How should I handle an existing Ideal Client who refuses to give me referrals during an Implementation Meeting? I am anticipating they will not give me referrals because they have not done so in the past.

Article ID: 155

Last updated: 20 Nov, 2019

Try not to project how people might respond to a Referral Conversation™ in the future based on your past experience. In the past, you also had not done their Financial Road Map® and were not implementing more comprehensive Financial Services as you are now. Now that the quality of the experience is better their enthusiasm to introduce to others may also be better.

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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.

I recently asked an Ideal Client to commit to the 3 meeting process by putting our next 3 meetings on the calendar. She replied, "Honestly that's hilarious! I don't even know what next week looks like". She left our meeting with only the next meeting on the calendar but I would like to get the other 2 meetings on the calendar. My reaction is to explain that to deliver comprehensive advice; that it helps to be totally organized with all my deliverables team well in advance. Is there any way to approach the comment or think about her response?

What do you think of this scripting when the prospective clients are talking in great detail: “I appreciate that you want to tell me the details about this, and should we decide to work together professionally, I will need to know more. For the purpose of this exercise, however, I just need to summarize the facts. I have 8 minutes budgeted for this. Would you be willing to give me a few minutes to go through your documents?"

I have several existing clients and prospects that have zero debt and range typically from $3-$10 million in liquid net worth. Many of them have believed in “Term and invest the rest” mentality and therefore don't like to discuss insurance needs and their term policies have expired. By this, I'm referring to clients who are past the accumulation phase and confident in their mind that they have been adequately insured and no longer need much insurance (I realize this may not be true), and have the notion typically to only buy term and put the rest of their money into savings. When we get to the Commitment to Hire Conversation™. Many of my existing clients have zero debt, more cash then they need to have sitting around (I realize this needs to be addressed), and don't feel they need much help with insurance. Therefore the step-by-step plan addressing these four areas only has one area where they typically want, or feel, they need help in creating a plan. I'm curious if it would it make sense to change the "What you get” discussion to something that could provide a little more value than the 4 bullets currently in the script? Can you please tell me perhaps a different word track then the Financial Road Map® script since two of the four areas are not of much interest to these types of clients?

We charge an Initial Planning Fee of $4,000. We also plan on charging a flat fee for the Three Meeting Process™, 5 Critical Reports™ and for helping them keep their financial house in order. When do we start charging the flat fee which we plan on billing quarterly? We are taking three weeks to get the initial plan done.

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