I’ve listened to many follow up call sessions and this has rarely come up, so I appreciate the question, but be careful about presuming that something you hear a few times in a short period of time is some kind of trend or something that will happen often. I would take him at his word and say something like, “No problem. By when do you think you will have finished the book?” Depending on how they respond, schedule the appointment or continue to explore giving them time to read the book and work toward scheduling the phone appointment for some time in the future after they have read the book.
Depending on how the discussion is going, I might ask something like, “Do you really want to read the whole book before you talk to me or are you just looking for a polite way to get rid of me? (With a sincere interest to know the truth and a Trusted Advisor way of being versus a sarcastic salesperson trying to be in their face.) Listen to what they say and take it from there. If they sincerely want to read the book and then talk to you they will work with you to determine a time-frame and set a phone appointment to have the discussion about how the book will have a positive impact on something that’s MISC to them. If they are just looking to get rid of you then you will have a difficult time getting a commitment from them. If it’s a put-off, it probably stems from their belief that you are not genuinely trying to add value and be of service, but that you are really just trying to sell them something.
What about you? Are you truly calling to be of service or are you selling? Listen to your recordings. If you’re not sure or you aren’t getting the results you want then talk to your ACC about hiring me to listen to your recordings. At the end of the day, remember your goal is to add Ideal Clients at the rate that will get you done, not get into an objection handling battle where you try to convince everyone that you get referred to be your client. Don’t get stuck and frustrated with the people who don’t get it. You build your business with those who do get it. Depending on your clientele and your proficiency with the process, you may get referred to many hundreds of people in the process of building your Ideal Client Community.
No matter what it takes, it’s worth it to have a business of Ideal Clients with a large Predictable Minimum Annual Recurring Revenue, substantial equity value, and a great quality of life. Most advisors never accomplish this in their entire careers. So, stick with the process. Do Financial Road Map® Interviews, add Ideal Clients, implement their plans so they achieve their goals for their reasons, ask for referrals, send the Values Based Financial Planning™ book and the Values Based Quality Of Life® Newsletter, make follow-up calls, do phone appointments, and do more Financial Road Map Interviews™. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Do this consistently over time and you will be done. Which means that you have an community of Ideal Clients.
When you have finished building your Ideal Client Community you can say: I am done! I have a finite number of loyal clients who happily pay me predictable, minimum annual recurring revenue to be their Trusted Advisor. They all have written plans and they all follow my advice. My phone hardly rings regardless of what’s happening in the market. I don’t prospect anymore I just serve my clients. Can you imagine a place in your future completely void of any anxiety about getting more clients or getting better clients? No more prospecting. No more marketing. You just experience the joy of helping your clients achieve their goals. All the money you want flows consistently from your community of Ideal Clients. That’s what it means to be done.
