So you’ve generated enough interest and rapport to book the meeting, and now your prospect is sitting in front of you waiting to see what’s what. You are in the driver’s seat.
In industry parlance, you are about to take them through a QP – a qualifying presentation – with two desired outcomes: one, you uncover enough potential business for them to be a welcome addition to your book and two, you persuade them that you’re the advisor for them, and that now is the time to take action.
This is a critical moment. You are close to a lot of potential business, and yet this is when many advisors blow it by sliding into a rote delivery of company marketing.
Does this sound familiar? Here’s what we’re going to cover today (you hand client Agenda). I’ll tell you about myself and our company and how we serve our clients, and then we’ll go over your goals and concerns and decide how you want to proceed. Then you walk them through a long-ish presentation, page by page (or slide by slide), with you doing all the talking.
And your closing rate sucks.
Setting up the meeting this way almost guarantees your prospect will tune out. How much attention do you have when being educated ‘lecture style’? In order to improve your closing rate, you must dramatically increase your Prospect’s level of emotional engagement.
Here are 3 strategies to get you there:
1. Create context. As adults, we take in new information in relation to what we already know. We rate that information as valuable when we recognize it as immediately applicable to a need. The more urgent the need, the more likely we are to act on the new information.
So in order for your prospect to listen avidly to the information in your QP, start your meeting by asking your prospect which of the financial goals they mentioned in your initial conversation feels most urgent.
With this one question, you’re accomplishing two things. First, you’re getting your prospect emotionally involved in the conversation and second, you are setting up a powerful filter through which they will view the entire presentation. Now you can fold their urgent goal into your agenda.
2. Tailor the QP. Instead of a rote walk-through of all that content, keep in mind your prospect’s urgent goal and spend more time on the information personally relevant to them and less time on describing service areas they don’t currently care about.
3. Connect the dots. When you are taking them through a bullet point or illustration you know is important for their goals, don’t assume they understand the significance. Instead, help them see the importance by connection the dots with a key message. For example, if you are sharing that your firm ‘manages xx billions of dollars’ put it in context by saying What this means for you is that we are a top, respected firm and you can trust make sure you have enough money to maintain your lifestyle in retirement. Wherever possible, use your QP material to show them how working with you will lead directly to them getting what they want more quickly.
Of course nailing your QP and getting the business doesn’t happen without a little preparation and practice.
Use the hot buttons you uncovered during your prospecting conversation and set aside 15 minutes prior to your meeting to scan the QP and decide what bullet points you will highlight to get them excited about moving forward.
As you implement these strategies you’ll notice that you’re having more meaningful conversations, getting more emotional investment from your prospects, and you’re closing more business!
And remember… Speak from the heart. It’s good business.
These steps are important whether you met at a networking event or through a referral or even through your warm market. All of these situations require you to go on a little journey of emotions with your Prospect. There is a ROADMAP, with steps along the way to get you there. If you skip them or SKIMP on them, your closing rate goes down. Take moment and think of someone you’re prospecting right now. You’d had the initial contact but you haven’t won them over yet. As we go through each of the stops on the Roadmap, think about that Prospect. Got your name?
So much of the financial industry is transaction-based. We use ATM’s, we shop and bank online and with the emergence of fintech companies, clients can get investment advice with the click of a mouse. The fact that a human Advisor instead of a computer is initiating the transactions is not enough to build loyalty.
Who you are is more important than who you seem to be, and a mark of maturity is in being truly comfortable in your own skin. I remember a baffling conversation I had with my father when I was 13. Actually, I don’t remember the context, just this one comment: 
High Net Worth clients. Ahhh, the dream. A full practice of smart, fun, appreciative, wealthy clients who refer an endless stream of additional business in your direction. We all want them, but are you actually ready to serve them? Have you taken a look at how you are operating your business to see if, in fact, these ideal creatures would be attracted to working with you?
My hat is off to you as you read this – because as a fellow entrepreneur, you know that if you’re in business, you’re also enrolled in the University of Life! Every time I turn around there’s a new skillset essential to growing my business. Phew! My brain has stretch marks! I know it’s the same for you. That’s why it’s so important to surround yourself with positive, like-minded people who get it and who will support you along the road to success. Don’t bother sharing your struggles with people who will pull you down.
