Do you have many advisors that meet at client’s houses during the transition to the ideal practice? If so, is there any wording that you would use in setting up those appointments?
Schedule all meetings at your office. We do not provide any coaching for what to do that’s not consistent with our process.
I recently conducted a Phone Consultation™ and it went well. However, when I asked "What do you think the value would be for you and your wife to have a complete Financial Road Map® that you build together? He replied "Well If I did not have an Advisor and have a plan, I could see value in it". I continued to offer to complete the Financial Road Map® for them (following the script) but he said "he would not want to waste my time since he already had an Advisor for 20 years that he was happy with" I let him know it would not be waste of my time if I could do something good for them; and it could only enhance the relationship with their current Advisor. He declined but thanked me. What could I have done differently?
Sometimes I think we work too hard trying to figure out how to get people to say yes to our offers. The bottom line is that in the process of getting clients, whether via Values-Based Financial Planning™ or some other method, people are going to say no. Accept it. The reason why they say no is irrelevant. No is no. In your journey to build your Ideal Client Community with Values-Based Financial Planning™ you might distribute 1,000 Values-Based Financial Planning™ books, thousands of Values-Based Quality of Life Newsletters™, and conduct hundreds and hundreds of Financial Road Map Interviews™. Trust the process and enjoy the fact that even for the many people who don’t ultimately become Ideal Clients there is the possibility, even the probability, that many of them got value even though they did not become clients. If in a year or two or three you will have a complete Ideal Client Community of people you truly enjoy helping to achieve their goals and fulfill their values. This...
Today I had a 15 minute phone appointment with, a guy who “gets it” and who wants to come in for a Financial Road Map® meeting. However, his wife doesn’t want to come to the meeting. These are existing clients and I have always met with just him. How should I handle this?
I would schedule a Values Based Financial Planning™ book phone appointment with the wife, do the Values Conversation™ and Quality of Life Enhancer Exercise® with her on the phone so she can experience for herself that the purpose of the meeting isn’t to discuss boring financial issues, but rather to help them plan their life and take the actions necessary to make it happen. This usually has a positive affect and she’ll be eager (or at least willing) to come to the meetings. She will likely appreciate the opportunity to talk about what’s important to her and have someone actually listen. The bottom line is that in your Old World, you met with one spouse. In your New World you work with couples to help them actualize their Financial Road Maps®. If they don’t want to do that then he has to find a new advisor.
Is there anything else you would suggest to be more effective in getting my existing clients in for a Financial Road Map Interview™?
Yes. Consider implementing more of the self-referral process. In this process you learned to discover things that are Meaningful, Important, Significant, and Compelling about your friend, family member, colleague or acquaintance. This relevant information helps them understand why scheduling an appointment with you is in their best interest. The other thing to consider is that you should not have to work very hard or sell existing clients on coming to see you for any reason. Why do they think calling you back is optional? You’re their Financial Advisor. I would think they would call you right back whenever you call for any reason. For those people who don’t call you back you can consider a sign from God they definitely are not and will not ever be Ideal Clients. On the other hand, if you really want to send a wake-up call to get them into your office and shift the relationship from something they consider optional to a more serious point of view, consider something like, “in...
I ask a prospect to bring in their documents and they state that they have a really detailed spreadsheet with everything on it.
What is a quick and easy response to help the individual understand why I need their documents and NOT a summary of numbers?
Documents are to financial planning what teeth are to dentistry. For the same reason that a person who is serious about their dental health brings their teeth to the dentist, a person who is serious about their financial health brings their financial documents to the meeting with the Financial Advisor. You can’t do your job unless they bring their docs. It is in their best interest to bring the documents. Tell the truth about this and the people you really want to meet with will schedule an appointment with you, gather their documents, and show up to their meeting with you prepared to meet with a real financial professional.
I am scheduling a Financial Road Map® Old World New World™ meeting with a very busy client and the only way to do Financial Road Map® is at his place of work which I know is not the best. Would you tell them I only meet at my office and risk the chance of the client saying no?
An Ideal Client meets with you in your office 3 or 4 times per year. If they can’t do that – for any reason – they are not Ideal Clients.
I am a new adviser with a company where I meet with a lot of people who currently own a product with us and I do a review on that particular product ,which is typically life insurance. Is there a smooth way to transition from the review into a discussion about the Financial Road Map®?
Call them up and say, “We have an appointment scheduled to discuss your life insurance. However, I don’t think this is a very smart approach to me truly being able to give you good advice. Instead, I recommend that you and your spouse come to my office and complete your Financial Road Map® Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 . Having Financial Road Map® will help you make better financial choices in all areas, in addition to life insurance.” From here you can follow the scripts in the Mastery Series™ for scheduling Financial Road Map® appointments.
How do you "pre-qualify" referrals prior to the initial Financial Road Map Interview™ to see if they will be a good fit?
You could either go ahead and conduct the Financial Road Map® and make your own decision about this Referral. Or, ask questions to see if they meet your profile.
I gave a Values Based Financial Planning™ book to a prospective Ideal Client during a business meeting. I set up an appointment with him, however part of the purpose of the meeting is also to explore how he can help me build my business. When we have the actual meeting, should I do the Financial Road Map® with him or have the referral conversation.
Always start with the Financial Road Map®. Why not schedule the appointment with him AND his spouse so he can really understand? First focus on helping him and then worry about referrals.
After a good telephone appointment with the husband we arranged to speak a couple of days later at a specific time once he shared his experience with his wife. When we spoke he mentioned that his wife did not believe there would be much value in meeting since they already had a financial advisor. Would it be appropriate to suggest that I offer to walk his wife through the same experience or do I professionally accept their decline to receive the gift of doing the face-to-face Financial Road Map®?
Offer to conduct the phone consultation with his wife, allowing her to have an experience similar to his before deciding that she isn’t willing to meet with you. Remember, the Financial Road Map® is not just about money: it’s about the future, setting goals and determining what’s important to them so they have a higher probability of actually living the life they want.
When prospecting to friends, frequently a friend will say that they don't want to work with me because I am a friend, that they would rather work with someone who isn't a friend. I have tried to get past this by suggesting that an adviser is all about trust, and it is easier to develop trust with a friend. However, this doesn't seem to work. The concern seems to be not wanting to disclose personal finances to a friend.
Yes. Do their Financial Road Map® with no strings attached instead of “selling yourself” to try to be their Financial Advisor. Even if they don’t bring their documents and you do the Values Conversation™ and Goals Conversation™ they will, if they should be clients, enjoy the Financial Road Map® experience and recognize that the combination of you and Values Based Financial Planning™ is something they will not be able to replicate with another advisor. You might even encourage them to interview other advisors to see whether or not those advisors have a process for helping them discover their goals and values so they can align their financial choices with them through comprehensive planning. Bottom line: don’t sell yourself so hard and the trust the process. Not everyone is meant to be your client, even some of your friends.
I had a great Phone Consultation™ and a client is scheduled to come in to complete the Success Road Map®. When he comes in, do I re-do the Values Conversation™ or just re-cap the Values Conversation™ and do Pre-Commitment™ ?
Yes, one option is to revisit the Values Conversation™. Start with a review of the values so far and then continue with What's Important About To You?, by inserting the final value the Client named during that conversation.
Is there a point at which I don’t request an Financial Road Map with existing clients (accounts too small, don’t want to work with them, etc).
Yes. Use your judgment. If you are fairly certain that an existing client does not and will not meet your Ideal Client Profile, it is okay to not set a Financial Road Map Interview™ with them. In Values-Based Financial Planning™, we strongly recommend that you assess your Existing Client list regularly for those Clients that are costly and plan to replace them with Clients with whom you want to work with. This is the principle behind creating your Ideal Client Profile. Keep the best-of-the-best and let go of the rest. Then, build a practice on purpose that only takes on Ideal Clients. You cannot achieve your goals, actualize your Success Road Map®, and live your Ideal Life by serving non-ideal Clients. However, this process does not happen overnight. You are transitioning your entire practice to one based upon Values-Based Financial Planning™, and that takes time and careful planning. This transition will happen in steps. It sounds like you are dealing with what we term...
For a client who declined a Financial Road Map® interview two months ago, is it OK to send a book and newsletter, followed by an invitation to do the Financial Road Map® again?
Yes. Use your judgment. While the Values-Based Financial Planning book and Values-Based Quality Of Life Newsletters are part of an Altruistic Biz Development strategy, you do not have to be altruistic with everyone. Just like a charitable person does not have to give money to everyone, you can be selective about who receives your gifts. The Rule of 168 dictates that being altruistic with everyone is not possible.
There are a number of people who do business with my agency that I don’t have much of a relationship with (other than they bought insurance from my agency and I may have been involved in their purchase). Would this be more of a self-referral option, or should I get a referral from the servicing staff member, or should I treat them as a client and just use the normal procedure?
Yes, it could be handled like a self-referral or it could be handled with the Old-World New-World™ process described in scheduling appointments in Mastery Series™ 1 with existing clients. Mastery Series 1: Pg. 29
Could you help create a script for our staff to use when calling to confirm both the Phone Consultation and Financial Road Map Interview™ to increase our chances of having the appointment kept and have the best possible experience?
"I am calling to confirm your appointment with on day at o'clock. In order for you to the best experience possible all you need to have handy is the copy of the Values-Based Financial Planning book that sent you. Do you have any questions?" Same opening to confirm the Financial Road Map interview... In order for you to have the best possible experience we sent you a checklist of things to bring to the meeting. Do you have any questions I can answer?"
Can you please help me with an appropriate Financial Road Map® appointment setting script that I can use with the clients in my tax practice?
We are expanding the value we provide beyond just doing tax work and I'm calling to schedule an appointment for you and (their spouse / partner) to come in to discuss it. (Any further details, if needed, for this script can be taken from the Appointment Setting script in the Mastery Series 1 pg. 29)
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."
My friend, a CFO of local company, referred to me his mother, who just relocated to our community. He will be present at our Financial Road Map® meeting. He's a bright person, strong personality and a CPA. I have sent him a book because I would also like to do his Financial Road Map®. How do I keep control of the meeting in case he wants to interject his opinions during his mother’s Financial Road Map®?
Be clear about the "ground rules" in advance. This is HER Financial Road Map Interview™ and SHE will have a much better experience if he just lets her think and answer the questions for herself. I suspect most of his questions will be after Commitment to Hire, if you choose to offer to be hired.
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