New year, new prospects

When we spoke recently, Paul described how he’d used this idea as the jumping-off point to add 15 minutes to his weekly Monday-morning team meeting, something that has led to a doubling in the number of new clients this past year. On the agenda for his weekly team meeting, this 15-minute segment is called “hot list review.” There are three parts to this agenda item:

 

> Part 1: Progress In The Past Week.

For the first five minutes of the team meeting, Paul and his team talk about one, two or three prospects who had been identified for followup at the previous week’s meeting. This followup might entail contacting the prospect on a problem that he or she had previously identified, offering a resource that relates to that problem. That resource could be something developed by his firm or an external report — anything from a special report, an article or a video interview to an upcoming presentation.

For each prospect who had been highlighted, whomever was responsible for following up (most often, Paul himself) leads a short discussion of what had happened and any next steps arising from this action. If success has been achieved, this conversation often spurs ideas and discussion about other prospects that the team could approach using similar strategies. If the strategy didn’t work, the team will talk about what they could learn from the experience and of alternative ways to contact this prospect.

 

> Part 2: What To Do In The Coming Week.

For the next five minutes, Paul and his team review the “prospect hot list,” typically consisting of 10 to 15 priority prospects who have shown interest over the past while. Prospects could have displayed this interest by attending an event Paul had put on for clients, via casual conversation at a community event or by a positive response during a phone conversation or meeting. Prospects also may have been introduced by an existing client or by a professional referral source.

The prospect hot list consists of five columns: prospect name; hot buttons; last contact; possible followup; and followup responsibility.

The most important column on this list is the “hot buttons” identified for each prospect.

“Hot buttons” could include investment-related topics, such as market valuations, interest rate forecasts, volatility and portfolio risk, diversification opportunities, global investing, alternative investments or specific stocks and sectors. Hot buttons also could include broader wealth-management issues related to taxes or estate planning, or charitable-giving strategies.

Based on the hot buttons, Paul and his team go through each name on the list, identifying opportunities to get in touch with prospects in the coming week. They then assign responsibility for following up, based on each prospect’s hot-button concerns and new developments, materials or resources that respond to those concerns.

Paul’s goal is to walk out of each meeting with at least one prospect to be followed up and with something concrete and specific with which to approach this prospect. Note that while Paul is the one who typically makes the followup calls, other team members have responsibility for identifying articles or other sources of information that can create an opportunity for following up with someone on the prospect hot list.

 

> Part 3: Updating The Hot List.

In the final five minutes of this meeting segment, Paul and his team ask two questions about the prospects on the hot list: first, is there anyone on this list who shouldn’t be on it? Given that the team does this weekly, that’s normally a fairly quick process.

More time goes into the second part of this conversation, in which they ask whether there are prospects who should be on the prospect hot list but are not.

 

> Prospecting Success

Since beginning this exercise, Paul has seen the number of prospect meetings increase dramatically, with a doubling in the number of new clients each month.

In my view, there are five reasons for this success:

1. Paul has incorporated a regular focus on prospects into his weekly routine.

2. He has been disciplined in concentrating on a small number of target prospects each week.

3. He has a consistent habit of asking prospects about their hot buttons. That includes the biggest concerns regarding their finances — the questions they’d most like to answer and the problems they’d most like to solve. Then, Paul carefully notes the answers to those questions.

When I talk to advisors about prospective clients and ask them about the issues that are going to get them to make a change, the typical response is a generic “volatility” or “unhappiness with performance.” To bring prospects on board, you need to start from a deeper understanding of the issues that will motivate them.

4. Paul focuses on approaching prospects with new information that addresses those prospects’ specific priority concerns.

Generic approaches, such as “just following up to see if you’d like to sit down” are better than no followup calls at all. But, to maximize the value of these calls, you need to bring clear and tangible value.

5. Paul makes it crystal clear to prospects that he has given their situation individual thought and attention, and is calling about their specific issues.

This personalized service is reflected in the voice-mail messages Paul leaves for prospects, which are along the lines of: “It’s Dan Richards. When we spoke last, you said you were looking at getting more exposure to emerging markets — China, in particular. This week’s Economist has a special report on emerging markets that I think you might find interesting. Let me know if you have 20 minutes for a coffee in the next couple of weeks, and whether you would like to sit down and discuss this article with me to see if there is anything that could be relevant to your investments.”

Or, a voice mail could be more specific still: “In our last conversation, you mentioned that you were debating what to do with your holding in Research in Motion, given the stock’s volatility.

“You may recall that I had suggested selling half of your position and taking the tax hit that would result. I’m calling because our research analyst has just come out with an update on RIM. Give me a call if you’d like to talk about this.”

The great German military general von Clausewitz is known for the phrase: “No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.” Many advisors start the new year with a list of resolutions for the 12 months that are ahead, but few of those resolutions survive the reality of day-to-day time pressures.

One solution is to pick one — and only one — item to focus on in 2012. During the conversation Paul and I had, he made the point that it’s incredibly easy to get bogged down by the sheer volume of things to do each day. But Paul, by focusing 15 minutes a week on his highest potential prospects, has seen significant progress in converting prospects into clients.

Paul’s message is clear: this simple strategy has worked for him — and, if executed with the same discipline and priority, it also can work for you.  IE

 

Dan Richards is CEO of Clientinsights (www.clientinsights.ca). For more of Dan’s columns and informative videos, visit
www.investmentexecutive.com.