CHRISISM #68 - Boxes To Tick Right Up Front

18 June 2018

In Chrisism#67 entitled “Setting Out Your Stall”, I identified four boxes that I believe we have to tick right up front with our prospective clients, thereby achieving four identifiable outcomes that are crucial in putting our client at ease from the word go.

To recap, the boxes we need to be ticking are:-

1) Remove as many unknowns as possible

2) Allay as many fears as possible

3) Dispel as many myths as possible

4) Create expectations on the part of our client(s) both for this initial meeting and as a client moving forward

In order to demonstrate how I ticked these boxes, I am going to share with you some scripting that always formed an integral part of the introduction to my first client meeting. Please remember that, when I share scripts with you, the purpose is to demonstrate the message(s) that I am seeking to impart and by definition this will be in “my speak”, so it is crucial that you express the same message(s) - but in your own words, so that it is you speaking (not me).  

So after I have finished the general chit chat and introduced myself and my business which will include running through the FSG, I will then say the following:-

“Now it’s really important that we are singing from the same song sheet when it comes to the purpose of today’s meeting and how it then translates into recommendations. So it’s important for you to understand that my mission today is NOT to get you to tell me what you would need to survive financially in certain specific ‘what if’ scenarios – I’m really not interested in that. What I AM on a mission to do today is to help you tell me what it is that you would WANT in terms of financial outcomes in those same what if scenarios, because once you have told me what financial outcomes you would want, then I will be in a position to use my expertise to put together my recommendations for the types and levels of cover specifically designed to achieve the financial outcomes you’ve told me you want and hopefully within an affordable budget. Does that sound reasonable?” I believe the above scripting puts a big tick in box 1) as well as the first part of box 4).

Now let’s look at the scripting for putting a tick in boxes 2) and 3) and the second part of box 4).

This follows straight after the script above and it goes like this:-

“Now before I hand the baton over to you and find out what your objectives are, just a couple of things about how I go about doing business which, I believe fortunately for you, are somewhat different to the norm. Firstly, it’s important that you understand that under no circumstances am I interested in one-off sales – only long term business relationships. Are you comfortable with that?” I believe this puts a tick in boxes 2) and 3).

Then I would continue as follows:-

“Also, having seen the range of services that I can provide for you over time, would you agree that it all becomes pretty meaningless unless we get together and review things on a regular basis, and this might be every 6 months until your financial houses are in order and then maybe once a year might suffice. Because if we don’t get together on a regular basis, then you can’t keep me abreast of any changes in your situation that might be relevant, which means I can’t keep you abreast of any new ideas or strategies that might become relevant in your new situation – so it is if you like a condition of becoming a client of mine that we do get together on a regular basis. Are you comfortable with that?” I believe this puts a tick in the second part of box 4).

If you have got value and some new ideas that you think will benefit your risk advice process from this Chrisism, imagine how many nuggets you would get from my full day Risk Workshop, which I am rolling out across the 5 major capitals in August!

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