Land the Big Whale

Think about your experience. Has any high-net-worth prospect approached you and said: “My ideal portfolio is one or two index or passively managed funds?”

The first obstacle is changing the mind of someone who may believe complex investments available only to UHNW investors are optimal.

When advisors come to me, their predisposition is to ask me to help them organize the facts that will demonstrate why their investment philosophy would be a better choice. They are intensely focused on creating the best “presentation” possible.

This is unlikely to work.

It’s hard to persuade

If you haven’t read the book Think Like a Freak by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, I highly recommend it.

The authors noted how difficult it is to persuade anyone of anything significant. They set forth two primary reasons:

1. The views of the prospect “are likely based less on fact and logic than on ideology and herd thinking.” In contrast, your views are based on extensive education, continuing study, and vast experience.

When dealing with someone whose beliefs are based on biases, you aren’t going to persuade with logic, facts and data.

2. People who have achieved great financial success are often confident in their judgment in unrelated areas like investing. They need to be “right.” You are unlikely to persuade them otherwise.

If you successfully get the “whale” to a meeting, the worst thing you can do is inundate them with a presentation demonstrating the merits of your investment approach.

A different approach

When confronted with the challenge of converting a “whale,” the best you can do is skew the odds in your favor. Those odds are heavily weighed against you.

Here are some suggestions to do that:

Pre-meeting preparation

Before the meeting, contact the prospect and say, "I want to ensure our meeting is as productive as possible. What issues would you like us to address? What would you like to accomplish?”

You’ll be surprised at how often the prospect has an agenda and how it differs from yours.

A different metric

The more the prospect talks at the meeting, the higher your chances of conversion. That’s your new metric.

The best way to get someone to talk is to ask questions in which you show a genuine interest in the prospect as a person and then follow up with more questions. At some point, the prospect will ask you questions, allowing you to “strut your stuff.” Until then, the format should demonstrate your genuine curiosity about the prospect.

My advice to prepare for the “big” meeting: Have a list of 10 questions about the prospect you are prepared to ask.

The more affluent person or higher profile principle

A meeting with a “whale” is of sufficient importance to warrant the resources of the fund family that might ultimately manage some of the assets involved. This can be a double-edged sword.

If a meeting with the fund family means dumping more facts and data on the prospect, it’s unlikely to be successful for the reasons discussed.

But if the fund family includes someone with a higher profile or more net worth than the prospect, the possibility of a conversion increases. However, this only works only if that person views the meeting as an opportunity to get to know the prospect better.

Let’s assume you were the prospect attending such a meeting. A high-profile person stops by the meeting and introduces himself to you. This person could be someone you’ve read about or know to be wealthier than you.

Now picture two scenarios:

1. This person launches into a 50-minute lecture about the merits of factor-based investing while you sit quietly; or

2. This person asks questions about your business, how you climbed the ladder of success, what it feels like to confront managing so much money, and what keeps you up at night. A conversation ensues, with meaningful back and forth.

Which scenario ups the odds of success?

Dan trains executives and employees in the lessons based on the research in his latest book, Ask: How to Relate to Anyone. His digital marketing firm makes extensive use of artificial intelligence to help advisors increase their SEO rankings and improve their marketing and helps advisors integrate AI into their practices.

Read more articles by Dan Solin