I am struggling not discussing an ongoing fee in Financial Road Map® Meeting. During this conversation the clients ask me how much? The Financial Road Map® Meeting has been around 45 minutes so far and going well. I say $5,000 for the initial plan. They say what do you get? I then run through my 2 page letter of engagement which outlines upfront and ongoing service offering and takes another 45 minutes. After 1.5 hours I feel like the clients are tired and the "would you like to proceed” has lost its presence because of the meeting time. How do I avoid this? I would love to skip the letter of engagement all together, should I just briefly talk about deliverables team (which I have) best-in-class Subject Matters Experts. I am also struggling to understand in the Implementation Meeting how to address the ongoing fee is $1k-$3k per month and not go over the plan in any detail.

Article ID: 561
Last updated: 20 Nov, 2019

I agree with you, it can't take 45 minutes to answer the questions about the cost and what they get. Listen to your recordings and figure out a way to be more succinct.


The fee is for the advice, not the plan detail.

Also listed in
folder Commitment to Implement Conversation™
folder Financial Road Map® Misc.
folder Implementation Meeting
folder Commitment to Hire Conversation™ -> Commitment to Hire Conversation™ Misc.
folder Commitment to Hire Conversation™ -> Ideal Clients Resisting to Hire/"Let Me Think About It for Awhile."


Others in this category
b I have several existing clients and prospects that have zero debt and range typically from $3-$10 million in liquid net worth. Many of them have believed in “Term and invest the rest” mentality and therefore don't like to discuss insurance needs and their term policies have expired. By this, I'm referring to clients who are past the accumulation phase and confident in their mind that they have been adequately insured and no longer need much insurance (I realize this may not be true), and have the notion typically to only buy term and put the rest of their money into savings. When we get to the Commitment to Hire Conversation™. Many of my existing clients have zero debt, more cash then they need to have sitting around (I realize this needs to be addressed), and don't feel they need much help with insurance. Therefore the step-by-step plan addressing these four areas only has one area where they typically want, or feel, they need help in creating a plan. I'm curious if it would it make sense to change the "What you get” discussion to something that could provide a little more value than the 4 bullets currently in the script? Can you please tell me perhaps a different word track then the Financial Road Map® script since two of the four areas are not of much interest to these types of clients?
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b I recently completed a Financial Road Map® for a referred couple. At the end of the Commitment To Hire Conversation™ they enthusiastically said ‘yes’ to hiring me and we completed the paperwork to get things started. I am not sure if my answer to the couple’s next question was the best response: The client said, "You know I'm the President of Bradford Christian Academy, and as such I need to make financial decisions every day. One of the things we review on every purchase or project and this includes consultants who we bring in from time-to-time. One thing we look at is our Return on Investment. Since the services you provide are not necessarily financial, other than portfolio performance, how would we determine the dollar value of our business together to use to determine the Return on Investment on the relationship?" My response was, "Well Vicki, you and Bob do not have any plan in place now for retirement, college financial planning, and other major purchases, which is what has brought you to this point in our meeting. You are also concerned with your portfolio and how it is invested because neither of you are professional investment people and you're looking for help in that area. You have big dreams and values and right now are not sure how you will achieve them with your current process. So I guess I would ask you, what is the value, monetary value, you would place on a comprehensive plan that would give you the peace of mind to rest knowing you have a plan to give you the highest probability to achieve these items on your road map regardless of what happens in the world?" I felt guilty because I turned the question back to them and they said they would have to think about that answer and hadn't thought about it that way. Do you have a better answer that you would have used? I feel that I did not really answer their question, but I am not sure I could have come up with better answer than that.
b I am struggling not discussing an ongoing fee in Financial Road Map® Meeting. During this conversation the clients ask me how much? The Financial Road Map® Meeting has been around 45 minutes so far and going well. I say $5,000 for the initial plan. They say what do you get? I then run through my 2 page letter of engagement which outlines upfront and ongoing service offering and takes another 45 minutes. After 1.5 hours I feel like the clients are tired and the "would you like to proceed” has lost its presence because of the meeting time. How do I avoid this? I would love to skip the letter of engagement all together, should I just briefly talk about deliverables team (which I have) best-in-class Subject Matters Experts. I am also struggling to understand in the Implementation Meeting how to address the ongoing fee is $1k-$3k per month and not go over the plan in any detail.
b I wondered as an advisor who primarily was operating using asset-based fees if you guys have any templates or samples of the contracts which an advisor might use if he wished to switch to a flat annual retainer, which I know Bill recommends. When I set up my RIA firm the compliance firm drafted all my contracts and ADVs etc. using asset-based fee terminology and language. I just wondered if you might have a sample or template of what a client contract might look like for an annual retainer practice?
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