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In the perfect world, every prospect who’s been given your name would immediately call you.
But the real world doesn’t work that way, something I was reminded of by a recent email from a financial advisor in Chicago named Mark about a question everyone in the industry has been asked: During a meeting, a client says, “ I gave my friend Bill your name – have you heard from him?” Of course your answer is no, you haven’t heard from Bill.
Here’s Mark’s email:
“ I've had a string of situations in which clients tell me they’ve given my name to friends, the best number ever. The challenge is I never hear from these prospects.
When a client tells me this, I thank them for the referral, then thank them again four weeks later and then six months out. Even if I don’t get a call, I want clients to know I appreciate them passing along my name and also hope this gives them a nudge to check with their friends, although so far I haven’t seen much in the way of results from this. What is the best way to handle those great potential connections without appearing desperate?”
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Below are three comfortable, low-pressure responses to “ Have you heard from Bill” that increase the odds of talking to your clients’ friends.
First, though, let’s understand why you don’t hear from people you’ve been referred to.
Why you don’t hear from referrals
There are several reasons that Mark hasn’t heard from the friends to whom clients referred him, all beyond his control:
The issue that prompted the referral may not have been pressing or may have been resolved.
The prospects may have gotten busy, or put contacting Mark on their to-do list and just haven’t got around to making that call.
Or perhaps they’ve had unpleasant encounters with previous financial advisors and are apprehensive about repeating this experience or being pressured by Mark, even in the face of the recommendation from their friend.
In light of this, here are three approaches you could use when clients ask if you’ve heard from their friends.
“Tell me more about your conversation with Joan”
Imagine that you’re meeting with two long-standing clients, Roy and Mary; during the meeting, Mary asks if you’ve heard from her co-worker Joan.
The first approach is simply to ask for more information. After thanking Mary for her confidence, try to get a better sense of what she and Joan talked about. Some of the questions you could ask:
“Could you tell me a bit about Joan? What kind of person is she?”
“How did my name come up in conversation?”
“Was there anything specific that made Joan raise this with you?”
“Do you have a sense of what Joan is looking for?”
“How did you and Joan leave it?”
This helps you in three ways. First, it gives you a better sense of prospects. Second, it increases the chances that clients will raise this with their friends the next time they’re talking. And finally, it may alert you to opportunities to follow up in an unobtrusive, low-pressure fashion.
Let’s suppose that Mary says: “ Joan and I were talking about how little GICs pay today and I mentioned our last meeting, where you recommended we reduce our bond holdings and add some bank stocks that pay high dividends.”
Alternatively, Mary answers: “We were talking about how many people at work are pushing back retirement, I mentioned that at our last meeting you’d updated our financial plan and confirmed that Roy and I are still on track to retire in two years.”
Or the conversation could have been triggered by conversations about cottage succession or the difficulty in discussing estate plans with adult children. Regardless of what prompted the initial conversation, you have an opportunity to say:
“ Thanks again for giving Joan my name. I’d like to send her an article that relates to the issue you discussed. I can email it to you and you can forward it to her, or if you prefer I can send it to her directly.”
Note that even though you’d prefer to send Joan the article directly, you’re giving Mary the choice about how to proceed. Going back to the initial email from Mark, you want to communicate that you’re interested in talking to Joan, but not desperate to do so.
“I’d like to add Joan to my monthly emails”
A recurrent theme in my articles over the past few years has been the need to supplement your face-to-face and phone meetings with regular written communication. Traditionally, some advisors have mailed their firm’s quarterly newsletter – and, while that’s better than nothing, I often hear complaints about the generic and impersonal nature of these newsletters, with the result that the envelopes often sit unopened.
That’s why a growing number of advisors have begun writing their own monthly or quarterly market updates, often emailing these to all but a few older clients who still prefer to get them by mail. And a few advisors have begun including links in their emails to relevant articles from credible publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes or the New York Times.
Assuming that you mail or email clients regular newsletters or commentaries, this presents another low-key follow-up opportunity. If what led to the initial conversation doesn’t lend itself naturally to something relevant you can send along, you can instead say to your client:
“ Thanks again for giving Joan my name. People often get busy; chances are that’s why I haven’t heard from her. If you’re talking to Joan, perhaps mention that we spoke and that I’d be happy to sit down with her. In the meantime, perhaps ask if she’s interested in receiving the regular emails that you and my other clients get. I’ll send you the most recent commentary and perhaps you can forward this to Joan and see if she’d like to start receiving these.”
Again, you aren’t asking Mary for Joan’s email address – you’re leaving control of how to proceed in Mary’s and Joan’s hands, showing interest but not desperation.
“I wonder whether Joan would like to attend my upcoming lunch”
Something else that has gained popularity among advisors is educational sessions for clients – these can take place over breakfast or lunch or in the evening, while afternoons can work well for retirees. With regard to numbers, in the last while, I’ve talked to advisors who successfully ran events for 12 clients around their boardroom table, 50 clients for an afternoon session or 500 attendees for an annual event for all clients.
The topics can vary as well. Some advisors focus on market-related talks – given events over the past five years, many clients who in the past weren’t concerned about the global economy and markets as a whole are showing much greater interest. Other talks are devoted to wealth management issues concerning tax and estate planning. (One advisor who runs regular sessions for retirees says that the topic that perennially gets the best turnout is “10 common estate-planning mistakes that cost people money.”)
Most advisors target these events to existing clients – the days of mass advertising to get prospects out to seminars are largely behind us. That said, a side benefit is the opportunity to invite prospects with whom you’ve been communicating and to encourage clients who are attending to invite friends along. So in this case, you could say:
“ Thanks again for giving Joan my name. I know you and Roy have attended the lunches in my office in the past. I have one of these lunches coming up next month; if you’re planning to come I wonder if Joan might be interested in attending along with you.”
If you’re interested in conducting these sessions for your clients, here’s an interview with an advisor who regularly gets 60 to 70 retirees out to afternoon sessions, with a mixture of existing and prospective clients:
As I said at the outset, in the ideal world the words “ Did you hear from my friend?” would never cross clients’ lips.In reality, these kinds of conversations are inevitable – the key is to respond in a way that maximizes the odds of getting in front of referrals without having either clients or their friends feel pressured in the process.
conducts programs to help advisors gain and retain clients and is an award winning faculty member in the MBA program at the University of Toronto. To see more of his written and video commentaries, go to www.clientinsights.ca. Use A555A for the rep and dealer code to register for website access.
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