Meeting with prospective clients is key to expanding your client base and building your business. Yet many advisors make common mistakes during that initial meeting that can cause them to lose the prospect’s business.
Here are some tips from Joshua Zuchter, a life and business coach and human dynamics specialist in Toronto, on how to avoid the most common pitfalls during that crucial first meeting.
1. Talking about business too soon.
Talking business before having built a rapport with the prospect can turn off a potential client. “Developing a rapport is key to building trust,” Zuchter says. “If a client doesn’t feel they can trust you, they are not going to work with you,” he says.
Get to know the person by asking questions, and by listening to what they are saying.
2. Asking closed-ended questions.
Avoid asking questions with yes/no answers, Zuchter says. Ask open-ended questions. Instead of saying: “Have you invested before?” say “What has your experience been like with investing?”
Open-ended questions get the prospect talking and you’ll find out a lot about them.
3. Making the conversation a sales pitch.
Gunning for sales puts the attention on you rather than on the prospective client. That person wants to be heard, and wants to know how you can help them.
Find out what the client wants. What led them to you? Was the person referred by a friend or one of your existing clients? What they are looking for in an advisor, and what kind of returns they are expecting?
4. Downplaying your abilities.
Many advisors are reluctant to trumpet their capabilities, but it’s important to toot your own horn. Tell the client about your qualifications and your successes. Just don’t cross the line into boasting.
5. Trying too hard.
Some advisors make too great an effort to sound like an expert, but people can always spot insincerity. Just be yourself, be natural and remain comfortable and at ease, Zuchter says. Be open and honest about what you can do and how you can help the potential client. Your sincerity will be appreciated.
6. Failing to plan the meeting ahead of time.
Make a plan of how you are going to spend the time you have set out for the meeting. For example, if you have dedicated an hour to the meeting, allot at least half of that time to getting to know the person. Spend about five minutes letting the person know who you are and a bit about your background. Spend the rest of the time telling the prospect how you generally work with clients and how you might be able to work with that prospect as well as answering any questions or concerns they may have.
7. Sharing too much information.
Don’t overwhelm your prospect with information about your practice and how you work that you overwhelm them. Let the prospect know what kind of results they can expect, but don’t go into too much detail about issues such as investment strategies and financial plans. The person will have to become your client in order to see those results.
8. Checking your email or texting during the meeting.
Give the prospect your undivided attention for the entire meeting. Anything less makes the prospect feel that they are not important to you — and you can forget about them becoming your client. Have your assistant hold your calls or don’t answer the phone.
9. Ending the meeting without a follow-up plan.
Some advisors complete the conversation without making plans to meet again with the prospect. Without a follow-up plan there is no commitment to take further steps to turn the prospect into a client. Plan to continue the discussion at a later date, or at least to make contact by telephone or email to confirm the next meeting. A follow-up plan can be as simple as an agreement to call the person next week.
IE