By: Bill Bachrach www.billbachrach.com
There are critical
conversations necessary to engage people in ways that predictably turn
leads into prospects, prospects into clients, clients into people who take
action on your advice, happily pay you for planning and advice, and refer
you to their friends, family, and colleagues.
These conversations are easy to understand
but hard to master. Many FAs have a basic level of ability with these
conversations, but this article is about elevating from basic ability to
virtuoso skillfulness. Consider what could happen to the quality of your
client service and the value of your business when you can artfully engage
anyone, any time, and anywhere.
Critical Conversation #1: Mastery of the
first conversation.
Every future Ideal Client relationship starts with a stranger. However, you
choose to prospect and market, your ability to engage strangers is critical
to your success.
How do you engage a person or couple, in any situation or environment, in a
way that inspires them to want to talk to you again without coming across
like a schmucky financial salesperson trolling for business?
This skill is about asking the right questions, listening with empathy,
hearing what’s most meaningful, important, significant, and compelling to
them, and then being able to make an offer to take a simple first step
that’s relevant FOR THEM.
Let’s say you’re at a wedding. What’s the obvious first question when you
meet someone new, aka: a stranger? “Are you a friend of the bride or the
groom?” What’s the next question? “How do you know ________?” And the next
question is what really separates the conversation virtuosos from most
mortals with decent “social skills.” The typical person asks something
superficial like, “what do you and _______ do for fun?” The virtuoso asks a
question that’s more meaningful and emotional like, “You and ______ met at
an important time in your lives. What did you learn from _______ that has
helped you become a better human being?” Listen. Listen with empathy and
ask, “and how has that impacted your life?” Continue to listen: “tell me
more about that” several times.
This critical conversation process can be implemented as part of any
prospecting or marketing strategy and when you meet new people in your
normal course of living. Eg: at dinner parties, on the golf course, after
church, at a charity event, etc.
The conversation virtuoso has no trouble engaging strangers in ways they
position them to speak again… without ever talking about themselves or
giving a tired FA “elevator pitch.”
How would mastering this critical conversation help you grow your business
with Ideal Clients?
Critical Conversation #2: Mastery at
scheduling the appointment.
How do you inspire people, both spouses, to come to your office with all of
their financial documents? Given all the demands on their time and all of
their options for getting financial education, information, advice, and
products… what will be the reason they agree to take the time to get their
financial documents together and carve time out of their busy work
schedules or retirement activities to come to see you?
When they come to see you, what will you do for them that’s valuable
whether they become a client or not?
Can you articulate how it’s in their best interest to come to you instead
of meeting them in their home or office? What will you say is the benefit
for their spouse to be in the meeting if they tell you that they take care
of the money and their spouse is not interested in meeting with a financial
advisor? How will your meeting be more interesting than discussions about
finances, economics, investments, taxes, insurance, or markets?
How would mastering this critical conversation help you grow your business
with Ideal Clients?
Critical Conversation #3: Mastery at opening the first face-to-face
meeting.
People have embedded in their subconscious minds an imaginary trust dial.
And everything you say and do move the needle on the trust dial one
direction… or the other. This is especially important to recognize during
the first 45 to 60 seconds of your first face-to-face meeting with a future
client. It HAS to be scripted. It has to be scripted word-for-word and you
have to practice those words over and over and over again until you are
brilliantly effective. Not just at delivering the words, but with the right
tonality, the right facial expressions, and with a totally trustworthy way
of being.
Do you remember the scene from the movie Jerry McGuire when Renee
Zelweiger’s character said, “You had me at hello?” That’s your goal: to
have them at hello.
Here’s our script: “Welcome to our office Bob & Susan. The fact that
you took the time to gather your financial documents and made time in your
busy schedules to be here today makes a statement about the importance you
place on making smart choices about your money, is that true?” Pause so
they can answer.
“Well, we take it seriously as well. We’ll ask you lots of questions today,
take copious notes, and use some tools to help put our discussion in visual
perspective. You’ll also notice that we are recording our meeting today. The
reason we record is because we are very thorough. Do you know how you can
watch a movie a second or third time and see things you didn’t see the
first time?” Pause so they can respond. By the way, the answer is always
“yes.”
“Well, Bob & Susan, our conversation today is clearly much more
important than a movie. Should we decide to work together, my team and I
will listen to this recording at least once to make sure that we get our
advice…. just right… for you.”
Take a few moments to consider which direction the needle moved on the
trust dial, and why, during that 45-second opening.
Can you imagine any virtuoso who does not record and review their
performances? How else could you possibly become a virtuoso? You can’t.
How would mastering this critical conversation help you grow your business
with Ideal Clients?
Critical Conversation #4: Mastery at
making an emotional connection in the face-to-face interview.
What follows the opening is a conversation with each spouse about personal
core values. Core values are the emotional why that drive all of their
important decisions. Most FAs jump too quickly into asking clients about
goals, needs, or wants without laying an emotional foundation of why people
want what they want. The skill to set this emotional foundation is crucial.
Why always precedes what.
Values are represented by words like security, freedom, family, making a
difference in the community or the world, satisfaction, fulfillment, inner
peace, oneness with God, happiness, nirvana, etc.
Values are more about being, while goals are more about doing and having.
How would mastering this critical conversation help you grow your business
with Ideal Clients?
Critical Conversation #5: Mastery at
helping people define clear targets with specific dates and amounts of
money wanted.
Goals are the tangible what they want to be built on the foundation of
their values. You can develop the skill to lead an emotionally compelling
and inspiring goals conversation about. It’s a skill, an art form actually.
And it’s learnable.
One mistake often made by FAs is that instead of asking a question about
goals they suggest goals with statements like, “If you’re like a lot of
people in your 40s or 50s or 60s you are probably concerned about
retirement.” The risk is that many people have a negative association with
the term retirement. During our workshops for prospects and clients, as
well as with advisors, I often ask, “How many of you have a negative
association with the word ‘retirement?’” It’s common for more than half of
them to raise their hands. Then I ask, “what are the words you associate
with the term ‘retirement?’” Common responses are: “Uselessness.
Unproductive. Death. Out to pasture. No longer relevant. Bored.” I know
it’s not your intention, but when you broadcast the “retirement” word you
may be moving the needle in the wrong direction, especially with
financially successful people who like to work.
Instead ask an open-ended question like, “What’s one of your tangible goals
that require money and planning to achieve?”
How would mastering this critical conversation help you grow your business
with Ideal Clients?
Critical Conversation #6: Mastery at
financial benchmarking.
This is the skill to handle their financial documents with finesse… without
getting deep into the details or the irrelevant stories about the history
of each document. This is a 10-minute benchmarking exercise that
establishes their current position on the road to achieving their most
important goals and fulfilling their most deeply held values. Sometimes the
skill is learning what NOT to say. It’s okay to have a thought you don’t
express, right? Otherwise, you have LONG meetings that deter people from
hiring you. The confused mind says, “We’ll think it over.” Why do they have
to think it over? Because there is too much detail to make a decision right
now. We value people who simplify our lives and save us time. Are you
giving people more information and education than they want or need in
order to make a good decision, now, to hire you?
The conversation virtuoso manages the flow so people can make a good
decision about hiring you to be their financial advisor today. If more
people than you would like are leaving your office to “think it over” you
have an opportunity to improve in this area.
How would mastering this critical conversation help you grow your business
with Ideal Clients?
Critical Conversation #7: Mastery to
articulate your value promise and make your offer for them to become a
client.
This is where the rubber meets the road. If you do not get hired by the
clients you would like to get hired by, all of the time and effort up to
this point is wasted. This is where you monetize.
How succinctly and effectively can you
articulate your value promise? How well can you answer the two simple
client questions, “How much does it cost?” and, “What do I get?” without
over-explaining the details or giving a lecture that would only interest a
graduate student in economics, but bores your prospects and clients to
tears.
If you “had them at hello” you can easily lose them here. The conversation
virtuoso orchestrates the face-to-face meeting so the client has a great
experience and is more inclined to say, “let’s get started” rather than,
“We need to think it over.”
The most brilliant financial planning technician, the most savvy investment
advisor, the most talented wealth manager, or the most knowledgeable
insurance, estate planning, or tax expert does not stand a chance of
building an Ideal Clientele without a high level of skill and confidence
with these 7 Critical Conversations.
The collective mastery of these 7 Critical Conversations will give you the
skill and the confidence to talk to anyone, anytime, anywhere. The skill
and confidence to speak with anyone, anytime, anywhere is how you get the
clients you really want, build the business you really want, and live the
life you really want.
You're invited
Join me at Bill Bachrach’s webinar on Thursday, December 12th to enhance
your communication skills, the key to getting more and better clients
December Webinar date is Thursday, December 12th at 11am Pacific / 2pm
Eastern.
The Webinar Registration link is - https://www.youradvisorroadmap.com/apm-webinar
Webinar Subject: Master Client Acquisition in the New World of Digital
Advisors and Disruptive Technology
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