I set up an Financial Road Map Interview™ with a client but the appointment, in his mind, is going to be like our previous appointments. It seemed jarring to him to launch into the Values Conversation™. He told me, very nicely, that his mind wasn't geared to think that way for this appointment and he really couldn't think of anything to say. I told him there were no wrong answers and that this was a fun exercise. We tried again and he was still stumped. I set it aside but wanted to know if there was a more graceful exit to the process and a better way to prep my potential clients other than that I am upgrading my business model, etc.?
It's quite normal when you begin facilitating people through the Values Conversation™ that some are easier than others. I am concerned, however, that you might develop a limiting belief that men have more difficulty going up the Values Staircase™ than women. This is NOT true! Consider every Values Conversation™ valuable in its own right and also a good lesson and practice for making you more effective at conducting future Values Conversations™. Whenever a person is struggling to think of an answer to the last “What’s It All About… To You?” question, simply relax more: smile, sit back in your chair and assure them that they have all the time in the world to reflect on what's important to them. Make sure your pen is sitting on the desk top, rather than in your hand, and keep your hands and feet still, rather than tapping and fidgeting. Make sure there is a long pause before the "To You" portion of the question: What's important about... FREEDOM........... to you? Make sure your face...
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.
I've been having some difficulty in the values conversation with clients not going "higher" than basic needs. It almost seems like I need to cue them that it's OK to go beyond money and that I want to hear about the things that are really important to them. They seem to not understand that and there's nothing in the script to let them know that. To be honest, I’ve deviated from the WIA__TY and the associated framing/bridging framework in order to have clients understand what the exercise is really about...I found it frustrating to keep hearing that money is important to pay bills without anything deeper or more important. Please share your thoughts on these several issues.
Try projecting them into the future w/ this language, “Let’s say you in a place where paying your bills is completely taken care of…. what’s important about being in that position… to you?”
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