And they answer the phone during your meeting? Wow, is that rude! Hopefully you say something when they do that so it’s clear that it’s not polite and not acceptable. If you feel the need to say something in advance, it could sound like, “I have asked my assistant to hold all of my calls while we are together and you need to do the same. Please turn off your cell phone.” In the case, where they might have a real emergency call offer to leave their cell phone with your assistant who will answer it for them in a professional manner, determine if the call is an emergency, and interrupt the meeting in an event of a real emergency.

Yes. The phone appointment script is a little bit softer because you are not yet in a position to offer a “relationship with an advisor like me,” as in the Pre-Commitment phase of the Financial Road Map Interview™. When you are in the process of conducting the phone appointment you are helping the person to whom you have been referred get value from Values Based Financial Planning, particularly certain concepts in the book. When you are Face to face conducting the Financial Road Map Interview™ it is more about establishing a relationship and possibly hiring you to be their Trusted Advisor.

I would advise you to only work with people are committed to achieving their goals as evidenced by their behavior to want a plan and a Trusted Advisor to help create the plan and hold them accountable to implement that plan, thus improving the likelihood they will achieve their goals and fulfill their values. Keep in mind that Values-Based Financial Planning™ is not a sales system designed to convince people who are non-committal about planning to be committal. If after a couple candidly clarifies their goals, then defines their tangible goals, and then gets a clear snapshot of their current financial reality – discovering the absence of plan, getting a sincere offer from financial professional – you – to create a plan, help them implement the plan, and then hold them accountable to do everything they need to get their entire financial house in order and keep it that way forever…. Non-committal? NEXT! If you do what we teach you to do you will have an Ideal Client Community that...

First of all, only give it to them if they ask for a copy. Most don’t. Second of all, write the information down somewhere else so you have it to update their Financial Road Map® at the next Progress Meeting.

The most important part of your relationship with your clients is the same as the most important part of any coach/coachee relationship. It’s the ongoing accountability to make sure that your clients get everything done on your list of deliverables. And keep it done. Imagine a checklist of about 100 things that need to be done for a person to declare that they have their financial stuff completely together. It’s your job to make sure every one of your clients gets every one of those things done and keeps them done. One of the most important things that you must have a clear set or package of deliverables. These are the things you do for you clients. This is why we talk about building a deliverables team at every Academy 1 & 2 and Mark Little teaches how to create your deliverables at his Values Based Financial Planning™ Office program on the Monday following the Academy 2. The Financial Road Map® is the front-end part of the process and delivering the Values-Based Financial...

You don’t have the client fill out the fact finder. It’s a waste of their time. And as a Values Based Financial Planning™, above all else, you respect your client’s time.  You, or better yet, your assistant, or the planner to whom you delegate the writing of the plan, transfers the pertinent data from the client’s documents to the format required.

I would not disengage just because they are not an Ideal Client. I would disengage if they are not getting value from the Values Conversation™. This might show up in them being uncooperative or unable to answer the questions. In this case, simply tell the truth. It might sound like, “I have the impression that you are not getting much value from our conversation today and I don’t think it makes sense to continue. Your time is too valuable to waste on something that’s not working for you. Although we agreed to meet for an hour today, I propose that we cut this meeting short and that we both move on to something that’s a better use of our time. How does this sound to you?”

Just tell them the truth. It might sound like, “I have decided to take my business in a direction where I exclusively work with people who want to do comprehensive financial planning, are delegators – in other words people who will follow my advice and do everything I recommend pretty much no questions asked, and are willing and able to pay me $ / year for my services. I have the impression that the way I will be running my business from now on may not be a good fit for you. What do you think?” It’s very likely they will recognize that it’s time for them to move on and find another advisor and tell you so. Express your appreciation for having them as a client and agree to course of action for them to find a new advisor and time-frame for them to move their accounts and business to the new advisor. At Commitment to Hire: just don’t offer to be hired, instead say something like, “Well, I hope you got some value from completing your FRM today. You can take this with you and use it as a...

Because now you are putting the review of the quality of your work in the hands of an amateur and adding a very big burden of time and responsibility for them to do something they are not qualified to do: review and approve your work as a professional. Be confident that your plan will be excellent because you are a professional. Remember, the next meeting is called the “Implementation Meeting” and NOT the plan presentation meeting. I appreciate that you are new to Values Based Financial Planning™, the transition you are going through from presenting plans to implementing plans and shortening the process for the benefit of your clients is normal. You’re going to love it… and more importantly so will your new clients.

The All the Money Conversation™ is updated at every Progress Meeting. What does Mark Little teach in the Three Meeting Process™? A Financial Road Map® update meeting, which is mostly just a goal update. Are the goals still relevant? Do the dates need to change? Do the amounts of money need to change? I think that it is seldom necessary to re-do the Values Conversation™. I can't think of a scenario where I would re-do the Values Conversation™. I would trust my instincts based on the actual experiences between myself and the clients to determine this.

Recreate their staircases so that each spouse can hear what the other actually says during the Values Conversation™. It's a much better experience for both of them.

If you are doing this with friends you must be in practice mode. I wouldn’t worry about it.

You keep the Financial Road Map®. If they ask for a copy make them one.

You can use this script anytime during the Financial Road Map Interview™: I’m getting the impression that you are not enjoying or finding value in our conversation today. Even though we agreed to meet for an hour today, I propose that we end our meeting and each do something more personally valuable with our time than just trudge through something that isn’t working for you. What do you think? If it’s during Commitment to Hire Conversation™: Just don’t offer to be hired, instead say something like, “Well, I hope you got some value from completing your Financial Road Map® today. You can take this with you and use it as a guide for making better decisions about your money on your own or find it useful in selecting the right Financial Advisor for you.

It’s the kind of good, accurate, powerful, and compelling word you would expect a financial professional to use.

Be polite and direct, for example, “We only need to work on one Financial Road Map® during our meeting today, so you can put yours away. I’ll relieve you of the writing responsibilities.”

In your usual gregarious style, say, “I’m really excited about this new tool that I’ve discovered to help us work even more effectively together!” Then follow the script to introduce the Financial Road Map®, in your usual gregarious style and in about a minute they will be talking about what’s important to them and you will be listening intently to their every word – in your best gregarious listening style. People LOVE to talk about what’s important TO THEM!

Completely detailed. Comprehensive. Everything. Regardless of someone’s age or economic position, there are 139 things that need to be addressed in order for them to have their financial house in order and keep it that way, forever. Life insurance and debt are two of them. I appreciate that you were trained to think like an asset-gathering investment advisor and I’m excited that you have discovered the real world of truly comprehensive financial services. Stay on the path that we teach and you will soon be acquiring new Ideal Clients from the plethora of Financial Advisors who think like asset-gathering investment advisors.

Assuming these are for existing clients, I would give everyone a gift of the Value Based Financial Planning™ book and have them schedule their Financial Road Map Interview™ appointments with one of your assistants BEFORE THEY LEAVE THE DINNER VENUE. All I would say is that you are excited about new ways you are learning to be of even greater service, you want them to have this book as your gift, and you look forward to meeting with each of them to help them experience first-hand what you are so excited about. If they want more details say, “it’s a surprise and you’re going to love it!” If anyone asks, tell them that they are welcome to read as much or as little of the book as they care to. Reading any of it is not a pre-requisite for the meeting. With a little luck you’re not planning to make them pay for their dinner by listening to another boring money manger or the latest economic update. Nothing ruins a nice evening over a good meal more than that.

No. Keep the originals. One of the great pleasures of having a truly trusted advisor, from the client point of view, is no longer having any financial documents.