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`?

Article ID: 504

Last updated: 20 Nov, 2019

I appreciate your dilemma, however we only teach you to follow the process that we teach. During your Evaluation period we advise you to complete as many Financial Road Maps as you can. Try not to get too hung up on those people who don't want to participate in the Financial Road Map® and focus on those who do. As far as dealing with someone like Bill, consider the following:

"We have a process that has proven to be effective to help us both make a good decision about whether or not we should do business together. I think you will find that the process answers most of your questions. If you still have questions after we build your Financial Road Map® I'll be happy to answer them. Will that work for you?"

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Could you help create a script for our staff to use when calling to confirm both the Phone Consultation and Financial Road Map Interview™ to increase our chances of having the appointment kept and have the best possible experience?

I have a client who I have never met with, and I spoke to him for the first time to schedule a Financial Road Map Interview™. He told me that he and his wife were too busy to meet because of their hectic work schedule, but he wanted me to mail him literature on the Financial Road Map®. What do I do in this situation?

Is there anything else you would suggest to be more effective in getting my existing clients in for a Financial Road Map Interview™?

I think I had reasonably good phone consult yesterday. When asking the question, “What would the benefit be for you and your partner to complete a full Financial Road Map® together?” The client said, “I don’t have an answer for that.” So I kept quiet for a little while and he finally said, “It could be valuable, however, not at this stage.” He had the sale of his main residence that was going to realize a large piece of capital and wanted to wait until after the sale to look at something. I had no problems with this. How would you have responded to this?

I am speaking with existing clients (some clients have only insurance or only investments or a combination of both) and I’m using the Financial Road Map® scheduling script for existing clients. When I say, “I wanted to let you know we are making substantial improvements to our business model… Etc.” The client responds, “We have enough insurance and/or my investments are OK.” What would you have said to keep the conversation on topic?

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