Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
Have you ever wondered why your closing ratio on seminar attendees rarely exceeds 40%?
The reason is in the numbers. Twenty-five percent of dinner seminar attendees are “plate-lickers.” Many seniors look for seminars offering free meals for a complimentary night out. Another 15% barely have enough gas money to get to the restaurant. Fewer than 60% of attendees are qualified and willing to book an appointment.
One of my coaching clients told me recently that he spends $712 per closed appointment. That’s a lot of money to feed those who can’t and won’t become your clients.
The answer
Call the RSVPs and pre-screen to determine which attendees are true leads. Here are five questions you should ask each attendee before every seminar:
1. What about the seminar invitation attracted you? Optimally qualified prospects might say, “We are worried about running out of money during retirement and would like to hear about our options.” Pre-retirees may say, “We are retiring next year and don’t want to make any mistakes.” Those seniors who aren’t qualified may respond with, “I am always interested in learning something new,” or, “It’s always good to get exposed to other ideas.” While this may sound like a qualified prospect, they may not care whether the event is a wine tasting or dinner. It is only a way to get a free evening out of the house.
2. What do they want to gain because of attending? The five biggest concerns of seniors during retirement are:
-
- Longevity risk. Running out of money before they run out of life;
- Legacy. The government getting their money instead of their heirs;
- Market and investment volatility. Whenever the market takes a downturn, they get scared it won’t come back;
- Taxes. With ever greater government spending, retirees believe they will be on the hook to pay for it; and
- Inflation. Even though the Fed targets a 2% inflation rate, seniors are sensitive to any extra cost that eats into their fixed income.
When you hear these or similar reasons for attending your seminar, the attendee is likely interested in hearing some answers to their concerns and possibly qualified to book an appointment.
3. Do you have an advisor? When is the last time you spoke to them? The average financial advisor speaks to clients every 18 months. My coaching clients talk to their A and B clients every three months. They rarely loose clients to other advisors. In fact, a client who is contacted every three months is also very likely give you more business.
Be suspicious of any potential attendee who has seen their advisor in the last three months. This shows a strong relationship. The prospect will merely take what they hear from your dinner seminar and ask their current advisor if they can do the same.
A good way to test this is to employ a technique I call the “push back.” This is a way of digging deeper to gain the truth. It’s a way to push past the irrational to gain cogent and candid responses. For example, you might say, “I’m surprised that you would want to come to this seminar when you have such a good relationship with your own advisor. Is there a reason you are unhappy with them?”
If the potential attendee is qualified, you will hear a specific reason their advisor isn’t doing a good job. But more likely they will repeat the same answer, “I just like to get new information,” and talk to the incumbent advisor about implementing your ideas.
4. You seem very educated. What do you and your spouse do for a living? I ask all my own clients to guess the income and savings level of career categories. Teachers with 35 years of experience make around $100,000 per year and have about $400,000 in their pension. An IBM mid-level manager makes about $185,000 and has about $750,000 in qualified money. The exception are small business owners. A floral shop owner with three locations makes about $150,000 per year but is waiting to sell their business before retiring.
5. Did you lose any money in the stock market during the last downturn? If they say “no,” they are in fixed investments or cash. Or regretfully, don’t have any savings. The push-back response might be, “You must be very good at guessing when to buy and sell. How did you avoid losses?” At that point, you will learn the truth.
All these questions don’t point to uninviting guests. But they do inform you which attendees should be your focus. One of the biggest reasons to call attendees before the seminar is the relationship. You will book more appointments if you talk to them ahead of time. When I call attendees before my own seminars, they are the first folks to buy books and audio programs.
The point of pre-screening is to identify the qualified attendees who are most likely to book appointments. You don’t have to tell attendees they can’t come. You spend hundreds of dollars per attendee. Your time is worth a lot more than you think. Use these techniques and you will spend less and make a lot more money.
I would love to send you a free video of “How to Pre-Screen Your Seminars.” Write me at [email protected] or call 714-368-3650. We will spend a few minutes talking about your goals for increasing your business this year.
Dr. Kerry Johnson is “America’s Business Psychologist.” He is the best-selling author of 17 books including the recently released, How to Recruit, Hire and Retain Great People. He is also a frequent speaker at financial conferences around the world. Peak Performance Coaching, his one-on-one coaching program, promises to increase your business by 80% in 8 weeks. To see if you are a candidate for this fast-track system, click on www.KerryJohnson.com/coaching and take a free evaluation test. You will learn about your strengths and what is holding you back. Or call, 714-368-3650 for more information.
A message from Advisor Perspectives and VettaFi: Equities are essential portfolio building blocks. Join VettaFi for the Equity symposium.
More Economic Insights Topics >
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.