I have read all the FAQ's on the Centers of Influence. I did, however, have an additional question. When do we use the Business Plan? It seems like a valuable tool in this situation. Do we try to schedule a Financial Road Map® or a Phone Consultation™ first, and then resort to the Business Plan? We may have outworn our welcome by this time.

Article ID: 512
Last updated: 20 Nov, 2019
I'm not sure what you mean by "Centers of Influence" or your objective. If you are referring to working with accountants or lawyers you approach them about being vetted for your Deliverables Team, not as referral sources. In which case, you follow the process delineated by Mark Little for building your team. We do not believe in cultivating accountants and lawyers solely as referral sources. They can become Ideal Clients and then refer... just like all Ideal Clients. Or they can become Best In Class Subject Matter Experts on your Deliverables Team and based on how impressed they are with what you do for clients they might want to refer and / or become a client and refer.

The 2-page business plan is mainly for your use, but might be used to further communicate with an Ideal Client who is struggling to understand how referring is in their best interest. This is not quite a last resort, but it's close.

The webinars about "Cracking the Referral Code" that have been conducted over the past couple of years might be helpful in this area. They are archived on the Committed Advisor site.

Let me know if this doesn't scratch your itch.

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b While looking for and asking for Group Self-Referral opportunities, do you think it matters if I email vs. call the contacts I have?
b I am in the Ideal Life Evaluation Program. I don't have all that many clients and am through most of them with the Financial Road Map®. What is the best way to build a list of people to call? I am not into the program enough yet that I have the Referral Conversation™ available to me.
b I was at a private health clinic the other day getting an in depth annual checkup (as per your suggestion). I met with the Director briefly and was answering her questions about my experience and how the process is going regarding my health assessment. She started asking me questions around my work, for example - how is your work is going? Is this a busy time for you? etc. 1. I wanted to create a script when someone asks me, “So how’s your work going,” other than just saying, “GREAT,” and the conversation ending. Example – “My work is great, It is very rewarding being able to help successful people achieve their goals.” 2. What would you say to then PIVOT after answering the question, “how’s you work going?” ( I want to PIVOT and then ask a meaningful question about her ). 3. What is an opening question you would use after this PIVOT to continue the conversation down a more meaningful path to gather Meaningful, Important, Significant and Compelling information about HER. Can you help with some scripting?
b The Referral Conversations™ imply that my current Ideal (or near Ideal) clients have previously received a copy of the Values-Based Financial Planning™ book. None of them have.
b Even with the question of "What’s the biggest benefit of the Financial Road Map®" and who you want to give that gift to, I still receive the response, “All my friends have an advisor.” What do I say then?
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