Going from Contact to Client
Hello folks, I was hoping to get some good advice on this topic.
I have been cold calling and networking consistently during the start of my career here at MSSB. The cold calling is going pretty well in my opinion. Its been my most efficient prospecting method for sure. My questions is I am getting appointments here and there but I am getting a lot of contacts that appear to have a good existing advisor relationship but have agreed to recieve information from me and stay in contact with me. I am staying in contact but does anyone have a good strategy about how to really get them to move from contact to setting an appointment with me where I can get them into a strong conversation about becoming a client of mine or giving me part of their business.
I believe I deliver a good value proposition on myself and our firm but what are some good questions to expose some weaknesses of their current advisor and service they are getting?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
More numbers. Seriously. Some people have a burning need on the surface-cold calling can and will find them. Others, there may be a need but it's going to take time to build some familiarity. Stay in touch, ask if you can stop in when in the neighborhood, just to make a quick connection. Don't talk investments, talk them. This worked for me last month.
Try a few different tacks-I started at the SB side of MSSB. You have a lot of tools besides investments. One of those other tools might be their hot button at the moment. You will get a lot of "and by the way, I have this account, I don't know the guy, he's never called me, etc." This happened today.
Don't beat yourself up--human nature makes people procrastinate. Appeal to greed or fear of loss (again). Some people I have met have been getting their brains blown out by their advisor and they don't move--it amazes me, too.
Note: you said "appear". I am finding more and more people that I speak with are unhappy with their advisor, and willing to change. Now that they made most everything they lost back, maybe psychologically, it helps them, I don't know. You may be surprised, as I am, some of the stuff that goes on with HNW folks and their "advisor"; a lot of people aren't happy. I am finding they're taking action now (in 08, they were too shellshocked to do anything; in 09, they were pissed off. In 010, they didn't believe the recovery. Now, they're seeing that they're missing out.) It's just perceived as easier to say they're happy and go for the easy brushoff. Don't be afraid to put the gun to their head and force them to make a decision. I suffer from this sometimes, too, keeping people in the pipe where the $$ are there, but I just can't get them to move. More prospects takes care of this. Having success and getting back to the office all juiced up on confidence is a great time to get on the phone and cull the crap prospects out of your pipeline. You'll feel better about it then, and sound better, as opposed to at 4pm after cold calling all day without any leads.
Also, and this helped me out a lot, think about money that HAS to move and money that COULD move. Two different things. Try to get both kinds in your pipe. A business owner doesn't have to move 50K in their checking account earning 0 to me for a bond. Somebody who is leaving a job and has to move their 401K, or a company going through a mass layoff. A business that is having issues with their 401K, maybe going through a DoL audit has to be addressed. A mortgage that is resetting higher has to be addressed. These examples have to take action. You get my examples. We need both types in the hopper at all times.
C-FA
Great post
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