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Pick up the Phone, It’s a Lifetime of Referrals Calling As I was leaving the office I took one last call, which led to a client adventure.
It was well after 5 p.m. on a Wednesday, and I was getting ready to leave my office when Marilyn called. She was in a panic...
By Stephen N. Mathieu
I
n August 1994, having just completed a workshop on financial planning to a widows’ support group, I was approached by a very nice lady named Marilyn. She mentioned she was left with a bunch of stocks and had no idea what to do with them. I recommended she come in to my office and bring them, so we could decide what the best strategy would be for her. Marilyn came in and brought the stocks, which consisted of about $150,000 of “blue chip” companies, all of which were paying dividends. In light of the fact that her cost basis was less than 75 percent of the current value of the stocks, she had quality stock in fine companies and didn’t need more income than the dividends were paying. I recommended she keep the stocks, however, I told her to re-title them from the joint names of her and her (deceased) husband to her name. Fast-forward a year. It was well after 5 p.m. on a Wednesday, and I was getting ready to leave my office when Marilyn called. She was in a panic as her engine had died on the highway about 10 miles from my office in Manchester and she didn’t know who else to call. She had my business card in her purse, so she called me. I got to her location and drove her to her home, which was near my office. I had the tow truck driver take her car to my mechanic, who would give it a look in the morning. The following morning, the mechanic checked out the engine, only to find she must have driven the car with no oil and no coolant for some time as she had cracked the engine block and ruined the engine. He called to give me the bad news; she would need a new engine. I called Marilyn, who was quite upset. Seeing how the car was already more 58
than 10 years old and she was in her late 60s, I recommended that she think about a new car, so she would not have to worry about the car breaking down on her. She started crying and told me she knew nothing about buying cars, and she didn’t know where the money would come from to buy one. It would use up virtually all of the money she had in the bank. I asked her if she had kept the stock and she confirmed she did. In the time that had passed, the stock values had risen by more than 15 percent. I knew we would be able to sell a few stocks to buy the car. I had my assistant pick her up and bring her to my office, where we sat down and went over the financial strategy to buy the car, and discussed how to replace the income stream that would be lost by selling the stock. We rearranged her portfolio to one that actually increased her income, while simultaneously giving her the cash she needed to buy the new car and not deplete her savings accounts. A combination of an immediate annuity and a managed income account satisfied her objectives. She was thrilled with the proposed solution and we implemented the plan. The following Saturday, I picked her up and drove her to a dealership where I was able to negotiate a great price on the car she wanted. Marilyn drove out in her new car, as happy as could be. Over the next few years, Marilyn gave
InsuranceNewsNet Magazine » February 2013
me several great referrals to people who have become great clients – but the story doesn’t end there. Almost six years after meeting Marilyn, in February 2000, I was at a local ski area with my children when my phone rang. It was Marilyn and she wanted me to speak with someone at her house about the investments I had set up for her. A man came onto the phone and the moment he began to speak, I recognized his voice. This was a man who had been in my home many times when I was a child; my father’s cousin. He was also a first cousin to Marilyn. When the dust cleared, we realized Marilyn was my dad’s second cousin; her mother was a first cousin to my grandfather. This made Marilyn my third cousin, and to this day I maintain (jokingly) that my worst and most troublesome clients are family members. Marilyn is still a client today and in her mid-80s. I think back about how this relationship would never have happened, had I not picked up that phone well after 5 p.m. on that Wednesday in 1995. Stephen N. Mathieu, CLU, ChFC, RHU, is founder, president and investment advisor representative of Legacy Financial Solutions Inc. in Manchester, N.H. He is a 20year MDRT member with one Top of the Table and 10 Court of the Table qualifications. Stephen can be reached at Stephen.Mathieu@innfeedback.com.