The
great thing about financial services is that we strive to protect everyone’s
clients, even when an advisor retires and leaves the agency. For those of
you who may be in a relationship where one of you is the inheritor of a book of
business, we will discuss how to best approach this activity. For
clarity, we will refer to the advisor who owns the practice as the “older”,
since that is more common - though not always true.
Sometimes, a new advisor has a parent who is a successful advisor and will slowly hand over his or her practice. This relationship is much more “loaded” in ways I will not to handle via a newsletter. Suffice it to say that when approaching older members of your family or peers of your parent, it will require the credibility of the senior (parent) advisor to reassure everyone.
For all advisors moving in to this role of “successor”, you and the older advisor need to have a conversation about several things:
1. You must be introduced as a partner. Never be an assistant and don’t say, on the phone, “I’m calling on behalf of……” because that language signals you are in an administrative role and not an equally licensed person. Which is untrue.
2. You both have to go through ALL of the files and categorize the clients into groups. The A group will obviously be those who are closest to the older advisor and should be introduced, if possible, in person. A casual meeting at the office, with both advisors present is ideal.
3. The other groups of clients will be B clients (those who the advisor speaks to at least once a year and is very familiar with all of the client’s financial issues), C clients (those who have not been spoken to or seen for more than a year, and D clients (often those who were sold one product and have not been seen or spoken to in more than 2 years). Another D client could be someone the older advisor also “inherited” from someone who retired. In this last group, neither of the two current professionals names will be recognized by the client.
These categories are not set in stone, but without categorizing ALL clients, you cannot figure out the proper language for the younger advisor to use when introducing WHY he or she is calling.
Taking the time (yes, it will be hours) to categorize the clients will be very helpful in the long run. If you know that Mrs. Smith is an A client and needs to meet you, it will be done more deliberately once you have both decided she’s in that group.
Always call one group of clients at a time. Don’t do calls alphabetically. You don’t want to be jumping back and forth between different scripts.
Starting with the C + D clients is the most common because it’s the easiest. Many young advisors are assigned to older advisors within their agency so that three good things can happen:
a. a neglected client gets called
b. a newer advisor gets a good list of people to call who are already clients
c. an older advisor gets parts of his/her group of clients called for whom they cannot find time.
For those who are doing the calling, you MUST NOT apologize to the client for the neglect of the other agent. That is deadly. The following script reframes the lack of contact in a positive way - i.e. the agent is not a professional who nags his/her clients and now it’s become too important to let this slide.
Here is my suggestion:
Hello, this is (name) and I am (older agent’s name)’s associate. You probably are aware that (older agent) isn’t someone who makes unnecessary calls, but at this juncture, he’s/she’s asked me to specifically call you. From time to time it makes sense to sit down and reassess some of the financial decisions you’ve made. One thing we know for certain is that things change – either your family situation or the market fluctuations. I’d like to make sure that the programs you have in place are still working in line with your financial goals. I'm happy to drive to your house, and of course you are always invited to visit our office. Which is better for you?
Being in a mutually beneficial relationship with another advisor will be good for the clients, the younger advisor and the experienced one. If the calls to the clients are not approached in a thoughtful, deliberate manner, then clients will be confused. Make sure you are not jumping into this activity without taking the necessary steps to insure its success.
Remember: Words Matter
Gail
All my life I've wanted to be someone; I guess I should have been more specific.
Lily Tomlin
https://www.phoneteacher.com/
Sometimes, a new advisor has a parent who is a successful advisor and will slowly hand over his or her practice. This relationship is much more “loaded” in ways I will not to handle via a newsletter. Suffice it to say that when approaching older members of your family or peers of your parent, it will require the credibility of the senior (parent) advisor to reassure everyone.
For all advisors moving in to this role of “successor”, you and the older advisor need to have a conversation about several things:
1. You must be introduced as a partner. Never be an assistant and don’t say, on the phone, “I’m calling on behalf of……” because that language signals you are in an administrative role and not an equally licensed person. Which is untrue.
2. You both have to go through ALL of the files and categorize the clients into groups. The A group will obviously be those who are closest to the older advisor and should be introduced, if possible, in person. A casual meeting at the office, with both advisors present is ideal.
3. The other groups of clients will be B clients (those who the advisor speaks to at least once a year and is very familiar with all of the client’s financial issues), C clients (those who have not been spoken to or seen for more than a year, and D clients (often those who were sold one product and have not been seen or spoken to in more than 2 years). Another D client could be someone the older advisor also “inherited” from someone who retired. In this last group, neither of the two current professionals names will be recognized by the client.
These categories are not set in stone, but without categorizing ALL clients, you cannot figure out the proper language for the younger advisor to use when introducing WHY he or she is calling.
Taking the time (yes, it will be hours) to categorize the clients will be very helpful in the long run. If you know that Mrs. Smith is an A client and needs to meet you, it will be done more deliberately once you have both decided she’s in that group.
Always call one group of clients at a time. Don’t do calls alphabetically. You don’t want to be jumping back and forth between different scripts.
Starting with the C + D clients is the most common because it’s the easiest. Many young advisors are assigned to older advisors within their agency so that three good things can happen:
a. a neglected client gets called
b. a newer advisor gets a good list of people to call who are already clients
c. an older advisor gets parts of his/her group of clients called for whom they cannot find time.
For those who are doing the calling, you MUST NOT apologize to the client for the neglect of the other agent. That is deadly. The following script reframes the lack of contact in a positive way - i.e. the agent is not a professional who nags his/her clients and now it’s become too important to let this slide.
Here is my suggestion:
Hello, this is (name) and I am (older agent’s name)’s associate. You probably are aware that (older agent) isn’t someone who makes unnecessary calls, but at this juncture, he’s/she’s asked me to specifically call you. From time to time it makes sense to sit down and reassess some of the financial decisions you’ve made. One thing we know for certain is that things change – either your family situation or the market fluctuations. I’d like to make sure that the programs you have in place are still working in line with your financial goals. I'm happy to drive to your house, and of course you are always invited to visit our office. Which is better for you?
Being in a mutually beneficial relationship with another advisor will be good for the clients, the younger advisor and the experienced one. If the calls to the clients are not approached in a thoughtful, deliberate manner, then clients will be confused. Make sure you are not jumping into this activity without taking the necessary steps to insure its success.
Remember: Words Matter
Gail
All my life I've wanted to be someone; I guess I should have been more specific.
Lily Tomlin
https://www.phoneteacher.com/
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