AM script: "Hi _____________. What an incredible experience you are going to have on the phone with Dean exploring how the concepts in the Values-Based Financial Planning book might help you ___________________________________________________! The purpose of my call today is to confirm that you received the email we sent you describing a couple of key points that will help you have the best experience on that call. Did you get the email? (If they were having any "buyer's remorse" about scheduling this phone consultation they should no longer feel this way after speaking with your AM!)
Prospective Client: "Yes."
AM: "Do you have the appointment scheduled in your calendar for ____ o'clock on _______ day, the ________?"
Prospective Client: "__________"
AM manages the rest of the conversation confirming that they will be on-time and prepared.
If the appointment is scheduled at their work number, the AM should become the new best friend of your prospective client's assistant. A good AM will already know how to do this without you coaching them. If they do not possess the people skills and the know-how to do this you have the wrong AM.
If the appointment is scheduled at their home number, the AM should become the new best friend of your prospective client's spouse / partner, if that spouse or partner answers the phone, thereby impressing them also. They should know the spouse or partners name because you captured it in the notes in your CRM when you had the referral conversation, the self-referral conversation, or the follow-up phone call. A good AM will already know how to do this without you coaching them. If they do not possess the people skills and the know-how to do this you have the wrong AM.
While I'm happy to answer your questions on this subject, it concerns me that you may have an AM who doesn't know how to effectively confirm appointments. (Which is why you are asking me these questions instead of giving this task to them to solve using their skill and experience.)
The better situation would be for you tell your AM the expected outcome, inform them that it's part of their responsibility to make sure that all prospective clients and clients show up on time and prepared for their appointments, be sure that it's crystal clear what "prepared" means, and they create and execute the process to deliver that outcome. Why? Because that's their job.
They might even impress you by saying, "Of course I can make that happen!! And I'll use that wonderful Focus Solution tool or a Prioritized Action List worksheet to refine and document the process so that anybody can follow the process, step-by-step, to make sure that all of your appointments show up prepared and on-time. That way I am contributing to the success of our company by freeing you to hit your 20- hour / week client acquisition activity goal... accelerating us having our Ideal Client Community. How else can I be indispensable to our success?"
