I wouldn’t do all that. First of all, when someone asks for more time, stand up, walk to the door, and say, “No problem. I’ll just leave you two alone for a few minutes to talk it over.” And exit. Come back in 5 – 8 minutes and don’t be surprised if they are ready to go. They may have just needed a few minutes alone. Don’t assume that “think it over” means they have to leave and get back to you days or weeks later. Often a few minutes alone is all they need. Secondly, if when you come back and they do, indeed, need more time, fold up the Financial Road Map® and give it to them. Ask, “How much time do you need?” And schedule a phone appointment for them to tell you whether or not they want join your Ideal Client Community.

Consider just leaving them alone in your office for about 10 minutes to talk it over in private. Often this is plenty of time. If it’s not enough time, schedule a phone appt for a day or two later for them to tell you what they want to do. Instead of the sending a summary letter, let them take their Financial Road Map® with them. If they want to become a client they can bring it back. Remember, you are building an Ideal Client Community. The Financial Road Map® is not a sales technique to close people on hiring you. It’s a tool to help you filter out the wrong people and attract in the right people for your Ideal Client Community. Trust the process. Be a Trusted Advisor.

There is no “thinking about it” after you have done a Financial Road Map®. They are either in or out during Commitment to Hire™. I suggest that you listen to your recordings of your Financial Road Maps® and listen for what you might be missing during the Values Conversation™, Goals Conversation™, All the Money™, and the questions you ask before you do Commitment to Hire™. It should be a rare instance when you offer to be hired and they don’t want to hire you. So you would rarely, if ever, have an instance where they want to “think it over.” If they say that after you pose the Commitment to Hire™, stand up and, as you are walking out of the room say, “No problem. I’ll leave you two alone for a few minutes to talk it over.” Come back in five minutes and see what happened. We’ve been teaching this for years, and usually they just want a moment alone to confer that they are on the same page about wanting to move forward with you.

A truly Ideal Client is happy to pay your fee.

Ask clarifying and expanding questions in response to their comment and in response to your questions. Go deep. They make talk themselves into working with you. You may also prefer a more direct approach such as: - Are you saying that you believe that I am better advisor who you believe would do a better job of helping you get your entire financial house in order and actualize what's on your Financial Road Map? If the answer is yes, then you might consider giving them a script or some talking points that will help them politely disengage from their existing advisor. It might go something like this, in writing to provide to them to use when they make the call or craft the email to their soon-to-be former advisor: "We appreciate the work that you have done for us in the past. We have come to the point in our life where we have decided to simplify our financial life. As such, we will be consolidating our financial affairs with one advisor so we can take full advantage of all of...

First of all, they don't meet your Ideal Client Profile. Ideal Clients hire you when you invite them to join your Ideal Client Community. So, the real question is, "how long and to what extent do you pursue non-Ideal Clients to try to get them to join your Ideal Client Community?" In the future I suggest that when they say they want to "think it over" that you say, "No problem. I’ll leave you two alone for a few minutes to talk it over.” Come back in five minutes and see what happened. We’ve been teaching this for years, and usually they just want a moment alone to confer that they are on the same page about wanting to move forward with you. As far as following up with these non-Ideal Clients, I wouldn't bother. At the end of the first conversation where they tell you they don't want to hire you, say something like, "I enjoyed meeting you and I'll leave my offer for you to join our client community open for another 2 weeks. Please don't infer from the fact that I will never call...

That's a great question! I think it will be very easy for you to quantify your Return on Investment in terms of quality of life. The benefits of having a Values-Based Financial Planner™ are freedom and confidence. The physical freedom from having to do the work to learn everything you would need to learn and do everything you would have to do to be your own financial advisor; mental freedom from worry, stress, and anxiety about your money; and the confidence that your financial choices are in alignment with your most important goals and your most deeply-held values. You will have the confidence that comes from getting your entire financial house in perfect order and keeping it that way forever and the confidence that comes from knowing that you will achieve your goals regardless of what happens in the financial markets, the economy, or world events. You have this confidence because you have a Trusted Advisor, that's me, supported by a Deliverables Team of Subject Matter Experts in all...

I think we covered this very well at the last Academy (January 2012 Academy 2). I suggest that you listen to the audio recordings about the Commitment to Hire Conversation™ where we discussed the use of the diagrams to make your points visually about what you do for your clients. These were the 3 Meeting Process™ and the Conceptual Deliverables Team structure diagrams. You might also use the chart (created by Mark Scorer) that illustrates cycling through the 143 Deliverables Check Points in the first 59 days and then cycling through them again as part of the 3 Meeting Process™ that follows the Implementation Meeting and Initial Progress Update meeting (the first 59 days). The written explanation from the Trusted Advisor Toolkit Kit™ about the 10 Client Deliverables™ could also be used, but it's a little text-heavy for my taste. If I felt that I had explained what we do well during Commitment To Hire Conversation™ already, then I might ask this question of the person who claims that...

There is no need to point out "flaws." All that matters is that they are not a ‘10’ and want to be. If they do not desire to be a ‘10’ and / or are unwilling to pay your fee they are not Ideal Clients. The sure sign that someone is actually an Ideal Client is that they hire you. That's what Ideal Clients do. If they did not hire you... they are not an Ideal Client... period. I believe you are in a degree of Ideal Client denial in that you want people who are not Ideal Clients to be Ideal Clients. This is understandable, but not acceptable. You must see people for who they really are, not who you want them to be. If you wanted to have some fun, you could ask the question, "If it's all in your head, what happens to your wife if something happens to you?" Or, ask her, "How do you feel about your financial future being in your husband’s head?" Or, say to him, "You're kidding, right? Are you really sitting here, with a straight face, justifying that you don't need to hire me because 'you...

In the spirit that, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," it sounds like the Commitment to Implement Conversation™ either didn't happen or could have gone better. My advice is to listen to the recording of the original Financial Road Map® Interview while you follow along with the script for the Commitment to Implement Conversation™ to see what you can do better in this area next time. Since it's too late to go back in time, I would suggest that you follow-up in a professional manner and hope that they respond positively and come in to implement their Statement of Advice. If they really feel that it's "spot on" and are truly Ideal Clients they will come and implement.

This is impossible. You can't show them the plan that they have not yet hired you to create. I suppose you could repeat that the plan is based on their Financial Road Map® and what they get when they hire you to create that, which is scripted into the Commitment to Hire Conversation™.

I agree with you, it can't take 45 minutes to answer the questions about the cost and what they get. Listen to your recordings and figure out a way to be more succinct. The fee is for the advice, not the plan detail.

I agree with you, it can't take 45 minutes to answer the questions about the cost and what they get. Listen to your recordings and figure out a way to be more succinct. The fee is for the advice, not the plan detail.

First of all, great job being in the game! You never know how people will respond, but you have to do the work, make the offers, and deal with whatever you get. Essentially, you can take one of 3 roads with an email response: Dear : I am glad you found value from your experience working with us and hope that it helps you make better choices about your money so you achieve your goals for the reasons that are important to you. There will be no charge for the work we've done together. Let me know how else I can be of service. ****** I'm not sure how accurate the following communication would be because I'm making up a few things to fill in gaps that I can't fill without more information, but you'll get the idea. Dear: Please forgive me. The fact you believe you can get the same services from an investment management firm who also does financial planning means I did a poor job of articulating the value to you of joining our Ideal Client Community. I apologize. ...