How to not Lose a Prospect in Your First Meeting

Ari GalperAdvisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.

You’re coming to the end of your first meeting with a prospect. You’ve done a great job building rapport, and they have clear issues you can solve. All is going well.

Then you explain your “next steps.” Suddenly you see a slight drop in their excitement about moving forward. But they still happily agree to the next step. Then they don’t show up for the next meeting (or don’t have their documents), and you are suddenly perplexed as to why they aren’t following through. What happened? I call this the “black hole” that advisors completely miss. Plugging up this subtle gap means the difference between an “ok” and a great year. When you get to the end of your first meeting, it doesn’t matter how eloquently you explain how you work or what you do. In your mind, it’s crystal clear what needs to happen next to move them forward to becoming a paying client. In their mind, it’s a black hole. As you explain your plan to them, they nod their head in agreement, and to you it’s all quite simple. But to them it’s all quite complex. Why? With an auditory explanation, they can hear your process, but they can’t “see” it! That’s where they mentally shut down and you lose their commitment. Translation: lost sale. It's subtle, but it’s so powerful when you get this. Before your prospects are willing to pay for anything, they need to see (not just hear) what it is they’re buying.