One of the advisors I was working with told me this story:
“A client came in for a meeting and seemed very nervous and distracted. So rather than assuming it was the experience with me that was bothering him, I asked him if there was anything he would like to talk about before we got started. It turned out his business partner had been diagnosed with cancer and it was troubling him deeply. We spent most of our time together discussing the situation and when he left he shook my hand and said thank you. That was one of the most rewarding client meetings I have ever had. ”
When a client comes in for a meeting and seems distracted what do advisors do? A normal reaction is to get nervous and rush through the presentation to get it done and the client out the door.
What if you asked the client what was on his or her mind first? And then you listened.
What if he or she said they were supposed to go out of town and their babysitter had fallen through and you were able to give them 3 names of highly recommended sitters? What if he or she said their doctor told them they had to loose weight because of hypertension and you had the names of 3 personal trainers? What if they were looking for a new car and you had the name of the greatest car salesman ever that would give them a good deal?
Adding value to our clients’ lives is an opportunity for astute Supernova advisors to develop deeper relationships with those clients. Sometimes, life may seem easy for affluent people, but it can be much more complicated than you think. Affluent clients have a lot on their minds these days juggling retirement, kids and grandkids, ex-spouses and current spouses, one house or two, graduations, weddings, taking care of their aging parents, keeping up with technology and even more importantly keeping track of their wealth and their health.
You already are helping them take care of their wealth with a financial plan, investment management and cash flow. Why not provide even more value by creating a list of enthusiastically endorsed service providers? Cover a wide range of interests including names of CPAs and physicians to favorite country clubs and personal trainers. Those names come from the conversations you have with your clients on their regularly scheduled Supernova monthly call.
Make a list of every possible category and go through it with each client asking them if they enthusiastically endorse that company/person. Put the three top names in each category into a file and print it out to give to clients when they ask. Try it out and see how grateful clients will be that you are not only interested in their opinion, but able to supply them with referrals to help them in other areas of their lives.
There is a form in the downloads tab on the membership site where you can download a list we put together.