There are many forms that my clients must fill out. They are not something that can be done in the "let's take a few moments to make that happen" section. I need to prepare the paperwork and it takes more than a few moments. What I like to do is have the clients come back in to do the paperwork and go over any other information in the questionnaires I need. Then, after that, I will complete the plan and have the clients back in to go over that plan.

Article ID: 114
Last updated: 20 Nov, 2019

NO!!! It is not client- centered to schedule another entire meeting. Once the clients are in the office and want to hire you, complete the paperwork then and then proceed with Commitment to Implement.

Here’s my advice:

1. Review these “forms” and decide how much of that information they actually need to be present to complete. Our experience is that much of what needs to be completed can be transferred from the documents they brought with them for the meeting. Don’t make them write their Social Security Number and address on 3 different forms. That’s very irritating and poor client service. Hiring you is supposed to save them time, not waste it with paperwork.

2. After a thorough review by you and your administrative team members to streamline the process, decide how much time you need to schedule the meeting, including the Financial Road Map Interview™, and completing the documents necessary to hire you. Schedule your meetings for that length of time. If you don’t choose to be hired, or they choose not to hire you, the meeting ends ahead of schedule.

Also listed in
folder Financial Road Map® Misc.
folder Commitment to Hire Conversation™ -> Commitment to Hire Conversation™ Misc.


Others in this category
b I am struggling not discussing an ongoing fee in Financial Road Map® Meeting. During this conversation the clients ask me how much? The Financial Road Map® Meeting has been around 45 minutes so far and going well. I say $5,000 for the initial plan. They say what do you get? I then run through my 2 page letter of engagement which outlines upfront and ongoing service offering and takes another 45 minutes. After 1.5 hours I feel like the clients are tired and the "would you like to proceed” has lost its presence because of the meeting time. How do I avoid this? I would love to skip the letter of engagement all together, should I just briefly talk about deliverables team (which I have) best-in-class Subject Matters Experts. I am also struggling to understand in the Implementation Meeting how to address the ongoing fee is $1k-$3k per month and not go over the plan in any detail.
b I recently had a client say that she did want to hire me, but as she'd just paid a large legal bill and was in need of financial advice to create income from her assets she was unable to pay my usual up front $3000 fee right away. What do you recommend I do to test or create her commitment to follow through with payment and implementation such that I could confidently proceed to create her plan?
b I completed a Financial Road Map® with this gentleman and his wife. He loved the experience and was very excited to go ahead and have us create an action plan. We requested additional information needed to complete the plan. I then received this email (see below). How would you respond? Thanks. Morning, Michele and I had the opportunity to sit down with an investment adviser yesterday and discovered that Optimal Performance is not only an investment company but also a financial planning firm. Embarrassing for me, as we have worked with Diane for over five years and she has helped us manage a myriad of financial challenges over that time. To realize that I have not fully taken advantage of her years of experience her expertise was "uncomfortable" to say the least. That said, Michele and I have decided not to continue moving forward with Ideal Life and re-engage Diane since we are already paying for that service. Additional, I am sure you can appreciate that we do not want to put our relationship with Diane in jeopardy especially after she has been a cornerstone for us. I have reviewed our chequing account and as of Friday, our cheque has not been processed and we would ask that it does not happen. We are prepared to pay a small fee for the work to date (including the Value-Based book) and will issue another cheque to cover that amount. I can have that available when I come to pick up our binder. As you witnessed, we were ready to make the move to see the plan and realize this a disappointing news however this is the right thing for us and aligns with the values we hold true.
b In the Commitment to Hire™ script you say, "Would you like to hire us to create this plan for you?" I'm assuming that, as a solo practitioner with one administrative assistant, I'd say, "Would like to hire me" not "us." Or is there a reason to say "us"?
b At the end of the most recent webinar you gave an example of what you would say to a prospect who wanted to wait on doing a plan. One of the things you mentioned is that the advisor’s main benefit is not in the plan or any other technical work, but in the coaching and accountability. I hate to ask, but why don’t we include that in the script to make sure every prospect knows just what they are getting and why this will be different?
» More articles