Whites Of Their Eyes

If on a date… the only thing you talk about is sex… what does the girl or guy know about you?  If the only thing you talk about with a client or prospect is money… what do they know about you?

There has been a huge amount of research done in the last 20 years on the language of trust.  It seems that people aren’t as trusting as they use to be.  Go figure, right?  In order to build trust, the person you are working with has to come to the conclusion that you are NOT just focused on YOUR agenda… getting them to move money, so that you can make money on them.

“But that’s not the case, I’m really here to help the client,” you say.  I know you are… but Boomers (and everyone born after Boomers) are not going to believe you.  They are suspicious and always looking for your agenda.

So, how do you overcome that suspicion?  There are several ways, but here is one way that is easy and fun.  Do things that make them smile.  When I was in personal production making well north of $1 million/year in income… I still took the time to write 200 handwritten notes a month.  How many have you written in the last year?

What kind of notes you might ask?  All the standard ones like birthdays, anniversaries of when they became a client, retirement congrats, etc.  BUT… the cards that got the biggest response were the ones that made them smile.

I would send postcards to clients and prospects alike that would give them a chuckle. Here are some examples:

I had dozens of versions of these cards and they worked wonders.  Everybody loved them… everybody commented on them… and everybody, especially clients knew who I was when I reached out to them.  This meant I started with a warm… not a cold, suspicious… prospect.

This is from one of my favorite marketing authors, Jay Levinson and his book Guerilla Marketing.  He quotes Thomas Smith, one of the first people that looked at advertising as a science in 1885.

“Think of this when you consider altering your marketing plans after a short time.  Lest you misunderstand, think about the following list each time you run an ad and get a response that doesn’t meet your expectations:

1. The first time a person looks at an ad, they don’t see it.
2. The second time, they don’t notice it
3. The third time, they are conscious of its existence
4. The fourth time, they faintly remember having seen it
5. The fifth time, they read the ad
6. The sixth time, they turn up their nose at it
7. The seventh time, they read it through and say, “Oh brother!”
8. The eighth time, they say, “Here’s the confounded thing again!”
9. The ninth time, they wonder if it amounts to anything
10. The tenth time, they ask their neighbor if he has tried it
11. The eleventh time, they wonder how the advertiser makes money
12. The twelfth time, they think it must be a good thing
13. The thirteenth time, they think it might be worth something
14. The fourteenth time, they remember that they wanted such a thing for a long time
15. The fifteenth time, they are tantalized because they cannot afford to buy it
16. The sixteenth time, they think they will buy it someday
17. The seventeenth time, they make a memorandum of it
18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty
19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully
20. The twentieth time, he sees the ad, he buys it because he can’t live without it

Ask every single one of your clients what charities they support… especially what Local charities they support.  Are there any charities that seem to pop up often?  There most likely is.  Get to know those particular charities, because they attract people just like your clients!

This takes work and planning but can end up providing your practice with several “Whale” clients.

You can use this information in so many ways:

1. Get involved and participate in those charities
2. Volunteer to be on their board
3. Let clients know that you are supporting those causes in your newsletters
4. Create a fund raiser for one or two charities and sponsor it
   1. Golf tournament
   2. Poker tournament
   3. Walk or run (though I’d do something more fun) … themed
   4. Chili or soup cook off
   5. Concert
   6. Corn hole tournament
   7. Dog parade

What do you do when events have made it more difficult to get in front of new people? 

Regardless of what is happening in the economy, society, or the market… there is always a reliable way to create new income… our clients’ lives.  They have trigger events occurring that create opportunities for you to provide assistance and get paid for it. 

These are some of the things that an AARP survey says Boomers have encountered, by percentage:

• 51%     Made a major career change
• 40%     Gotten a divorce
• 35%     Became a grandparent
• 31%     Became an empty nester
• 29%     Survived a major illness

What value can you provide that leverages any of these issues?  A white paper? A webinar or YouTube video? An article in your newsletter?  Or, even a postcard or phone call.

These are things that a big chunk of your clientele has experienced… which ALL provide a big emotional punch.  And, we all know it is emotions that get people to act… and to buy.  Figure out which of these you want to focus on and get busy becoming the irreplaceable resource for your clients… and their referrals!

Here’s how you can both look like a hero and get to know your client’s best friends.

People are trapped in their houses now and miss seeing their friends regularly.  Why not host a virtual birthday lunch for your best clients?  Their family will probably get together virtually… but not necessarily their friends.

Here’s how you do it:

• Go through your files and figure out who’s having a birthday in the next month
• Call their spouse and tell them you want to host a virtual birthday lunch with their friends
  • Let them know you’d like to host a virtual get together (choose Zoom, WebEx, Join.me, or any of the other available platforms)
  • You’ll arrange to send lunch to each of the invitees via any of the delivery services
    • Is arranging all these deliveries a hassle?  YES!  So, if you are so busy making money that you don’t have time, don’t do this.  But, if you are twiddling your thumbs wondering what you are going to do to drum up business… this is NOT a hassle… it is an investment
• Help their spouse get hold of their friends to set up the online get together
  • Create a little menu from the restaurant you have chosen… and send it to all the attendees
  • This gives you a reason to begin communicating with these folks to get their lunch orders back
• On the day, send out reminders to all the attendees reminding them that lunch is going to be knocking on their door… so they better be there. 😊
• Begin the meeting and tell everyone why you love your client… and then fade into the background (or even disconnect) and let them engage.

You KNOW that your client is going to sing your praises… and you KNOW that all the attendees are going to wonder why their advisor doesn’t love them… as much as you love your clients!   And good things are going to come from that!

Do you care about your community?  I know you do, and many advisors do A LOT of volunteer work.  If you are, don’t hide it!  Make sure your client base, prospects and the community know what you are doing to help them and more importantly, why you are doing it.

You don’t have to brag… instead couch it as:

• How much you love your community
• As a call to action for the rest of the community to take action
• As a way to let others know about the help that is needed

Remember, when it comes to sales… People don’t care how much you know… until they know how much you care.

How are you keeping your clients happy… engaged… and open to talking about you (and what you do) with all their friends and relatives?  Why not invite them to a fun and quick get together where you’ll pose some questions, in the form of a quiz?  You could give out prizes and make it entertaining. 

Why not make it a regular get-together until this whole Covid-19 mess is done?

You could also open it up to a Q&A session about whatever they want to talk about after.  Tell them to invite friends and family too?

You can just do your quiz on PowerPoint slides… or there are plenty of online quiz creators out there.  Just Google “online quiz creator”.   You could even do some research and use quizzes that have already been created.  Check out this one from AARP…

https://www.aarp.org/money/investing/info-2019/risky-business-money-quiz.html#quest1

Ever wonder why… even though you are smarter than your competition… they still make more money than you?  They aren’t more knowledgeable about investing… they know more about selling. 

Find what they do differently in this sales training video (starting about 16 minutes in).

Who do we want as clients?  Centers of Influence… Movers and Shakers… Thought Leaders… Why?  Because they can become a never-ending source of referrals for us!

But these people are besieged with people trying to cozy up to them.  How do you cut through the clutter and get their attention?  It’s pretty simple… and it only costs around $400. 

How much would it be worth having your town’s movers and shakers singing your praises?

Learn how to do just that in the 7-page guide, Toast of the Town courtesy of 5Q Group.