When building our house I came across some people who ran successful businesses. I do not, however, know them that well. What would be a good script for talking to these people where I don't know much about them, they may not even remember me and I don't want to come across the wrong way when I talk to them.

Article ID: 417

Last updated: 20 Nov, 2019

If you don't think they will remember you have crossed the line to a cold call, or very close to being a cold call. We don't recommend cold calls.

Check out the Self-referral flow chart on www.committedadvisor.com. 'Step 1: Opening and the purpose of the call.'

You have to at least know enough about a person when you call them to justify the call and open the conversation. If you don't, don't make the call.

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I am doing a client event soon and I am extremely new to the Values-Based Financial Planning™ process. I will have about 100 clients and guests there to discuss the first half of the year and what we are looking at in the second half. Is there anything I should mention to the clients as a whole about how I have initiated this Value-Based Financial Planning™ approach, or should I save that information for one-on-one meetings?

Presently, I offer a College Planning Workshop. This workshop has produced a steady stream of clients. Now I want to upgrade my practice and one way to do so is to offer the first meeting with potential clients as the Financial Road Map Interview™. I can see that a stark revision would be to offer a 20-minute phone conversation before we set the meetings. Is this script OK for inviting groups? "We offer a complimentary consultation which is a process designed for you to make the best possible choices about your money that are in alignment with your most important goals and most deeply held values. After today’s workshop, you are invited to schedule your appointment." Should I just jump to the 20-minute telephone interview before inviting them to my office for a meeting?

It has been just over 12 months since I bought a client base of neglected clients. Over the holidays I have had time to consider where I am at in the context of Values-Based Financial Planning™. The situation is that I am still struggling with the question of who do I offer a Financial Road Map® to. I feel I must offer an appointment to these acquired clients to discuss their current accounts (whatever they may have), I can’t extract any value from them or increased revenue from them otherwise. I cannot ignore them and only offer an appointment to those who want a Financial Road Map® which is what I took from Bill’s response to a question last year. The initial contact with them is effectively a cold call given the neglect they had by the previous adviser, therefore impossible to offer a Financial Road Map® as no trust or relationship is in existence. The apathy and attitude towards an adviser from the majority of these people made it such that my assistant’s success in getting people in to just review what they had was less than anticipated. I could count maybe 10 appointments over 3 months he arranged and at a guess I know of three that cancelled or didn’t show up. In the context of the ‘Ideal Client,’ I am seriously questioning whether I presently have a client base of the wrong type of people to be able to afford the service and to be able to mentally connect to the philosophy required to be an Ideal Client. If this is the case, then where do I get an Ideal Client from??? In speaking with Shane Hatch he mentioned that in his experience the person would probably need to have at least $500K in investible funds to be able to afford the program. And I would tend to agree to an extent. This would rule out every one of the clients I purchased. I am thinking that the process I use may have to change to something as follows: 1. Invite each client in to review what they have and discuss this. This allows them to meet and maybe gain some trust and I can get a feel for them and their position. 2. After reviewing what they have, offer two options, to provide advice on what they have or anything else I pick up during the meeting, or, if I think warranted, offer a further appointment to undertake a Financial Road Map®. In the discussion offering the Financial Road Map® I explain what my business is about and they get a feel for what I do and not the perception of just being an ‘investment’ or ‘insurance’ adviser. The end result is that I get a win either way and re-engage with them. I have some competing interests at play here that is difficult to work around. Firstly I have lost a lot more clients than budgeted for in the first 12 months (in fact a lot had cancelled before sale) and expected income is well below what was purchased. So I am trying to maintain this income or increase it any way possible by any amount to make the loan I have a worthwhile exercise. This is competing with wanting to deal with more engaged clients that want a meaningful advice relationship that is comprehensive in nature; those that have some money and the ability to make changes and can pay for service. Can you give some advice as to how I deal with these people and secondly how I source Ideal Client if this isn't the solution I thought it was?

When I attend self-referral functions and events and I am able to go deep and put the offer on the table, some of these people believe that they have everything in order and seem to be very organized and know exactly what they want to do with their life, or they say that their accountant does all that . I believe they would gain benefit from the concepts of Values-Based Financial Planning if they had a chance to understand what Values-Based Financial Planning was and may reconsider their own arrangements. Do you have any coaching that would help move these people to the next step in the process, that is accepting the book and a 20 minute conversation over the phone?

When I am calling prospects (not clients) that are already in my company's database, is it better to use the Self-Referral Process or the Financial Road Map® scheduling script?

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