Meeting with prospect & CPA
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I’ve met with a wealthy prospect a few times and have sold them on the idea of merging all of their accounts into one and working with me. We’ve already invested some of their monies but before we transfer the bulk of his $$$ and put my plan into place he wants me to meet his CPA since I have no rep. or office in town.
Now I realize I screwed up along the way by not getting the cash moved over and then meeting with the CPA .. it's just this is a really big sum of money and I didn't want it to blow up. Hindsight is 20/20 and I'll make adjustments in the future. So, any tips before meeting with the CPA? I'm going to drop by his office and introduce myself before the meeting but don't want to blow up.Bring your snuggie and teach him how to do Yoga. The Balsamic Chicken recipe might be a deal getter! Just don’t mention Ron Paul.
MJ, WTF are you talking about?
Volt, just remember that CPA's are conservative, they are concerned with taxes NOW, adn they don't want anything that will blow up their clients. Don't suggest anything that will cause a tax bite, and they love muni's. CPA's think in terms of taxes, and only taxes (obviously this is a generalization, but I have found this to be the rule more often than not). All the fancy, goofy Jones literature is not going to impress him. I would also position it as "hey before I make any more moves with his investments/cash, I really wanted to touch base with you to make sure there were no outstanding tax issues that could have an effect on how we invest (i.e. tax loss carry-forwards, big gains from other business ventures, unanticipated income, etc.). Try not to let the meeting become about the CPA vetting you.Hey wait…Windy used to fight with Voltmoie…and now MJ comes in and 2 days later is ragging on Voltmoie…hmmmmm…could it be??? Nahhhh…MJ says it’s not…LOLOL…as if we all don’t know for sure!
Just get it over with, Windy. You saw my picture and now you think you have leverage against me. Out me if you makes you feel better. I won’t lose sleep, threaten legal action, or delete my account. I of course would prefer not to have a sexy picture of myself in the hands of others but I’ve talked to a handful of people off here in person so I’m not exactly unknown. Knock yourself out.
BTW: If any of you would like to see the picture or more of me... by all means, just PM me! Happy to share. It was a picture of me wearing my wifes snuggie making fun of her.His CPA probably has no desire to meet you. He knows that he doesn’t know squat about investing. Unless there is a reason to think otherwise, I would go with the assumption that the purpose of the meeting is to meet and not talk about the specifics of the portfolio. Why would you go over and meet the CPA first?
If he’s been the guy’s CPA for a while they’ve probably built a good relationship. If the CPA has a financial advisor center of influence then I’d definitely want to be on your A game going in there. Someone like a CPA won’t hesitate to tell their clients that the prospective advisor is a schmuck or “Don’t worry about him, he doesn’t have the experience necessary to help someone like you. Let me get you in touch with one of my advisor buddies I’m close with. He’s been doing this 10-12 years…”. Keep in mind, the CPA is going to be the one calling YOU next April to get the clients tax documents organized. If he thinks you’ll be lax and dis-organized he’ll tell his client to go somewhere else. If he think you’ll be on time and will have the 1099’s and cost basis info for any realized gains/losses ready to go when he asks you, he’ll nudge the client over to your side. It’ll all be about him wanting his client to have an advisor that won’t create more work for the CPA.
[quote=B24]MJ, WTF are you talking about?
Volt, just remember that CPA's are conservative, they are concerned with taxes NOW, adn they don't want anything that will blow up their clients. Don't suggest anything that will cause a tax bite, and they love muni's. CPA's think in terms of taxes, and only taxes (obviously this is a generalization, but I have found this to be the rule more often than not). All the fancy, goofy Jones literature is not going to impress him. I would also position it as "hey before I make any more moves with his investments/cash, I really wanted to touch base with you to make sure there were no outstanding tax issues that could have an effect on how we invest (i.e. tax loss carry-forwards, big gains from other business ventures, unanticipated income, etc.). Try not to let the meeting become about the CPA vetting you.[/quote] Thanks for the feedback, my client asked his CPA if there were any taxes issues with him moving all his assets under one roof. His CPA asked who I was and now we have this meeting. His wife is mad about it. I'm not thrilled but don't want to come off as the idiot I am. Basically client trusts his CPA, dislikes his broker. Is it better to drop by and introduce myself to CPA before meeting or simple show up? I have talked to his partner on the phone before.Yep, I dropped the ball on this one and missed a few oppurtunities to close him. Lesson learned, 7 figures got me nervous. Weird thing is the client called me out of the blue this morning to give me a referral so hopefully I'll pass the smell test. Dug my hole now I've just got to get out of it.[quote=anonymous]His CPA probably has no desire to meet you. He knows that he doesn’t know squat about investing. Unless there is a reason to think otherwise, I would go with the assumption that the purpose of the meeting is to meet and not talk about the specifics of the portfolio. Why would you go over and meet the CPA first?[/quote]
I’m with Anonymous. Something doesn’t pass the smell test. This guy doesn’t trust you and he’s stupid enough to think that the cpa is smart enough to advise him on your proposal. The prospect is in control of this relationship, not you. Good luck.
Volt - Noones outting you or trying to get leverage. Just thought it was funny. I’m done arguing about Windy not being me though. Do whatever you guys want to that guy, cause its NOT MEEEEEEEEEEE. What do I care.
I worked in a large CPA firm years ago.
Things we would warn clients about. 1. Rookies 2. Wire house reps. 3. Insurance reps trying to do investments. 4. Did I mention ROOKIES If you are a rookie under 3 to 5 years be prepaired to beYou went and searched me ... you didn't happen upon my picture. Some new guy that just bought the magazine would never do that. Who do you think you are fooling? Quick disclaimer: photobucket account MINE, fan nation account MINE ... the others, no idea Let me make this easy: http://s290.photobucket.com/albums/ll260/voltmoie/?action=view¤t=DSC_0063.jpg&newest=1Volt - Noones outting you or trying to get leverage. Just thought it was funny. I’m done arguing about Windy not being me though. Do whatever you guys want to that guy, cause its NOT MEEEEEEEEEEE. What do I care.
You guys really don't have a clue. This dude is getting so much flack from my presence. HAHA
[quote=MJ]
You guys really don't have a clue. This dude is getting so much flack from my presence. HAHA
[/quote] Nobody could stand him anyway so all the better!Hey, whatever makes everyone feel better. I’m happy to be the guy getting everyone to laugh at someone else’s expense. HEEEEHEEE
Should we leave the guy alone and sing "Heal the world"? or can I continue to banter on him? He's probably at home right now screaming, LEAVE ME ALOOOHOOOOONE!voltmoie,
Above all else make sure the CPA feels that you value his/her input b/c of their pre-existing relationship to the client. CPA will see you as just a sales rep and will be skeptical of you by default.
I would try and speak to the CPA prior to the meeting so you don’t walk into an interview situation. Make the CPA feel comfortable that you’re not trying to poach the client for a friend of yours who happens to be a CPA and that you value the relationship they’ve cultivated with the client.
You never know, the CPA could be a good referral source down the line.
It sounds like a great opportunity to meet a new center of influence. Don’t be worried at all. See this as an opportunity to introduce yourself. Don’t go there to talk product.