What is the best course of action to take when a prospective client comes in with no financial documents when they have been asked specifically to bring them in? What if they have driven a very long way for the meeting?

Article ID: 116

Last updated: 20 Nov, 2019

How far or long they drove is not relevant. You had an agreement with them that would show up prepared for the meeting so THEY could have the best experience possible. There is no meeting without the documents.

This does beg the question, “who was accountable on your team to make sure they clearly understood what they needed to bring, they agreed to bring it, and this was confirmed a day or two before the meeting?”

Is it their fault for reneging on their agreement or your sloppy business practices to blame?

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I fully appreciate the script and I am incorporating that as part of my Old World New World™ Conversation. My concern is that most of my clients have come to know me as a gregarious Financial Advisor and are used to some of the relationship building that comes when they first come in the office as we engage in conversation about some of the personal things going on in their lives. It will be obvious to them that something has changed if we suddenly stop with the pleasantries and jump in with the Old World New World™ conversation. I am okay with that conceptually but need help making the transition so they do not feel put off in any way.

In a Financial Road Map® with a potential client we got to Commitment to Hire™. The husband said that he had a pretty good handle on everything and most of their finances were in his head. In going through what we do, I saw many flaws in their financial plans. In the end I asked the question regarding, “on a scale of 1 - 10…” The husband was an 8 and the wife was a 6-7. What would you say when you can see many flaws in a prospective client’s current planning and when there is a difference in the partners’ opinion on their financial house position? The husband is a lawyer and after hearing your latest webinar can understand why they may not be good fit. The husband said they needed some planning but not at the fee I had set. The potential clients could see the value for “certain people” for this service however cost seemed to be a major issue for them. These people fit my Ideal Client Profile.

What is the script for reviewing and / or redoing their Financial Road Maps®? Do I re-read their values and then slip into asking if they have more to add before proceeding onto their archived goals that need revised target dates and goals that need to be added? I feel uncomfortable just starting with a new blank Financial Road Maps®.

How long will it take me to get as good as a 9-year old?

A former client referred a guy (call him Bill) to me a couple weeks ago. Bill and I spoke on the phone and scheduled an appointment at my office, at which I intended to complete a Financial Road Map® for him. Bill arrived without the documents I asked him to bring. He had actually completed a Financial Road Map® many years ago but was not working with that advisor. As I started through the script, he was reluctant to proceed. I told him that I wasn`t interested in wasting his time and that we could end the appointment. He said he wanted to ask questions of me first and then we could later complete his Financial Road Map® - presumably if I answered his questions well enough. If I was at the point in my Values-Based Financial Planning™ journey that I was only accepting Ideal Clients, I probably would have not even started the meeting because he failed to bring his documents. However, prior to that time I need Survival Clients. So how do I handle the `I have questions for you before we get to the Roadmap stuff`?

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