Have you ever gone into an initial first appointment with high hopes of connecting with the prospect only to later realize that you did not make a connection at all? Maybe you have had several appointments like this over the course of your career. If so, you may have been missing one, a few or all of the 5 Strategies for the First Appointment Process.
Let’s take a look at what those are:
- Get the Prospect’s Story
One of the most important things you can do to establish a connection is to genuinely be interested in learning about the prospect. People love to talk about themselves and the best way to encourage this is to strategically map out questions that will help them tell you their life story. If you can do this they will end up explaining the reason for why they are looking for a new financial advisor and what is important to them about finding just the right one.
- Show them How much You Care
It’s been said that, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” and I believe that is true. Often times, advisors try to win over a prospect by dazzling them with their stock market and/or product knowledge. Unfortunately, this tends to create more of a disconnect with a potential client. Don’t start the relationship off by telling them what you know but instead tell them how much you care about their situation. Chances are you have had other prospects and clients experience similar things. If so, then you should share their story with them. Do this and you will set a prospect at ease as they will feel comfortable that you are familiar with their situation.
- Understand the Prospect’s Pain Points
As you listen to the prospect’s story and let them how much you care, you will probably realize that they have real concerns about their finances–these are what I call the Prospect’s Pain Points. Typically, these are the reasons why they came to see you in the first place. If you truly understand their concerns as well and what is most important to them and they know you understand both, it is much easier to build a connection with them.
- (Strategically) Sum Up the Appointment
At some point, you need to strategically shift the conversation into summarizing what you have learned about them from your conversation with them. Try a phrase such as, “We’ve talked about a lot of things today and what I’d like to do is summarize what I have heard.” Then, proceed to state their situation, issues/problems and the long-term implications of not fixing those issues/problems. If you do this well, they will be much more inclined to hear what else you have to say because they know you have listened and more importantly heard them!
- Sell Your Solutions to Set a Second Appointment
Once a prospect gives you the signs or tells you they are ready it’s time to sell your solutions to set a second appointment. Ironically, the strategy that I am about to explain isn’t so much about selling as it is about helping them want to buy. Simply, use questions such as, “How would it help you most if I put together a full financial plan so that you can understand how much money you will need when you retire, how much income you may have to live off of once you are retired and whether or not you are currently on course to accomplish those goals?” Nine times out of ten they will instantly start telling you they would value that by saying, “That sounds like something I have needed for a long time!” All you need to do is agree with them and then simply ask for the second appointment, “Exactly, then that is what we will do! Are you available this time next week to review the plan?”
Take a moment to think about what you have just learned. Are you using these strategies in your first appointment process? If not, you now know how.