Adri Miller-Heckman

Archive for the ‘Action Plan’ Category

During a time when it is difficult to get in front of just one new prospect Michael Boudway filled 9 seats with brand new qualified business owners and scheduled 5 follow up meetings.  In an environment where investors are skeptical of investing and less trusting of financial advisors Franco LaMarca opened 21 new accounts and uncovered well over $30,000,000 in  new assets.  In a business where relationships are becoming more and more important to growing a business Mohini McCormick set up 15 face to face meetings with centers of influence which led to 7 additional contacts and opportunities to present her practice. While the outcomes may be different , the mission was accomplished using the same  process.  All three Advisors incorporated 3 components that are critical to an effective prospecting campaign. 

1.  Objective: You must have a clear focus and objective as to what you hope to achieve with the contact
2. Conviction:  You must convey confidence in the value you are presenting
3. Activity:  You must actually make the contact

Michael Boudway was doing the dials and following the typical process for prospecting but generating dismal results.  He had the discipline and the determination but lacked a clear objective and as a result limited conviction in his message.  With business owners being his clearly defined target market I helped Mike set up an event specifically for the business owner.  We first identified what were the most pressing issues concerning business owners today and then built his event topics around those areas of interest.  Mike was able to secure a high level speaker from his firm to speak about  The Outlook for the Economy a topic of specific interest to business owners.  Just having this new focus to his calls turned a miserable experience into a fruitful venture. 

The results:

1. Leading up to his first event Mike was able to generate interest and gather email addresses of over 40 business owners who had expressed interest in participating in future events. These 40 are now in his drip system. 
2. 12 of the business owners RSVP’d for his first event of which he has already scheduled 5 follow up meetings.  
3. After the event Mike also followed up with all 40 prospects, provided the highlights of the event and has already secured two more appointments. 

By setting up a series of business events Mike now has a clear and inviting objective to his calls and expresses greater conviction in the value he is providing to the business community. This first event is just the beginning.

Franco LaMarca was a new Financial Advisor with a loaded contact list but empty arsenal.  With minimal training as a Financial Advisor he struggled to find a focus or a method for turning his affluent contacts into clients.  As a former attorney Franco knew he needed more knowledge before he would feel confident and become effective at bringing in the business but time was a critical factor. Time he didn’t have.  Being that Franco was already respected in his community it was even more important that in his new role as a Financial Advisor he appear knowledgeable, confident and competent. 

Our first step in working together was to identify what was Franco’s objective.  When he met with his former colleagues, friends, and associates, what was it that he wanted to accomplish? What was his objective?  He knew he didn’t want to “sell” them or make them feel like a “prospect”.  What he soon recognized was that what was most important in those meetings was that the contact left the meeting with a very clear understanding of why being a financial advisor was important to him.  They needed to know what Franco did as a Financial Advisor, who he did it for, and  what was his value. This sounds easy enough but this actually took a lot of work, but that work paid off. 

As a result of our work together

1. Franco began having more productive meetings. 
2. He had a clear objective, and a compelling message
3. His conviction and confidence continued to grow. 

This combination allowed Franco to open 26 accounts and uncover $12,000,000 in assets in just 6 months.

Mohini McCormick, an Advisor at Credit Suisse has over 15 years of experience in the business.  As with many Advisors who have focused on alternative investments this past year has created the need for some “reorganization”.  With production at the low end Mohini used this time to take a fresh look at the business as she began the process of rebuilding.   Recognizing the vulnerability of her current business model Mohini decided to make a change and refocus her future business on the affluent female client. Although this new focus seemed to energize her it felt close to a paradigm shift in her business model, she would have to rebuild her message and process. 

With much thought and care we developed a message for Mohini that reflected her high level of expertise and focus but also the aspects of the business that she was passionate about, a very different approach from the alternative investment arena.  As planned Mohini began setting up cold meetings with attorneys in the area. Being the perfectionist that she is, Mohini was initially tentative of the new approach and process.  With each meeting her confidence and excitement grew as the response and feedback became more and more positive.  She understood her objective was to leave the center of influence with a clear message as to whom they should be referring to her.  In half of the meetings the recipient was so enthusiastic that they would refer her to another colleague who they felt would be an additional and even better source of referrals.

Mohini had a clear objective to make her mark, to make and leave an impression with the intent of generating a referral and additional contact.  15 contacts led to 23 meetings. By focusing on what was important to her Mohini showed tremendous conviction in her practice as well as in her desire to add value. 

All three of these Advisors are at different stages of their career with a different focus to their practice.  All three of these advisors were struggling to generate the results they were looking for until they were able to clearly identify their objective, display their conviction and at the end of the day they made the calls.  All 3 had what it took to succeed; they were determined, disciplined and willing to make the calls. All 3 were lacking a clear objective, which creates focus for a clear message fueled with your passion and conviction and ultimately moving you to activity.  To be successful you need all 3.

Many Advisors are kicking up their prospecting efforts. Some are even going back to the traditional methods of cold calling. Others are utilizing seminars and workshops and many are focusing on Centers of Influence and Networking opportunities. No matter what method you utilize you MUST have an effective process to move this new relationship to become a productive client. It’s not enough to just make the contact and then wait for an opportunity to follow up. You must have a system that strikes while the iron is hot.Think of relationships on a scale of 1-10. 1 means they are a perfect stranger an 8 means they have opened an account and 10 means they are a loyal productive client. The challenge comes around level 4, getting that relationship to move from a 4 (you have recently been acquainted) to level 8 where they are ready to do business.

There are two primary prospecting strategies that must be incorporated in order to accelerate the relationship process. You need both Active and Passive Prospecting methods. An Active strategy is when you have an opportunity to speak with someone over the phone, present to them at a seminar or event, talk with them at a networking event and the most effective is meeting with them one on one. Each of these methods can feasibly take a relationship from level 1 to level 4. This is when the iron is hot. The objective lies in maintaining that level four and building from there. If you wait for the next opportunity to call or see the prospect over time that 4 disintegrates and you eventually have to resurrect that relationship, this causes you to constantly back track going two steps forward and one step backwards.

Passive strategies are the most effective method of maintaining the current relationship level and sometimes even enhancing that relationship. The passive strategies eliminate the need to constantly back track from loss of ground. Passive strategies are both critical in maintaining happy and loyal clients but also in elevating your value in the eyes of the prospect. Passive strategies can be newsletters, invitations, articles of interest, announcements. Basically anything mailed or emailed is a Passive Strategy. Can you initiate a relationship and open an account with just passive strategies? no. It is the combination of both Active combined with Passive strategies that have the greatest impact on accelerating the relationship. If you utilize an active strategy to initiate the relationship i.e.; phone call, conversation at a networking event, your relationship has gone from a 1 to a 4. You must IMMEDIATELY begin implementing a passive strategy routine which maintains the current level and leads up to the next Active contact. This allows your next contact with the prospect to effectively move the relationship closer to an 8; opening an account.

Not only can passive strategies elevate your prospecting efforts but passive strategies can easily become automated simplifying your life. By automating your passive strategies this allows you to add tremendous value to both clients and prospects with little effort. Incorporating passive strategies is easy and can be developed in advance allowing you to be more strategic in your process.

If you are really focused on prospecting for new business, and if you have a desire to accelerate the relationships you develop with new acquaintances then just follow the Passive Strategy Action Plan below. By incorporating these two Passive strategies you will immediately begin to reap the benefits of combining both your active and passive strategies to grow your business.

Action Plan:

• Set up Bi monthly emails: Everyone (clients, prospects and leads) get added to this list
  1. Select monthly recap report to send out each month: Provide personal email message that entices the recipient to read the article
  2. Select 1-4 articles that can be sent at the end of each month: These can be typically focused on products and services. Following Adri’s Thematic Wealth Process can make this process more strategic and coordinated.

• Develop a Prospecting Follow up strategy: to be initiated immediately following first meeting or conversation in order to keep the lead WARM
  1. Mailer #1 - Select interesting chart that is simple engaging to be sent to any new prospect immediately following conversation. Attach a personal hand written note and if possible refer to your previous conversation.
  2. Mailer #2 – 5 days after the first mailer send a personal brochure with a note that reminds them of your mission. If a personal brochure is not available another interesting chart or graph can be used. Again a personal note should be attached.
  3. Mailer #3 – For those that incorporate Adri’s Thematic Wealth Process you can send the quarterly Thematic Wealth letter. This quarterly letter will prompt the purpose of another phone call or meeting.
  4. Phone Call: Now is your chance to take the relationship from a 4 to a 5 or a 6. The passive strategies (mailers) should have helped to maintain and even advance the level of the relationship.