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?

To directly answer your question, there is nothing to send in writing. As far as what to say in that moment when someone says they are too busy, consider, "Of course you are and I understand that completely. Which is why I would never call you to invite you to my office to do something that would not be enormously valuable." Continue by explaining both the generic reasons why having a Financial Road Map® will benefit them and, especially important, communicate why you believe the Financial Road Map® will be of value to them personally, based on what you know about them from your existing relationship with them.

The more Financial Road Map® interviews you complete, the more examples of success you will have, personally. As your clients and prospects share positive comments about their experience from you facilitating their Financial Road Map®, the more confident you will be in explaining to existing clients and prospects how they will benefit by coming in to complete their Financial Road Map®. You may find it helpful to read the many testimonials from real clients in the Values-Based Financial Planning book.

I'm fond of saying that the success of what you are currently doing is built on the foundation of what immediately preceded it. The purpose of telling you that is to point out that it's difficult, probably impossible, to establish meaningful client relationships over the phone. I'm sure this is one of the reasons you want to get this client to come to your office. Chances are that your phone relationship with this client is more transactional in nature. Unfortunately, you will not always be successful at converting your more transactional customer relationships into deeper and more comprehensive client relationships. All you can do is put the offer on the table in a personal and compelling way, answer their questions in a way that's all about them, and some will accept your offer and some won't.

Keep in mind, that the more Financial Road Map® offers you make and the more Financial Road Map® interviews you complete the more results you will generate in terms of revenue from planning fees, revenue from more assets gathered, revenue from other advice implemented, and referrals.