Depending on how a person has found you, or by whom they were referred, you will have some insights, but most often than not they will be limited. However, regardless of how this occurred, or what has been explained, they will have formed a view about you.
Often, how they are thinking, and feeling can be influenced and improved by you in a variety of different ways. You can also start to build trust and prepare your new prospect so that their time is optimised when you are with them.
The most powerful of insights is knowing what problem(s) your prospect is coming to see you to solve or resolve. Adopting this as an imperative every time will help both your prospect and you to understand their key needs, prior to meeting.
I have always said to referral partners that I would only ever accept a referral if the introduction came with the key problem that their client needs my help with. This, of course, requires an investment on your part to work closely with your referral partner to ensure that they know what problems you can solve, so they can focus on identifying them for their client’s benefit.
There is one other exceptional method of pre-meeting preparation that you can implement in your operating rhythm to glean the deepest personal insights regarding how they feel about the financial world, prior to meeting you for the first time. Which I shared in a previous article relating to utilising client confidence assessments.
There are some aspects of discussion and discovery during prospect meetings that are often underestimated and therefore not utilised effectively to build connection and trust.
For example, most people’s house, or home, as I prefer to call it, is one of, if not the largest, financial asset that they will ever own. Furthermore, it is often their “castle” and they take great pride in it and the memories that are created there.
So, if you know which suburb they live in, why not take a few minutes to research the suburb. This should form the basis of some excellent conversation.
Additionally, if you know what their role or career is, the thing they spend most of their life working in, why not do the same for their career and industry. You would be surprised how engaged most people are once they are connected more deeply when discussing both their home and career.
Understanding what’s truly important to them is key. And applying a process (well-practiced processes become exceptional experiences) and approach that ensures you not only learn what you need to know about each prospect but will demonstrate to them that you are genuinely interested in their life/situation/aspirations/concerns/fears/goals etc, and this alone will set you apart from so many other advisers.
Moreover, getting a head-start before you meet will place you in a much more powerful position when you meet.
Everyone is different, so don’t make assumptions about what’s important to them.
The GROW Adviser Capability program covers this topic in more detail and helps build a robust understanding and exceptional engagement skills.
Keep an eye out for my next article:
“What motivates people to say yes?”
What do you do to truly understand what's important to your prospects?
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