Can you please suggest an appropriate scripted reply, when my clients (often happens in the Values Staircase™ Conversation) ask me, "Are you a life coach or counselor?” I’m looking for a response that has a yes but we are also so much more impactful i.e. a wow factor that’s compelling, succinct and all about them.
"Nope. I'm just a really good Financial Advisor who will help you align your most important goals with your most important goals."
I am building a pool of groups I will approach to offer the Ideal Life PowerPoint (Self Referral) program. The script for the program is comfortable. Is there a script for how we would approach these groups to make the offer?
You "approach" the decision-maker for the group by referral. Ask your existing clients, friends, family, and colleagues who they know who is a decision-maker for a group where you could make this presentation. Can you guess what you do next? That's right, you ask questions to determine whether or not contacting this person is RELEVANT. You use the same questions (following the same process) you would ask for an individual referral and introduction. What else would you do following the process that you have learned and applied to this situation? Would you have your client, friend, family, member or colleague make a warm introduction to the decision-maker? You're learning that the process is always the process. The situation may be somewhat different, but the process, the steps in the process, and the sequence are the same. See the self-referral flow chart. In this case the offer is the group self-referral (Ideal Life) presentation.
I am in self referral land, and I've had a few occasions when I've been treated like a salesperson (I've already got an investment guy, you're a money guy, etc.). What is your compelling response to that?
It is the same you would have with a referral who says, "I already have an advisor," (see script for follow-up call in Mastery Series 2) because you have made the same offer. The offer being to give them a copy of a book that contains some concepts and ideas that will help them , , and (fill in the blanks with what they just told you matters to them) and have a conversation with them on the phone about how the concepts in the book will help them , , and . Ask your questions, make a deep emotional connection, make the offer, answer their questions, give them the book, and schedule their phone consultation. Or not. Next. I can't help but wonder, however, if you are really getting meaningful, important, significant, and compelling information during your self-referral conversation and then using that information effectively when you make your offer. Remember to go deep to make an emotional connection and then make the offer. It's hard to imagine many people refusing your gifts. ...
I have just started implementing the referral process which has been the hardest thing to implement. I am still trying to get it right. One of the first conversations I had indicated the benefits of the process were sense of security, takes the doubt away and provides more certainty. When asking who you would like to give that gift to, the clients indicated they did not talk financially among their friends. Although I know this person being a retired doctor, has plenty of people I could speak to, suggested they were down the pecking order and I think were afraid to refer these people. Although one runs an investment business, which I would not think is an Ideal Client for me. I had to explain the process a little more and eventually suggested that I would follow up on the phone, which is this Friday. What would you suggest is the best way of handling this situation to extract referrals?
I have several thoughts which might help you be more successful in building your business / adding Ideal Clients by referral only. Mindset / Way of Being: Consider the question you asked at the end of your explanation about your situation, "What would you suggest is the best way of handling this situation to extract referrals?" I recognize that you didn't intend anything negative in the way you asked the question, however the words we choose represent how we view things internally. Consider the word "extract" for a moment. Is it possible that the reason some people are not warming up to the idea of introducing you to their friends, family, and colleagues is because they feel like you are trying to "extract" referrals from them? What if your thoughts about the referral process were more altruistic? Might this shift your way of being during the referral conversation, thereby shifting how your clients think about introducing you to their friends, family, and colleagues? Give it a...
I have been given the opportunity to give a 10 minute presentation to a group of people. I need 20minutes if I were to go through the recommended ideal life group presentation. Do you have any thoughts on what I should focus my time on in the presentation?
Tell them why giving you 20 minutes will be worth it for the group. Then follow the process we have given you. A 10-minute group referral process does not exist. If you can't get the time you need to accomplish the task, don't accept the invitation. (Analogy for why this should be an easy decision: If the pilot on your next flight to America was told that he would only be given enough fuel to get halfway there, what would you hope he does: (s) Accept half the fuel and do the best he can with a water landing in the Pacific Ocean or (b) Only agree to fly a plane that has enough fuel to get to the destination?)
I am now in the CAP program. Out of the 60 existing households I have 10 Ideal Clients. These clients have all been with me for 8+ years. For lack of a better word I've worn out my referral welcome with these folks. I'm in Rotary, Lions, Chamber of Commerce, and some other social networks. Of the many people in the Chamber I'm only familiar with a few, so I feel like I have to at least go talk with each person to get a self referral, find out a little about them and introduce myself since we have never met in person. I'm not having a lot of success with this in converting people to Ideal Clients. Most of my Ideal Clients are retired and not still working. I've finished all aspects of my Deliverables Team and trained a new internal staff since the last academy. To be bluntly honest I have time blocked time on my calendar for client acquisition, but just don't feel like I have a qualified (and I stress that word) list of candidates to call on for the process. Based on the 113 Ideal Clients I will need I'm going to have to call on almost 1,000 people to reach my goal of 113 Ideal Clients. I'm really struggling and would greatly appreciate your input on where I’m going to get all of these people? For our service to make sense they have to have a minimum of $500K, but really would be better for $1M+. I could call on people all day long with no money, lack there of, or a couple hundred thousand, but it would be a real waste of my time, yours, theirs, and my families time, because it won't create any REAL results even if they have a good experience.
First of all, relax, you're really just getting started. You have yet to attend your first Academy 2 and it's unlikely you have had Progress Meetings with your 10 Ideal Clients following the Referral Process that we teach. As you build your skill and confidence with our process your 10 Ideal Clients will participate in the Referral Process because they know people who can benefit from knowing about Values-Based Financial Planning™. Second, get even more clear about your Ideal Client Profile and your Predictable Minumum Annual Recurring Revenue (PMARR). If your PMARR is not at least $10,000, raise it. And then determine how many Ideal Clients you need. It's probably fewer than 113. There is no asset minimum. All they have to do is be willing to pay your PMARR $10k + for you to be their Trusted Advisor to.... (see the VBFP value proposition written below). Third, get busy having Referral Conversations, making Follow-Up Calls, doing Phone Consultations, and conducting Financial...
Another Trusted Advisor and I are planning to get a sample of our Ideal Clients (husbands and wives) together for a cocktail party. Say 3x2 each - total of 12 people plus ourselves. The purpose is to really question whether the VBFP full service and our communication are the same - the 3 meeting process, being part of the Ideal Client Community, 144 point checklist, the 5 critical reports, etc - is working for them. Are we getting our message across or is our enthusiasm remaining with us? Sort of a Client Board of Review. What's working for them and what is not! If it is working, why then aren't our Ideal Clients referring more friends and colleagues to have a Financial Road Map® experience? The cocktail party is a genuine attempt to understand, learn and improve where there are gaps. Not just a subtle push for referrals! So, my questions are - do you think such a meeting would be productive? How would you frame the invitation? How would you stage manage the cocktail party? Are there any "scripts" that might be useful? And any other questions I can't think of yet!
I like the fact that you are thinking about really getting to the bottom of what your Ideal Clients think and feel about your service and what has to happen for them to refer, if they are so happy with the work you are doing and like being an Ideal Client. What you are describing sounds like a Referral Conversation with cocktails. Why not just have a really good referral conversation with them, either at the end of their next Progress Meeting or schedule a separate Referral Conversation meeting? The benefit of doing it with the individual couples is that it's easier for them to "go deep" about the value of their experience working with you when it's just the two of them. For those who are reluctant to refer you are likely to hear the same excuses in a group that you would hear one-to-one. The bottom line is that are going to have to be very good at responding, whether in a group or one-to-one. What are the most common excuses you get from your clients who don't want to refer? What...
As I have one Ideal Client, I’m in self referral land, and not doing well. What / where would you suggest I go to meet more people?
Any place where people gather who are doing things that interest you that provides the opportunity for conversation. Ask your one Ideal Client what organizations they are involved in where they could introduce you the people there.
I spend a fair amount of time practicing responses to clients who we are starting the Referral Conversation with. Your recent webinars have been vey valuable. So far I left the first Referral Conversations in Progress Meetings with the client with the view I expect them to bring names of people we can introduce VBFP™ to at the next appointment. Would it be beneficial to send a letter prior to the next progress meeting to remind them to bring names of people we can introduce VBFP™ too with perhaps an explanation of what we would provide. If so what would be the content I should place in this letter?
I don't think this is a separate letter, but it might be one of the agenda bullet points in whatever you send to a client to prepare them for the Progress Meeting. You might consider not waiting 4 months for the next Progress Meeting and scheduling an appointment for the sole purpose of doing the Referral Process in a couple of days or a week. It really doesn't take 4 months to think of people to give gifts to.
Would it be wise to send a cover letter with the Values-Based Quality of Life™ Newsletter as an introduction and informing the referred party that they will be receiving eight copies of the Values-Based Quality of Life™ Newsletter. If so, do you have a template or possible thoughts on what you would include in such a Values-Based Quality of Life™ Newsletter cover letter?
This is not necessary. And stop over-thinking the details.
I'm going to start cold calling companies in my area to try and present the Ideal Life Group Presentation to their employees during their lunch break; a 'lunch n learn.’
I've come up with a basic script to use when making the initial call and I was hoping if you could run your eye over it to see if you think it would be OK or if you have any suggestions.
Don't make cold calls. Ask your clients to introduce you to people who make decisions and approach them by referral.
I could really use your help with how I can go get clients without firing my Ideal Clients who don't give me 100 referrals or cold calling a list of people from my organizations that I do not know.
I have 10 Ideal Clients, all of which all are previous clients. Frankly they are just now seeing the benefits of the difference between the Old World and New World as we added a lot of value and met regularly in the Old World. I have received referrals from almost all of these clients in the Old World. I am getting new referrals from these Ideal Clients, but not 100-200 per client. I am only getting one to two per referrals per meeting, per client. I understand the ‘In or Out’ theory, however, I don't have the financial freedom yet, to fire all 10 of my Ideal Clients if they don't give me 100-200 names.
You should not have to threaten to fire them for them to be excited about introducing you to everyone they know who could benefit from knowing about Values-Based Financial Planning™ and you. There is a HUGE amount of room between the two extremes them being reluctant to refer you to everyone they know or ending the relationship. Operate in the "space" between those 2 extremes. Follow the script / process, go deep, and ask the question, "with whom would you like to share the gift of inner peace, greater marital harmony, and more confidence about the future?" (Fill in the blank with what your client told you is their emotional payoff of working with you.) If they can't think of anyone or only offer a couple of referrals, ask, "Let's go about this from a slightly different point of view. Let's consider everyone you know and discuss why they should NOT have Values-Based Financial Planning™ put in their world. I see you brought your phone. Open your contacts to 'A' and tell me the name...
I am in a number of organizations; Rotary, Chamber, other service-type clubs. I have conducted a number of Financial Road Map® Phone Consultations and some in-person meetings with the people in these groups. However, there are a number of chamber members I have never met. There are some other service club members with whom I have never had a meaningful, important, significant and compelling conversation.
Prior to the last academy I had scheduled time on my calendar to call all the chamber members and self-refer. My coach suggested I need to be calling people whom I have met in person and with whom I have had a meaningful conversation and I agree. He also suggested that I go get involved in things I am passionate about where people have money. Our community is mostly a retirement community and they play dominos, bridge, and golf, and attend social clubs and service clubs. I am not passionate about most of these things and a number of the clubs are age restricted to those of senior age.
My coach also suggested that I look into Facebook & LinkedIn, but most of our base is retired, and a number of them don't even have a Facebook page. Some barely do email and some don't even own a computer.
I want and am willing to GO GET CLIENTS, but I am really struggling with who, where, when to go to self-refer and get clients.
Listen to the recordings from the January 2011 Academy 2 and review the corresponding slides about Self-Referral. We covered this in GREAT detail and everything you need to develop an effective self-referral process is there. You can call virtually anyone you know and strike up a conversation that could lead to a self-referral. My experience is that if you are "wimpy" with your existing clients in referral conversations that you will be wimpy implementing the self-referral process. Your goal should be to improve your expectations and your confidence in having Referral and Self-Referral Conversations with anyone, anytime, anywhere.
I have an Ideal Client who has given me referrals but has not contacted the referrals for permission to send the books, newsletters, and follow-up call. What’s the conversation to have with the Ideal Client so that they will follow through and contact the referrals so that I can finish the process?
See page 5 & 6 of the Implementation Meeting Referral Conversation™ script and pages 5-7 of the Progress Meeting Referral Conversation. To locate the most current version of the scripts above, please login to www.committedadvisor.com and follow the path below: Home > Resources > The Referral Process Documents & PowerPoints > The Primary Referral Process You will see two (2) scripts under ‘The Primary Referral Process’ 1. End of Implementation Meeting Referral Conversation™ (Please review, specifically pages 5-6) 2. End of Progress Meeting Referral Conversation (Please review, specifically pages 5-7) Two questions I would ask about the referral conversation 1. Did they clearly agree to contact their referrals (soon) and get back to you about sending the book(s)? 2. Did you email them a summary with clear instructions (as outlined in the script) of what to say to each referral using the M.I.S.C. information you gathered from them about the friends,...
What is the email template to send to the client after a Referral Conversation that the client can use as talking points when calling the person they referred to prepare them for my Follow-Up Phone Call?
After the Referral Conversation at an Implementation or Progress Meeting, send an email with a summary of the Referral Conversation. In that summary will be a few key things that are important for your client to share with the referral during that introduction to you. These key things are listed below: (Template for what you, the advisor, are emailing to your client for them to introduce you to their referral) 1. That you have asked me to send them a copy of Values-Based Financial Planning… no strings attached. 2. The reason you believe that their knowing me and about Values-Based Financial Planning will help have some positive impact on something that matters to them. 3. How knowing me, and about Values-Based Financial Planning, has impacted you by . (insert the earlier, deep emotional response from your client about the value to them) 4. That I am not trying to sell them anything. 5. Something favorable about my character or personality. (Not something about my technical...
Several times I've run into the situation where people to whom I've talked or sent the book have responded with a standard, "I'm too busy." My response is, "That's exactly why we need to talk on the phone (or whatever). So you can find out how to have balance in your life you won't have to say, ‘I'm too busy’.” How would you respond to, "I'm too busy?"
"Too busy" is the typical response that usually means, "I don't see the value because you didn't move me by articulating how talking to you connects with something that is highly important to me." Go back and check your conversation with the person who referred and every step in the process: 1. Did you get truly meaningful, important, significant, and / or compelling information about the person to whom you are being referred and introduced from your client? 2. Was the note on the book compelling? 3. How well put together were the talking points that you provided your client to prepare them for making an effective introduction? 4. How soon after your client meeting and referral conversation was this nicely "packaged" email forwarded to your client with these talking points? 5. What was the conversation like with your client when they called to tell you to send the book to their referrals? In other words, did you get something confirming that their referrals are expecting your...
I am planning a Client Event for the end of August. My plan is to invite several of my best clients, several of my best prospects and several of my referral partners and centers of influence and ask them to bring guests and I believe about 30 people will come. I have contacts with several non-profits. Would you advise holding the event in support of one of them and ask for donations or not? Or would that sully the social nature of the event?
You could go either way. If you handle it right it won't sully the social nature of the event. The possible risk is that the people who attend don't care about the charity and feel some social / public pressure to donate.
I have put together a list of people I would like to meet; a Six Degrees of Separation list, but I'm not sure of the purpose of the list and where to go with it.
What script do I use to contact these people? I know some of them through Church, and others I have never talked to.
Am I approaching the people on this list to eventually complete their own Financial Road Map®, or am I wanting to meet them to tell them about the new direction of my business and asking where they feel I could meet potential Ideal Clients? Or am I trying to meet the people on this list for both reasons?
You do three primary things with your list: 1. During the Referral Conversations, you ask your Ideal Clients who they know on the list well enough to make an introduction. "Well enough" is defined as your client being able to give you enough MISC information so you can be properly introduced with a note on the book, etc. 2. You ask everyone you know who might know a person on your list if they can make a proper introduction. 3. You show up at places / events where you might meet one or more people on your list so you can implement your self-referral process with them and possibly others who might meet your Ideal Client PMARR at the same event.
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