When prospecting to friends, frequently a friend will say that they don't want to work with me because I am a friend, that they would rather work with someone who isn't a friend. I have tried to get past this by suggesting that an adviser is all about trust, and it is easier to develop trust with a friend. However, this doesn't seem to work. The concern seems to be not wanting to disclose personal finances to a friend.

Article ID: 26

Last updated: 20 Nov, 2019

Yes. Do their Financial Road Map® with no strings attached instead of “selling yourself” to try to be their Financial Advisor. Even if they don’t bring their documents and you do the Values Conversation™ and Goals Conversation™ they will, if they should be clients, enjoy the Financial Road Map® experience and recognize that the combination of you and Values Based Financial Planning™ is something they will not be able to replicate with another advisor.

You might even encourage them to interview other advisors to see whether or not those advisors have a process for helping them discover their goals and values so they can align their financial choices with them through comprehensive planning.

Bottom line: don’t sell yourself so hard and the trust the process. Not everyone is meant to be your client, even some of your friends.

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Financial Road Map® Misc.

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Do you have many advisors that meet at client’s houses during the transition to the ideal practice? If so, is there any wording that you would use in setting up those appointments?

We are refining the process and scripting the AM uses when sending both an email and scripting on the phone when reminding a prospect of their upcoming Financial Road Map™ Meeting. The goal is to have the Financial Road Map™ meeting confirmed so it occurs. Would you send the email first, for example 3 days prior to the Financial Road Map™ and then also have the AM make the phone call to confirm the Financial Road Map™ meeting? How many days before the Financial Road Map™ meeting would you have the email and phone?

I conducted a Self-Referral and I have made many Follow-Up Calls without a return call to date. I believe I gathered good Meaningful, Important, Significant, and Compelling information and inputted it appropriately. When leaving a Follow-Up Call message after many attempts is there anything you would add to the Follow-Up Call script to try and get closure – to find out if they interested in a Phone Consultation™ or not?

The 'already have an advisor' question during the Follow Up Phone Call has a scripted answer (Mod.#5, p.103) that has not worked very well for me. Is it OK to use the script for the same question during the Phone Consultation (Mod.#6, p.43) as it addresses more directly the benefit of having a Financial Road Map® regardless of the advisor? [E.g. "That's fine. Then you'll appreciate Values-Based Financial Planning™ and having a Financial Road Map®. It'll enhance the work you do with your current advisor. You can compare your existing plan to your Financial Road Map®, and you'll know for sure that you're on track.]

Often, when I am engaged in Self-Referrals with high-net worth prospects, I will encounter a prospect who expresses some interest in Values-Based Financial Planning™, however, they will wander off into a conversation about another, non-related investment topic. What scripting suggestions do you have for this circumstance?

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