How to close prospects at the first meeting

Let’s face it, prospecting is the most important activity in building an adviser’s practice. It’s also the most difficult, because it involves the possibility of rejection and no one likes to be rejected.

But without a steady stream of new prospects who can ultimately become clients, an adviser’s business will ultimately stagnate or fail.

I believe there is an art to prospecting and a formula that helps close prospects in the first meeting. I call it my Secret Sauce. As in all activities that involve human interaction, psychology is involved.

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THE “TRIGGERING EVENT”

For instance, one of the most important lessons I learned in my career is that prospects generally need a “triggering event” in their lives to seek out financial advice. Something needs to happen or change for them to want to devote the time and effort to find and meet with an adviser. It could be the death of a parent, a change in jobs, a marriage, a divorce, a new baby or any number of other events.

When that triggering event happens, it’s important these prospects have recently heard from you, so you're at the forefront of their minds. Hence, it is important to have regular and systematic touch points with all your prospects so you’re staying in front of them with relevant content. 

In addition to having planned touch points, creating “triggering events” in the minds of your prospects is critical. Instead of waiting until an actual event occurs in their lives, you can help prospects anticipate things that could happen and walk them through the potential consequences should those events occur.

How do you do this? Simple. Ask your prospects very specific questions to uncover areas of weakness in their current financial planning that they aren't aware of. You can discuss these areas of vulnerability and point out potential negative outcomes that could occur if those weakness are not appropriately dealt with. 

In my practice, it wasn't unusual for prospects to come in thinking that outside of investing their recent 401(k) rollover, everything else in their financial world was fine. By asking probing questions, I could identify all kinds of things that needed to be looked into.

Examples include having investment or bank accounts improperly titled or having out-of-state property titled in their personal names instead of in an LLC or trust. We might see accounts titled in “joint tenancy with right of survivorship,” which was especially problematic in a second marriage when children would likely be expecting an inheritance from mom or dad. 

Simply by asking questions about the non-investment portion of a prospect’s life, you can identify potential problems and point out any unintended consequences that could occur if those issues were not addressed. 

DISTURB YOUR PROSPECTS

I found approximately 22 different topics to discuss with prospects that, if done effectively, can trigger a response and lead the prospect to engage with you. I call those topics “disturbing tracts.” 

In practice, I found that by identifying three or four of these non-investment related weaknesses, I could create that “triggering event” in a prospect’s mind that was not there when the meeting started. When prospects were able to see vulnerabilities that existed in their lives, which none of their other advisers had ever pointed out, more than 90% of the time I’d have a new client. 

Here's an example: Years ago, I had a couple come in to meet with me. He was a senior executive at a Fortune 500 company. In our opening discussions, I learned that theirs was a second marriage and they each had two children from their first marriage. In looking at their brokerage statement, which held $9 million of company stock, I noticed their brokerage account was titled: “John and Sue Prospect, joint tenants with right of survivorship.” 

Knowing the implications to this titling in a second marriage, I simply asked: “Which one of you has decided to disinherit your children?” They looked at me, baffled. I pointed to the statement and said, “Well, John, according to the titling on this brokerage statement, if you die, 100% of the ownership of your company stock will go to Sue. If Sue lives another 20 years and/or gets remarried or any number of other scenarios, it is highly likely she could change her will documents and leave all of this company stock to her children, leaving yours out. Is that an outcome you’d feel comfortable with? Is it something you have discussed?” 

Of course, he said: “No.” I then looked at Sue and said: “Sue, the opposite is also true. If you die first, based on the titling on this account, all of this company stock would go to John and he could change or modify his will documents and leave your children completely out of the picture. Is that a scenario you have discussed and feel comfortable with?”     

I went on to explain that the titling of a brokerage or bank account will supersede any instructions in their wills. Based on that, I stressed how important it was to make sure their accounts were all titled in a manner allowing them to flow through their estate planning documents. After hearing my explanation, they asked, “How come our adviser didn’t tell us that?” I said, “I don’t know but whether or not you become clients of my firm, I would like to make a phone call to your adviser and get this fixed for you.” Needless to say, I ended up with a client that day. 

That is just one example of using a “disturbing tract” to showcase your value to prospects. There are many more that can be used, depending upon what you find out in your initial meeting. 

I credit my very high closing ratio in the first meeting to my ability to have these conversations and point out potential vulnerabilities. Not only did these Secret Sauce closing techniques work for me, they are working for the hundreds of adviser students I currently train and I am confident they will work for you. Give it a try!

You can download the list of 22 Disturbing Tracts free right here. 

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Erin Botsford founded Botsford Financial Group and The Advisor Authority. To learn more about what it takes to be a super-successful adviser, check out her website.