I’m very new to offering financial planning and even newer to Values-Based Financial Planning™, how should I answer the question, “How do I know that you can deliver what you are promising?”
That's not the kind of direct question you're likely to get. More typically, they will ask you questions about how you do what you do and, at some point, they will either take the leap of faith and hire you... or not. All decisions are to some degree a leap of faith because it's hard to pre-determine the outcome of any decision. It is important that you are able to answer questions about what you do and how you do it with confidence and conviction. People regularly make their decisions as much by how you answer the question as the substance of the answer.
When making the calls to schedule Financial Road Map® interviews with current clients, I've received the same reply numerous times. The client will often say something to the effect that he/she needs to check scheduling with their spouse and will get back to me with a time that works for the two of them. I reply that it is fine and confirm when I can check back in. I then send an email to the client I spoke with to serve as a reminder. Is there anything else I should be doing? I imagine that pressing to set an appointment on the phone, with language like, “Let's set a time that works for you, you'll check with your spouse and we can reschedule if necessary” is too “salesy”?
Nope, not too "salesy" at all. That's a great way to handle setting the appointment... I would not refer to implementing an effective way to schedule an appointment that will benefit them as "pressing."
Going into my first Financial Road Map® interview, do clients ever ask or express skepticism/sarcasm at the, ‘What’s Important About…To You’ questions because it's just a fill in the blank formula. I ask because someone I practiced with asked this and I must admit that I felt a similar feeling. I know that the process works and gets to important values, but it feels almost too simple. Please offer your thoughts and perspective.
Not if you do it right. If you really care about listening to people talking about what's important to them, they will enjoy telling you what's important.
On the Financial Road Map® Interview Self-Evaluation Form, what does ‘we are/are not clear about the priority of each goal’ refer to? When are we supposed to discuss ranking the goals in order of priority?
This is only an issue if they do not, or may not, have enough money to achieve all of their goals.
I’m a little confused about the level of commitment we are expecting from a new client once they hire us. In the script and videos it seems that during the Commitment to Implement we expect that at the implementation meeting the client will follow all of the action plan items and sign all of the documents we have prepared for signature, no questions asked. However, on the most recent Webinar, it sounded to me that regardless of what we may have said at Commitment to Implement, at the actual implementation meeting, it is more of a “traditional” approach where we are presenting our “recommendations” and it’s up to the client to decide which items, if any, they implement. To sum up, it seems that at the implementation meeting the approach is much less “take it or leave it” than presented during the Commitment to Implement. Please help me understand.
The expectation is being set they intend to implement your advice. It’s okay if they have questions, but at Commitment to Implement is where you flesh out whether they just want options or really want advice. The evidence that someone really wants advice is that they commit to implementing the advice and then actually do.
If I’m calling a friend/acquaintance that I haven’t spoken to in a while what are your thoughts regarding catching up a bit before asking them for an appointment for the Financial Road Map® Interview? I haven’t been doing so, but it feels a little awkward because even though we don’t call each other socially and we are both OK with that arrangement, we now are on the phone so why am I treating this person as if he only a business prospect and not a friend/acquaintance that I haven’t spoken to in months? Would you answer change if the individual is an old prospect for life insurance?
Before you call, think about how this person or couple would benefit from having their Financial Road Map® completed so that when you offer to do it you can personalize the benefits for them. A great way to start the call is by saying, “The purpose of my call today is to catch up with you and see if the work we’re doing now, which is different than what we have done in the past, might be relevant and valuable for you. Tell me something good that’s happening in your life.” Yes, you want to catch up, but you want to keep the conversation on a higher level so when / if you offer to complete their Financial Road Map® you can connect the offer to something that’s meaningful to them
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