The BEST Way to Start a Fact Find Discovery Meeting with a New Prospective Client.

For the last 15 years, I’ve been helping financial advisers all around the world knock their clients' socks off with Lifestyle Financial Planning. In this post, I’m going to share what I believe is the best way to start a meeting with a prospective new client ….that is IF you want to deliver REAL financial planning. It’s simple but highly effective.

(IMPORTANT: This is intended for use only by advisers who genuinely want to be the best financial adviser they can possibly be and deliver PROPER life centered financial planning - not just transactional product and investment advice)

?? You might not need to read this...

IF...

If every one of the following?statements is true, there is no need for you to read any further…

?? You deliver the same service, to every client, every time

and

?? Every one of your clients is a comprehensive financial planning client?

and

?? Every client lets you manage ALL of their money and they don’t much care what you do with it - they just trust you to do the right thing

and

?? Less than 20% of every client meeting is spent talking about or reviewing financial products and investments

and

?? You look forward to every client meeting and every meeting is a joy

and

?? Your clients look forward to every meeting and for them, every meeting is a joy

and

?? Ongoing meetings with clients are mostly once yearly, booked annually in advance

and

?? Every client is profitable. Ideally very profitable

and

?? You turn down more clients than you take on

and

?? You receive a regular flow of referrals to ideal clients

and

?? Your clients never question their fees.

If you cannot answer yes to ALL of the above, keep reading.

Why am I sharing this??

I see a lot of advisers who have paid the price. They have all the right qualifications and the very best intentions to deliver proper financial planning… but sadly, they often end up busy fools with mainly transactional, money / investment focussed client relationships.

Why?

Because they get caught in what I call ‘The Transaction Trap’.?

When they fall into this trap this always results in mainly money focussed conversations and doesn’t differentiate the adviser from the multitude of advisers out there. They often lose control of the first meeting, with the client in charge. Often the adviser just ends up being an order taker. This usually results in too many low value clients and the adviser feels like a busy fool. (By the way, I felt like this for the first 8 years of my career, until I found a better way!)

Worse though, the adviser never gets to deliver REAL financial planning. The client never gets to understand what they REALLY need to do to secure their financial future - or see the possibilities to do more, live more, give more. The adviser fails to demonstrate and deliver REAL value.

The 'value' of their service revolves around a financial product or investment.

Regardless of what Consumer Duty has in store for them… ??

? The adviser loses.

? The client loses.

? The Financial Planning profession loses.

It shouldn’t be this way.

In my view, as a professional financial planner, you should have ONE SERVICE that you deliver to EVERY CLIENT, EVERY TIME. No excuses.

A service where you get the opportunity to consistently knock your clients socks off as you lead them through YOUR process.

Better still, you get to take the focus OFF the things that don’t matter (too much tiresome conversation about investments and products) and you get to keep the focus on the one thing that matters most - something far more inspiring - your clients LIFE!

This then leads to the delivery of a consistent, truly life centred lifestyle financial planning ‘experience’ where they see (and feel) that your focus is on helping them to get and keep what they want most - a great life!

Financial products and investments then just become the tools in your bag - used, if necessary, to get the job done. Nothing to get excited about.

This differentiates you from the rest, and clients realise, happily, that you truly deserve your fees and that YOU should be looking after ALL of their money.

This means you do 10 x more business (for all the right reasons), and referrals to the right type of clients naturally flow!

This is what is possible when you get this right…

But... the Transaction Trap will stop you in your tracks!

So, we first we need to avoid the Transaction Trap and we also need to take control of the meeting. (Don’t worry, the clients will love you for taking control!)

First, here’s how NOT to open a first meeting...

If you want a messy life, just ask a prospective client this simple, but lethal question...

“How can I help you today?”

....or words to that effect.

Or “What led you to schedule this meeting?” or “Why are you here?” or “What would you like to get out of this meeting?”

Etc. Etc. ??

Ask these type of questions.

And you will lose control.

They will lead you into the Transaction Trap.

You will probably end up engaging in a money / product / investment focused conversation. And worse, you won’t differentiate yourself - talking about products and investments, markets, etc, you will be like every other adviser they have ever met.

?? Try this instead.

Let’s do a role play. Let’s pretend you’ve been introduced to a potential new client called Fred. Fred has been introduced to you by their accountant Steve.

After the usual pleasantries, you’ve both got your coffee, and you say:

“Thank you for coming in to see me today, Fred. I understand you’ve been introduced to us by Steve, your accountant, is that correct?”

Fred says “Yes”.

You say “That’s great. Can I ask you, how much has Steve told you about who we are and what we do?”

Fred says “Steve says <you’re brilliant financial advisers> and you can help me with my <pension>, etc, etc, etc.”

You say “That’s great. It’s lovely that Steve has recommended you to us because we do work primarily on a recommendation basis, from either accountants like Steve, or existing clients who happily recommend us to their friends or colleagues”

“BUT what I’d like to say right up front, Fred, is this: that although Steve has recommended you to us, and although we help a lot of Steve’s clients, I’d like to stress, right up front, that I can’t guarantee, at this stage, whether or not we can be of any interest or benefit to you.”

“So the purpose of this meeting, Fred, is simply to find out a little more about you… about what you’re looking to achieve... about where you are in your life right now… and where you are trying to get to…

…and, in the process of this meeting, you’ll find out a little more about us, and how we operate, so that, in about an hour, you’ll be in a position to decide whether you would like to take this any further with us - or not. Is that OK with you, Fred?”

Fred says “That’s absolutely fine.”

You say: “Great. OK, so to make sure we make the best use of this time together, - and to make sure I stay on track - I’ll be going through my confidential questionnaire. It just helps me to ask the right questions in the right order. If, at the end of this meeting you don’t want to go any further with us, you can simply have this questionnaire back and destroy it. Is that OK with you Fred?”

Fred says “Of course Paul. What do you want to know?”

I then say “Fred, I understand this is your business? How did you get started in this business?” (Or one of my various favourite “What’s your story?” questions depending on their circumstances).

GOT THAT?

OK. So who’s in charge of this meeting? Me, or Fred?

ME!

? I can now ask the questions that I want to ask, in the order that I want to ask them.

? Fred feels confident that I’ve done this before.

Guess what the conversation is going to be about??

??

?? FRED!!!!!

It's all about Fred! (NOT Fred's money!)

I’ve also subtly stressed something really important: that I’m NOT desperate for his business.

The alternative to the above approach is “Thanks for coming in today Fred, grovel, grovel, I’M SURE WE CAN SELL YOU SOMETHING!”

?? Nope. I’m laid back.

There’s even a hint of me pushing Fred away (which actually does the opposite).

So, let’s go through it again with the reasoning behind key parts shown underlined.

“Thank you for coming in to see me today Fred. I understand you’ve been introduced to us by Steve, your accountant, is that correct?” This opening can be easily adapted to every possible type of prospect. I teach how to do this.?

Fred says “Yes”.

You say “That’s great. Can I ask you, how much has Steve told you about who we are and what we do?” This gets Fred talking ASAP. HOWEVER, I don’t get engaged with the response, if he says pensions, I DON’T start talking about pensions!?

Fred says “Steve says <you’re brilliant financial advisers> and you can help me with my <pension>, etc, etc, etc.”

You say “That’s great. It’s lovely that Steve has recommended you to us because we do work primarily on a recommendation basis, from either accountants like Steve, or existing clients who happily recommend us to their friends or colleagues” Note: See how I’m sowing the seed of how we work on a referral basis. Later Fred will understand that it is a 'condition' of working with us that he refers us to AT LEAST TWO suitable clients. But that’s for another time.

“BUT, what I’d like to say right up front, Fred, is this: that although Steve has recommended you to us, and although we help a lot of Steve’s clients, I’d like to stress that I can’t guarantee, at this stage, whether or not we can be of any interest or benefit to you.”

NOTE: I call this my ‘I can’t guarantee script’. Actually, I can guarantee it because I know that my Lifestyle Financial Planning service can benefit ANYONE & EVERYONE. What I can’t guarantee though is this: whether I want Fred in my life or not!

“So the purpose of this meeting, Fred, is simply to find out a little more about you… about what you’re looking to achieve... about where you are in your life right now… and where you are trying to get to…

…and in the process of this meeting, you’ll find out a little more about us, and how we operate, so that, in about an hour, you’ll be in a position to decide whether you would like to take this any further with us - or not. Is that OK with you, Fred?”?NOTE: So now Fred knows he can walk away from the meeting. He totally relaxes. I’m NOT trying to sell him anything.

Fred says “That’s absolutely fine.”

You say: “Great. OK, so to make sure we make the best use of this time together, and to make sure I stay on track, I’ll be going through my confidential questionnaire. It just helps me to ask the right questions in the right order. If, at the end of this meeting you don’t want to go any further with us, you can simply have this questionnaire back and destroy it. Is that OK with you Fred?”

NOTE: This introduces my ‘fact find’ and gets permission for me to complete it. It also suggests I have a process. But again, Fred knows he can just walk away from the meeting.

Fred says “Of course Paul. What do you want to know?”

I then say “Fred, I understand this is your business? How did you get started in this business?” NOTE: This is a cracking question. I’m now going to start learning about Fred’s story. I’ll connect with him about his baby (his business).

Note that I’m going BACK first. I’m not delving into his future. I haven’t earned the right to that… yet.

I’m now sat with another human being and demonstrating my genuine curiosity about them, their story, their trials and tribulations, their successes to date, why they started their business, curious about their life, their lifestyle, etc, etc.

By the end of this meeting, Fred knows I know TOO MUCH! ?? Fred will defo want to see me again! ????

Anyway…

In my view, that is how you take control of a first meeting, where you start to drive clients down your way of doing things - YOUR PROCESS - because you know it’s going to be good for them and good for you.

Better still, Fred gets the impression throughout, that it’s leading somewhere. Somewhere good. He wants to find out. After all, he knows he can just walk away. (They never do by the way).

?? Hope you can use it.

Remember, in my previous ‘What they don’t teach you’ post I shared the ‘Ultimate Financial Planning Question’ to ask Fred (but only near the end of the meeting ??).

Can you see how it's all part of a system - that leads clients towards an amazing financial planning ‘experience'??

It’s all part of my Inspiring Advisers Lifestyle Financial Planning 7 Step Success System.

Here's what to do next...

First, ask yourself, could you use this approach? ?? It ain't difficult.

I bet you could! Give it a try. See what happens.

?? Let me know what you think about it in the comments.

? Better still, if you are an action taker and want to learn how to truly MASTER your first meeting, if you want to learn how to get MORE of the RIGHT clients, and learn how to turn EVERY client (that you choose to work with) into a highly profitable financial planning relationship where YOU and THEY have an awful lot more fun, where you (and your team) get your MOJO back and where you take control of your service once and for all, then sign up for a 30-day no risk trial of my Inspiring Advisers Lifestyle Financial Planning 7 Step Success System .

It’s just ￡3.23 per day. A small price to pay for access to a proven system that you can copy and deploy. My short, inspiring, highly effective video lessons that will turn you into a highly profitable Lifestyle Financial Planner - and all within 12 months or less.

There’s no need for you to re-invent the wheel. You haven’t got time.

Here’s the link to check it out.