5 minute read
Use this Pre-Appointment Routine for More Referral Results
By Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE, President, Referral Coach International
Have you ever gotten to an athletic event early enough to watch the players warm up for the game?
Whatever the sport, almost every athlete has their pre-game routine that puts them in the right mental and physical state for the competition.
I was a professional musician for several years—a drummer—and I used to have a pre-performance routine that I followed religiously before every appearance.
What about you? What is your pre-appointment routine? Do you follow a checklist to make sure you don’t forget anything important? Do you prepare an agenda?
And what about referrals and introductions? If you use a pre-appointment routine related to referrals and introductions, you’ll never forget. You may wimp out, but you won’t forget.
Your Pre-Appointment Checklist to Get Introductions
1. Prepare your meeting agenda.
Running an appointment from an agenda makes for a more efficient meeting. Clients love knowing where the meeting is going and checking off the items. You increase the chances of staying on track and covering everything you intend to cover.
HINT: Ask your prospects and clients what they’d like to make sure is on the agenda BEFORE you create the agenda. This way, you’ll be prepared for everything.
2. Add value discussion or expectations check to the agenda.
The starting point of just about any request for introductions is the Value Discussion. This is where you make sure your prospects and clients are seeing the value of the meeting, the process, and/or the overall working relationship. This conversation will often lead to unsolicited introductions.
3. Think about specific people you know they know.
I call this “The Bullseye Referral Conversation.” Coming prepared for your request will boost your confidence and your results. The best way to ask for introductions is to come to the appointment with a request for an introduction to one or more specific people you know are in your client’s life. It’s the path of least resistance for both you and your clients.
You know that money intersects all aspects of one’s life. Being a great financial professional means gaining as much context as you can about your prospects and clients throughout the lifetime of your relationships. The more context you have, the better you can serve them. Plus, this will help you learn more about others in your clients’ lives— creating an inventory of possible introductions.
4. Think about relevant categories of people.
In addition to specific people that you know that they know, you can also suggest specific categories of life events and money-in-motion events. These events often trigger someone’s awareness for wanting to find a talented financial professional.
The goal of this step and the preceding step is to help your prospects and clients picture specific people in their mind. Instead of drawing a blank, they will begin thinking of others who should at least know about your important work.
Being a great financial professional means gaining as much context as you can about your prospects and clients throughout the lifetime of your relationships.
5. Practice the conversation.
The best way to add confidence to your approach, that will lead to your clients responding positively, is through practice. The best practice is with a friend or colleague. Next best would be talking it out with yourself— maybe as you’re driving to an appointment.
If a baseball pitcher is working on a new pitch, do you think he’s going to try it in a game for the very first time? Heck no! Or if a musician has a concert coming up, is she going to read the music for the first time during the performance? Highly unlikely.
The most underutilized way to build skill and confidence around speaking to clients about introductions is through practice.
Just like a pre-game or a pre-concert routine brings focus, preparation, confidence and better results to the athlete and the musician, so too will a pre-appointment routine bring better results to you in the area of creating more introductions to prospects for your business.
Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE works with financial advisors to speed up their growth without increasing their marketing budget. Advisors tap into Bill’s proven process to multiply their best clients through introductions from advocates and Centers of Influence, communicate their value proposition more effectively, and create a reputation in a profitable target market. Bill helps advisors move from push prospecting to magnetic marketing – to attract more Right-Fit Clients™.
Bill is the author of 3 best-selling books, Get More Referrals Now, Beyond Referrals, and Radical Relevance. Bill’s newest book, The Language of Referrals was released in March of 2024. He is the founder of The Cates Academy for Relationship Marketing™, was named the #1 Financial Advisor Influencer by Indigo Marketing, and is the host of the acclaimed Top Advisor Podcast:www.TopAdvisorPodcast.com - now ranked in the Top 5% of podcasts worldwide.
CalBroker readers can get valuable free tools here: www.ReferralCoach.com/resources
CalBroker readers can get valuable free tools here: www.ReferralCoach.com/resources
