kitces’ CLEAR framework—Connect, Listen, Explore, Articulate, Refine—is highlighted as a structured way to uncover deeper client values beyond surface goals, not just numbers. Framing discovery around values helps convert prospects who care about purpose and lifestyle, not only returns. (x.com)
Kitces.com published a detailed “5‑Step Discovery Meeting Framework” on March 18, 2026, credited to Senior Financial Planning Nerd Sydney Squires. (kitces.com) The article breaks the framework into five explicit steps named Capturing the Goal, Learn the Client’s Current Approach, Examine Emotions, Acknowledge and Confirm, and Reveal Additional Context. (kitces.com) Rather than reduce each step to a single prompt, the Kitces post uses descriptive actions to guide what to ask and when during a discovery meeting, including timing and expectation checks in the “Capturing the Goal” step. (kitces.com) Kitces offers a companion training course titled “Facilitating a (More) Effective Discovery Meeting Process” that provides 6 hours of CE credit and lists CFP, CPE, IWI, American College, and NASAA IAR P&P approvals. (kitces.com) A concrete scripting tactic from Kitces’ related guidance is to open with vision questions to trigger the Positive Emotional Attractor (PEA), with example phrasing like “What does an ideal retirement look like for you?” in a post dated April 9, 2025. (kitces.com) An earlier Kitces piece from March 29, 2023 aligns discovery questions to the Transtheoretical Model of change and provides six staged questions—plus three targeted questions designed specifically to address a prospect’s doubts. (kitces.com)
