Adri Miller-Heckman

Archive for the ‘Referrals’ 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.