One of the most challenging life events for advisors to “get right” is acknowledging and supporting clients during loss. Kathi Balasek, a coach, consultant, speaker, and widow advocate, is on a mission to change that. Recently, she launched an AI tool called “Say It Right – Grief-Ready Scripts.” I respect Kathi’s work, love that we share a name (yes, that is how I spell my name when I am not being formal!), and was curious about her new advisor offering, so I reached out and asked her a few questions. Here is what she had to say.

1. Grief is a very human experience. Why did you develop Say It Right – Grief-Ready Scripts as an AI tool?

Because grief is so human, the words we use with someone in loss matter a great deal.

In my years of teaching financial professionals about grief, loss, and life transitions, I keep seeing the same thing. Advisors care deeply about their clients, but when something hard happens, they don’t know what to say, how to say it, and which communication mode is best.

Most advisors aren’t afraid of grief. They’re afraid of making it worse. So, they wait, and the waiting becomes the message.

Silence costs a lot at exactly the moment a client needs to know their advisor sees them as a person, not an account.

I wanted to close the gap between caring and knowing how to show that care. AI let me put grief-informed guidance in front of advisors now they need it, not months after a workshop they’ve half forgotten.

But I didn’t want to build another generic AI writing tool. Say It Right is built on my Grief-Ready curriculum, my communication principles, and research, with scripts made for these sensitive moments.

2. Why can’t an advisor ask ChatGPT what to say?

They can, but there’s an important difference. ChatGPT can help you write a message. Say It Right helps you think through the conversation before you write it.

Most advisors don’t know what they don’t know about grief. They may not realize that a phrase meant to comfort can shrink someone’s loss, that timing matters, or that different losses need different approaches.

You can’t prompt your way around a blind spot. If you don’t know a phrase that minimizes loss, you won’t know to ask AI to avoid it.

A general AI tool can write something polished that sounds compassionate. But polished doesn’t always mean appropriate.

Say It Right is built on the grief-communication principles I’ve developed over years of this work. It guides advisors through what matters: What happened? What’s your relationship with this client? What do you want them to know? How and when will you reach out?

Think of it this way. Anyone can search the internet for financial information, but that isn’t the same as thoughtful guidance from a skilled advisor. The same is true here.

The value isn’t in producing words. It’s in knowing which words are right, and why.

And the advisor is always the one who makes those words their own.

3. How do you hope advisors will incorporate this tool into their practices?

I hope it becomes a regular part of how advisors care for clients, not something they open only when someone dies.

Grief comes in many forms: losing a spouse or parent, divorce, a serious diagnosis, caregiving, and retirement. Each one is deeply personal, and each one usually has financial consequences.

Advisors are in a unique position to walk with clients through these changes. But they’re also busy. Advisors aren’t short on care. They’re short on time. A thoughtful message shouldn’t take 45 minutes and three drafts.

This matters more as wealth moves into women’s hands. Cerulli Associates projects that $54 trillion will pass first to surviving spouses through 2048, and more than 95% of it will go to women. Advisors need to be ready to build real relationships with women before, during, and after life’s biggest changes, and to support them through the financial choices that follow.

4. What are the limitations of Say It Right – Grief-Ready Scripts that users should be aware of?

The most important limitation is that AI can’t know a client the way their advisor does. It doesn’t know the relationship history, the client’s personality, culture, or preferences unless the advisor tells it.

Say It Right gives advisors a thoughtful starting point. It is not a message to send without reading. Advisors should review it, use their judgment, and adjust the words until they sound like something they’d naturally say.

The more context an advisor gives, the more personal the message becomes. But one of my goals was to take the burden of prompting off advisors entirely. That’s why Say It Right walks users through guided questions before it writes anything.

It also isn’t a replacement for grief support or mental health care.

5. As someone who trains advisors on the human side of finance, I am curious if you intend for this tool to replace instructor-led training?

Not at all. I believe the two are stronger together.

Training builds understanding, awareness, and empathy, plus the ability to handle emotionally complicated moments. A tool helps someone use that understanding when they’re at their desk, staring at a blank card, or deciding what to say before they call a grieving client.

Those are two different needs.

Say It Right helps close the gap between what an advisor has learned and what they actually do in that moment. It’s designed to work alongside good training, not compete with it.

6. If an advisor wants to use this tool, how would they go about getting it?

Advisors can learn more and get access at Say it Right – Grief Ready Vault.

Kathi Balasek is a grief-ready communication expert who trains financial advisors and firms in the language of loss. Widowed at 39 while raising five children, she experienced firsthand what it feels like when financial professionals get these moments wrong — and how much it means when they get them right. She left a 25-year career in academia to build what the financial industry was missing: a structured, repeatable framework for grief-informed communication. For more information, visit her website.