Financial Advisor Phoning Develop Your Unique Calling Style

Introduction to Establish Profitable Phoning Beliefs Preview 10:05

The amount of time some financial advisors spend anxiously worrying about phoning is significant. When you look at those who are currently not very successful, they are often thinking about phoning for up to four hours a day. Wow! Think about that for a moment. What are they thinking about during those four hours? Unfortunately, it’s often negative, non-profitable thoughts such as:

• “I don’t feel confident calling people.”
• “Phoning takes too much effort.”
• “I don’t know the right words to say when I call people.”
• “I piss people off when I’m phoning.”
• “When I ask people for help, I’m using them.”
• “The people I’m calling don’t want to hear from me.”
• “The people I’m going to call suck.”
• “It takes so much time for me to call and I don’t have the time.”
• “I get rejected on the phone.”
• “I’m just not a good phoner.”
• “Phoning just isn’t for me and my personality.”
• “I’m awkward on the phone.”
• “People don’t like listening to me.”

This can affect retention. Eventually, those same financial advisors burn out. That’s because very few of them have a process around phoning that they actually stick to. 

Identify Your Non-Profitable Phoning Beliefs Preview 16:49

A financial advisor friend of mine came over to my house to help me with some spring cleaning. When he got there, I asked him, “How’s your day going?” “Good,” he said, “but I really don’t want to have to go back to work today.” “Why not?” I replied. “Because it’s Friday and I’ve got to phone today. I’m dreading it. I’ve got to sit there and I’ve got to call a bunch of people and I don’t want to do it.”

How about you? Do you enjoy phoning? There are many advisors out there that are not even open to phoning. Many phone because they are forced to, but it’s like they are drinking just enough water to stay alive. They are phoning just enough people to survive—no more.

One of the biggest reasons for non-profitable phoning is negative phoning beliefs. Here’s the problem: most advisors don’t even realize they have negative phoning beliefs. Most advisors with negative phoning beliefs also don’t realize that the insides of their minds look very different than the inside of a million-dollar advisor with profitable beliefs. 

Replace Your Negative Thoughts With Positive Thoughts Preview 19:37

How do you create a profitable set of phoning beliefs? The answer is to detangle your negative thoughts. It’s the opposite of numbing out. Detangling your thoughts means you are addressing those problems and replacing your negative chip sets with positive chip sets. Only then will you be able to replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts.

To do this, let’s start by taking a look at an interview with Jim, a financial advisor who was struggling with phoning. You’ll get a front row seat into the exact questioning techniques we used with him to help him recognize those deep-seated negative beliefs. You’ll get to see how we helped him turn those beliefs around into positive, profitable phoning beliefs.

After this interview, you’ll get a chance to try this activity for yourself so that you can start turning your negative beliefs into much more profitable ones. 

Turn Your Positive Thoughts Into Profitable Phoning Beliefs Preview 12:53

Each of the thoughts from the previous activity, positive or negative, are all just thoughts. They are also choices. You can choose to believe any of them you want. The positive thought actually ended up becoming a profitable belief for Jim. It wasn’t even neutral; it was profitable. He ended up realizing and believing in that highly profitable belief which said:

“I’m starving people of the opportunity to help me!”

That’s very profitable. Think about that. When you wake up in the morning and say, “I better get on the phone because people want to help!”, that’s a highly profitable belief. In this case, Jim did in fact get to the point of turning his negative belief into a highly profitable belief. But let’s just say that Jim only got to a profitable belief (not a highly profitable one), such as:

“You know what, it’s not my problem; it’s actually their problem if they have any issues or feel used. That’s their problem.”

Are we there yet? Are we now to the point where he have learned how to establish profitable phoning beliefs? Not quite. 

Introduction to Build a Strategy to Reach Out to People Preview 05:15

We’re all competent enough to make phone calls. Whether we have the system or we don’t have a system at all, we’re all competent enough to make phone calls. Here’s the difference: if you use the system in this chapter, it takes you one unit of energy to call every day. If you don’t have this system, it takes you fifteen units of energy.

This chapter is all about bettering your phoning. Many people don’t know how to better their phoning. Most people think that bettering their phoning means to put on some nice music and drink some scotch. That’s true, but this system is an intrinsic way to better all of your phoning no matter where you are. Now, that’s powerful. 

Identify a Profitable Target Market Preview 15:14

The first big mistake advisors typically make with their target markets is that they choose demographics that they’re not going to sell to successfully. For example, a financial advisor named Mike can sell to engineers like it’s nobody’s business. What’s interesting is that, in the past, he spent most of his time not working with engineers even though other advisors had told him time and time again that he should work with engineers. Mike had the curse of knowledge. He couldn’t tell (because it was so close to him) who his target market was. 

Identify a Profitable Target Market - Part 2 Preview 19:00

People who you have rapport with are the people you can get to buy things. That’s because the financial planning relationship is a two-way street, even though, initially, advisors care about anybody who fogs a mirror. If the circle of people you work with value, respect, and trust you, then you will have much more traction immediately. If you like them, you will enjoy working with them. If you don’t like them, then you won’t shine . . . no matter what.

Know When and Where to Call Preview 09:37

This section of this chapter is not magic. It’s simply answering the question: what is the best way to reach out to the target markets that you identified above with the highest amount of success? It’s about double stepping ahead and knowing the ideal time to call so that you might have the best shot at actually having that meaningful conversation.

It’s also about being professional. That starts with not getting off on the wrong foot with someone and rubbing them the wrong way by calling at an inappropriate time. It’s about having a process down that identifies how to reach out to people with the best chance of success. 

Determine How You Will Be Relevant Preview 16:40

We fight too hard to gain a new client only to have that client turn and walk away from us or desert us a year or two later. We get paid for long-term relationships, not just short-term ones. To get long-term relationships, you’ve got to hit them the right way with relevancy out of the gate to earn that quickly. If not, you’re just an advisor, and you’re not trusted, and then you don’t have the long-term relationship. 

Intro to Develop You Own Unique Calling Style Preview 03:17

A lot of times when you get into this business, people give you the “red letter language.” It’s usually just a template language. Since you often don’t know what you’re doing at that point, it’s the only thing you know how to do. At the time, you may feel that it works just fine.

Eventually, you may discover that the language came from “financial advisor Joe.” Joe may be a million-dollar advisor. He may have amazing language that he uses, but if you take his language and use it for yourself, you’re not likely going to be as attractive as Joe. You’re just not going to have as much success. 

Develop Your Own Natural Tone of Voice Preview 20:02

Many advisors initially wonder why we start with tone before calling language. Don’t you have to have the words before you can practice the tone? You actually don’t. That’s the whole point. Tone is more important than your words—over five times as important according to the observations of communications researcher Dr. Albert Mehrabian who has made it a point to even quantify the difference between the impact of the words we say in person (7%) to the tone of voice we use (38%). Dr. Mehrabian concluded that our words are less important than our voice in affecting the feelings and attitudes of our audience. The percentages jump to 18% with words and 82% with tone of voice when you are on the phone. 

Develop Your Own Unique Calling Language - Part 1 Preview 17:30

Develop Your Own Unique Calling Language - Part 2 Preview 06:37

Now it’s your turn to develop your own unique calling language and to give the prospect playful control during the call.

Step One: Start with your current phoning language.

Step Two: Edit your phoning language to include any elements you wish to have from the language of the top financial advisor (Karl, Katherine, Chris, or Matt) who is the closest to your personality style. (Each of their phoning languages is located below the eight steps of this activity.)

Step Three: Double check your final phoning language to make sure it has the following six components:

1. Your name.

2. Why you’re calling (the purpose for the call).

3. What you want.

4. Give the prospect the opportunity to talk.

5. Give the prospect the opportunity to walk away.

6. Incorporate the element of play.

Step Four: Run your new language by another financial advisor to see if there’s any fluff (filler words that don’t help the cause).

Step Five: Find a person you really trust and love and tell that person to guarantee you that he/she will say yes.

Step Six: Practice the language above with that person on the phone until you feel comfortable enough to do this with prospects.

Step Seven: Practice the language with another financial advisor. 

Step Eight: Use this language with a hundred prospects over the course of the following week. 

Give the Prospect Playful Control During the Call Preview 10:15

In a typical sales call, there are three clichés that many reps tend to do that don’t work very well:

•  Higher inflections.
• The rep does all the talking.
• At the end, the rep pitches something to say, “Aha.”

This is a paradigm shift. When you create a partnership with the prospect, you give the prospect control, and that’s counterintuitive. It’s different. Instantly, it’s more attractive for prospects to meet with you. When you give the prospect an opportunity to talk, it helps form a partnership right away because you’re asking if they have an advisor they work with. 

Help Your Staff Develop Their Unique Calling Language Preview 18:41

Believe it or not, it’s even easier for your staff to develop this language and use it than it is for you. That’s a huge concept to imprint in your mind if you are having any reservations about asking your staff to make big calls for you with new clients. Why? Here are some of the reasons:

• They don’t have the fear of rejection.
• They get to use you as the referrer to some degree.
• They get to be a matchmaker and wingman for you.
• They get to talk you up.

The first step to developing your staff’s language to introduce you is to find out what their personality style is. Once you know this, you can use the right language to fit that style.

Your clients will be attracted to your staff members if they feel good about them. So it’s important to help your staff endear themselves to your clients. You want every client to be thinking, “I like this staff member. What a warm, smart, interesting person.”

Your staff will do this best by being themselves. Start by helping each of your staff members define their own particular personality archetype. Once they do, and they act in accordance with that archetype, they can build rapport, have fun, and endear themselves to their clients over the phone. They will look more credible because your clients will feel good when they talk to your staff. 

Help Your Staff Tweak Their Language to Talk You Up - Part 1 Preview 17:17

Your staff has now practiced the language piece that is unique to their own presentation personality style. That, in and of itself, is a huge step forward for them. They are finally able to be genuine to their own personality style.

How do you tweak and change the language now, so that it’s specific to somebody phoning on your behalf? How do you help your staff members introduce somebody else (i.e. YOU) using the same techniques? The good news is that from the three things they learned in the last chapter (session three) about mastering their own unique calling language, two of them are the same as before:

• Tone.
• Giving the prospect playful control during the call. 

Help Your Staff Tweak Their Language to Talk You Up - Part 2 Preview 10:48

You can talk much more highly about someone else than you can talk about yourself. Your staff member can speak much more highly of you than you can (or, at least, should) speak of yourself. For example, you can’t say the following yourself: “Aw, man, Joe, you haven’t met me yet? You really got to meet me!” But, if you have a staff member who says, “You haven’t met him yet? You’ve got to find some time to meet him!”

Your staff member can then say some creative things about you that you wouldn’t say about yourself. For example, when I asked Chris Koon’s staff member, Brian, to share some neat things about Chris, here’s what he said:

• “He’s got a heart of gold and really cares about his clients. His faith is central to his life.” 

Develop a Nurturing Environment for Your Staff Preview 16:32

What would it do for your practice if you were able to develop an encouraging and nurturing environment that not only kept your staff members happy, but actually made them want to set new appointments for you? For most financial advisors, the extent of their encouragement is telling their staff members to set X people per week on their calendar. For example, you could tell your assistant or staff member:

• “Your job is that you have to hit your seven sets this week.”

While that is a good idea, it’s not enough to develop an encouraging, nurturing environment. If this is all you do to encourage your staff, you’ll end up having staff members quit on you. This actually just happened with a financial advisor named John. He had an assistant (we’ll call her Kay) who was working with him for a little over a year. She was really wonderful; she did a great job. John merged his practice with another financial advisor, so they were sharing resources, and Kay was the person they hired. 

Help Your Staff Call the Right People Preview 16:00

A lot of financial representatives get very frustrated because their staff members are getting the wrong people on their calendar. Your staff doesn’t know any better. They just see a name and a number. You need to educate them enough to know who the profitable people are and who the non-profitable people are. You need to teach them how to look at your notes and figure out the right people to call.

You only have a limited amount of time on your calendar. The whole point of having a staff member phone for you is that they’re strategic with who they are getting on your calendar. This means they are getting the right people at the right times. It’s how you train your assistants so that they know who to reach out to and who not to reach out to. 

Intro to Set Up a Successful Phoning Environment Preview 05:08

What kind of clients are you looking for? You will attract whomever is attracted to the kind of environment you set up. You need to set your environment up to attract whomever you want to attract. The question is: what kinds of people do you want to attract?

Most reps would say they are looking for successful clients that are financially good for them. That’s fine, but aren’t you also looking for fun clients? We’re all more effective in our careers when we’re having fun. We’re also most effective in our careers when we’re working with people who are like-minded. Since most people love having fun, what follows is a recipe to attract more fun clients.

How does it feel when you’re trying to ram an idea into a client who has got his hand up and is not trusting you, always asking, “What’s in it for me?” When he tells you he’s “not here to have fun,” he’s “only here for the bottom line,” it makes you lose energy for even wanting to help that person.

Imagine if all your clients were also fun people to hang out and talk to? If you had all fun clients, what would that do for your practice? For some reps, it starts to mean they don’t think of their practice as work anymore. Instead, it’s just living. If you really want to be successful, then you want to get to know people who are fun. 

Plan and Prepare the Night Before Preview 09:46

Imagine if you could make sure you didn’t let a single referral fall through the cracks all while ensuring you call only the most successful people who are more apt to say yes to you. That’s what planning and preparing the right way can do for you. 

Eliminate all Possible Distractions Preview 20:01

De-clutter Your Phoning Space

Some advisors phone from their office. Others phone from a cube or from home. Wherever you are phoning from, that space has to be completely clutter free. All you should be able to see is your list of names, your calendar, and your phone. That’s all you should see.

You don’t want to see some fact finders that you’ve made some notes on, or files laying on your desk, or emails on your computer screen. You shouldn’t see anything else that will distract you from the phone. It would be too easy, if things kind of get rough with a few prospects, for you to say:

• “Well, you know, I want to finish that email over here.” There should be nothing in that space for you to look at or do except for that list of your forty top people to call at that time in the day.

Set Yourself Up to Not Leave

You want to have everything you need already in your space. If you are a coffee drinker or you like to drink water, then that drink should already be there. You want to set it up so that there is no reason to have to walk out after twenty minutes and get a refill. You’re set up to not leave.

These two strategies are simple, seemingly obvious, but rarely followed. If you follow them each and every time you call, it can be a powerful way to keep your mind and body refreshed and ready to make the next call.

See This as Your First Chance to Call This Person

Many times, the greatest distractions financial advisors can have when phoning live in their own minds. Remember, this is your first chance to call this person. Having this mindset allows you to avoid the “repetitive mindset” distraction.

In other words, even though you’ve said what you’re about to say to this person a thousand times, the prospect has never heard it before. You want to remember that it’s original to this prospect. That will come across in your voice inflections and your enthusiasm as you say your words to the prospect. 

Stay Intentional with Your Calls Preview 12:00

It’s a slippery slope. One little distraction leads to another little distraction. It’s so amazing how little we can get accomplished if we don’t stay intentional. Staying intentional isn’t just about being intentional. Most reps don’t struggle with being intentional. They struggle with being intentional about the right stuff. If you’re intentional about phoning for sixty minutes, that may not be the right stuff. 

Intro to Pick up the Phone and Call Preview 04:13

Do you want someone to write you a check for one hundred thousand dollars a month? Then pick up the phone and call. The phone is the cash register. It’s where all things start. If you actually view the phone in this way, it can change the way you pick up the phone and call. It’s time to get excited about picking up the phone. 

Make Phoning Fun and Exciting - Part 1 Preview 14:36

Feelings are great, but a lot of people feel like not phoning, and they do that for a long time, and they just end up feeling their way right out of the door. Instead, take whatever fear you have and use it as a motivation. If you have the fear of failure or the fear of poverty or the fear of not giving your family the life that you envision, instead of “checking out” of dialing, turn that fear into excitement.

Most people are so consumed with themselves that they just watch others go past them every day and they don’t even know because they’re not paying attention to it. When you’re a good listener and you ask good questions on the phone, then something magical can happen. Here are some ways to make phoning fun and exciting. 

Make Phoning Fun and Exciting - Part 2 Preview 07:10

Your emotional reaction to their choice is critical. You don’t want to burn bridges. You don’t want to be rude. You just want to say, “Next,” and move on. If you’re allowing them to take away your personal power, and you’re thinking about them three or four days later, then that’s an opportunity for you to grow. 

Follow a Specific Phoning Game Plan Preview 11:37

A commitment to consistency leads you down the path of excellence. If you’re a rep that is in your first five years in the business, your goal is to do two hundred dials a week, which is forty dials a day. For the first five years in the business, that’s just an absolute must. Eight hundred dials a month (and twenty-five referrals) essentially will guarantee you that you will be incredibly successful—just those two ingredients alone. 

Connect on a Personal Level Over the Phone Preview 12:28

Everybody is looking for the magic bullet for this topic. What’s the script (the secret sauce) to connect with people personally over the phone?

I’ll never forget the very first time I talked to Chris Koon on the phone. He was able to connect with me as if he and I had been friends for years. This was within the first thirty seconds. What’s really interesting is that Chris can do that with just about anybody. It’s like the human touch over the phone.

How does he do it? Why does Chris like phoning so much? The best phoners look forward to phoning so much that, while they’re doing it, they’re thoroughly enjoying it. It’s so fun for them to talk to and listen to the person on the other line. Why is it so fun for them?

How can YOU can make that happen? 

Question and Answer Session Part 1 Preview 16:51

Your Turn to Review the First Six Sessions 

In this section, the gurus sit down to review the previous six sections on phoning. They also hold a question and answer session with the audience.

Question and Answer Session Part 2 Preview 15:39

Your Turn to Review the First Six Sessions 

In this section, the gurus sit down to review the previous six sections on phoning. They also hold a question and answer session with the audience.

Question and Answer Session Part 3 Preview 16:32

Your Turn to Review the First Six Sessions 

In this section, the gurus sit down to review the previous six sections on phoning. They also hold a question and answer session with the audience.

Practice for the Certification Test Preview 05:58

It’s time to practice for your Stack the Deck assessment to show that you are ready to start stacking your calendar with people who are ready for business. This session contains a short video that introduces you to the assessment of Stack the Deck and what it looks like. 

After practicing the assessment with a partner, use the questions in the “Your Turn” section of this lesson as homework for the week. Then:

•  If you are a step learner, go through and do all the “activities” in each of the first six chapters in this book.

•  If you are a research learner, read through the first six chapters again from cover to cover, including the activities and your turns.

•  If you are a create learner, go through and complete all the “your turns” on the last page of each of the first six chapters in this book.

•  If you are a talk learner, go through and role play each of the “your turns” on the last page of each of the first six chapters in the book with another rep. 

Assessment Training - Intro Preview 06:08

When it comes time to take the assessment, make sure you know how to get your assessment scored. We recommend you have a partner watch this video and the following video, so they know how to assess you for your phoning assessment.

Assessment Training - Scenario 1 Preview 19:36

Watch a certified assessor score a Stack The Deck assessment in real time.

Create Profitable Prospecting Beliefs Intro Preview 13:47

Identify Your Non-Profitable Prospecting Beliefs Preview 18:57

Distinguish Between a Profitable and Non-Profitable Prospecting Mentality

To better understand this, let’s revisit Sam and Ralph. Take a look at the table in this lesson to help you determine which one you are most similar to as you do your own prospecting.

Replace Your Negative Thoughts with Positive Thoughts Preview 13:14

How do you create a profitable set of prospecting beliefs? The answer is to replace those negative thoughts and beliefs you just identified with positive thoughts and more profitable beliefs. It all starts with detangling those negative thoughts. 

Turn Your Positive Thoughts into Profitable Prospecting Beliefs Preview 17:24

Successful financial advisors have profitable prospecting beliefs. That’s because they have a process for prospecting that they actually stick to. That process starts with your clients—the people you are prospecting to. To turn your positive thoughts into profitable prospecting beliefs, the first step is to turn your clients into your partners and advocates in this whole process.

Intro to Prospect in Different Scenarios Preview 04:46

There’s all this noise associated with prospecting. Here’s the bottom line: if you don’t have people to call on, then you’re out of business. If you get one hundred referrals a month, you will be more successful beyond your wildest dreams. Most people don’t prospect because their belief is weak. They don’t want confrontation. They get delayed gratification of “not asking.” Many others have an old tape playing in their head that says, “I’ve got to earn the right to ask for a referral.” Who told you that?

Instead of this noise, what if you fundamentally think of prospecting as your business plan? What are the most important things you need to be doing? The answer is to fight to see people and get in front of people. The easier, softer road to do that is to become a black belt in prospecting. It’s about becoming so connected to your value and to the marketplace that you want to share your story with as many people as possible and give them the opportunity to tell you no. 

Prospect with Clients in Person - Part 1 Preview 17:04

When most reps prospect at the end of client meetings, they’ve often had a great conversation all the way through the meeting. The problem is that all of a sudden, when it’s time for “the ask,” their “ass puckers up,” they start to stutter, they start speeding up the pace of their voice, and their body language is all out of sorts. Meanwhile, the client is thinking, “What’s going on with this person?” They get uncomfortable. Do you struggle with prospecting at the end of client meetings?

Here are the top three things that most reps struggle with and how to fix each one of them for your practice:

1. They struggle with their belief in who they are and what they offer—If this is you, go back and reread chapter 8: Create Profitable Prospecting Beliefs. Do each and every one of the activities in that chapter.

2. They struggle with a habit of doing what is unnatural—If this is you, work on becoming more comfortable putting yourself up there every day to “get your ass handed to you.”

3. They struggle with good time management skills—Are you great at talking? Do you sit around and gab throughout the meeting, and then all of a sudden you realize you’ve got to go? If this is you, center yourself by focusing on the techniques below. 

Prospect with Clients in Person - Part 2 Preview 14:51

Trust, Commitment, Value Letter

I want trust to be the cornerstone of our relationship. You have my commitment to deliver on every promise we make. As a policy holder in Acme Mutual you have placed value in me and the services I provide.

In order to sustain the value in our relationship and continue to build the trust, we must have mutual commitment in these areas:

1. You will keep me informed of any and all changes in address, phone, fax, employment, additional employees, children, and/or personal health and wellbeing situations.

2. We will respond to your phone call the same day we receive the call. We will email you within twenty-four hours of receipt of your email. We will fax you back the same day we receive your fax. We will take your call if we are there as you are important to us.

3. Please call (Rep Name) at (Rep Phone Number), fax him at (Rep Fax Number), or email him at (Rep Email). Please call (Assistant Name) at (Assistant Phone Number), or email him at (Assistant Email) mailto:[email protected].

4. We will not let your questions go unanswered.

5. I will be proactive and keep you up-to-date on programs of value to enhance your quality of life and address your expressed interests.

6. In turn, I expect that if another agent contacts you with something special to illustrate or sell, you will give it to me to evaluate.

7. I expect that you will refer me to friends and associates who value business relationships full of trust and commitment.

Thank you,

(Rep Name), Registered Financial Representative 

Prospect with Clients Online and Over the Phone - Part 1 Preview 10:39

A twenty-six-year-old financial representative did around $250,000 this past month. While that’s pretty impressive, what’s more impressive is that she did all of her prospecting online. She doesn’t even call people! How does she do it? 

Prospect with Clients Online and Over the Phone - Part 2 Preview 09:42

One of the best times to prospect over the phone is when you are talking to someone who says they are all set and don’t need a financial advisor. If you feel like you have built some rapport with this person, then this is a great opportunity to prospect people they might know that aren’t all set.

This is especially powerful for brand new reps. When you’re brand new in the business, you need one hundred referrals a month. That’s approximately five referrals per day. Sometimes you’ll be talking with a prospect on the phone and you’re trying to get an appointment with him, and he’s all set and taken care of. He’s not going to meet with you, but you had a nice conversation on the phone. 

Determine Who You Work Well With Preview 16:18

Look at past business you have written and who you have closed in the past. By looking at who you easily brought on board as a client, it allows you to hit the repeat button on a daily basis. This will allow you to build your ark . . . the ship that goes sailing off into your financial independence. 

Determine Who is Profitable Preview 14:43

Look for those with disposable income (whether it’s obvious or not obvious). When they have disposable income, they go from having needs to wants. When you work with people who have wants, it’s a win-win all around. They’re happy to pay you their fee, and you’re happy to help them too. 

Determine Who You Should Not Work With Preview 16:11

Determine who you like that you should NOT work with because they are not profitable. It’s a huge internal conflict, because you may love these people, but they’re bogging you down. They’re slowing you down. This will clear up internal conflict for you. Then, think about those who you have stopped working with that are profitable but you do not enjoy being around. 

Get the Right People Preview 12:52

Choosing the right prospects and clients to come to your event ensures you will make the most money and lock in the continued success of your business. 

Create the Right Experience Preview 18:09

Choose the right venue. Being specific with the venue you choose allows you to be you. This will make the event a lot more fun. 

Solidify Future Business Preview 06:31

Give them a reason to want to talk to you again. Get your business to move itself forward by having people look forward to your calls. It builds your bank of reserves of people, giving you freedom and flexibility to choose who you want to work with. 

Intro to Engage Referrers to Tee Up Prospects For You Preview 03:25

Engaging referrers to “tee up” prospects for you is all about getting the people that you’re interacting with to see the value in what you do in a way that makes them passionate and excited to tell others about you. The effectiveness of the referral is based on the relationship between the “referrer” and the “referee.” If your clients feel like the financial services you’re providing are awesome stuff, and they understand how important it is that others in their life have it too, they will give you the names of the closest people in their lives. They will even call them for you. 

Get Them to Say the Value You Bring Preview 12:46

Many advisors miss this, especially at the beginning. They are so focused on getting the name, they don’t first of all make sure they have provided something that is of value to the prospect or client. Others, even though they have value, don’t get the referrers to SEE that value. Still others fail to get their referrers to SAY the value out loud. Did you catch the title of this section of the chapter?

• “Get Them to SAY the Value You Bring”

That person has to perceive you add value to their life. Even if you get a name, if that person hasn’t seen anything of value in you yet, it’s only a little bit better than a cold call. It’s still better than a cold call, which is okay, but it’s not taking it to the other levels that we’re going to do in this chapter. 

Get Them to Give You High-Quality Names Preview 10:40

Ask Them Who Else Needs to Know This

Once they say yes, they now truly understand they are not alone. They realize that almost everybody out there is in the same boat. At this point, you have primed the pump to where most people are going to want to start giving you names. The next step is to simply ask them who else needs to know about this. Here’s an example:

Rep: I’ve just told you that very few other people understand how this is working. What I want to do is find out from you who else you know that needs to know this.

Do you hear what we just did? It’s so powerful because we’re not asking for names! It doesn’t come across at all like what many reps and advisors do. You’re asking them to share with you who else wants to have their pain fixed, and get the pleasure. That’s what everyone in this world wants. It becomes an empathetic way of asking them for names, almost like a guardian angel looking to protect this person. It’s about saying:

Rep: I’m going to help you help others.

It’s so easy to say that that’s what we do as financial advisors, but it’s so hard to achieve without knowing these steps. It’s the power of communicating. It’s also the power of questioning techniques. You’ll notice we didn’t tell the referrer or drill it into their brain, we asked them to tell us. 

Get Them to Tee People Up for You Preview 13:37

At this point, on average, the referrer will have given you two or three names. Most new reps think that once they have the names, they’re done. That’s simply not good enough. Wouldn’t you like to take this to an even higher level? Imagine if you could call John and be coached on exactly what to say to him. You can. 

Intro to Get Your Clients to Set Meetings For You Preview 07:11

We work in an industry where if you can get ten new quality people to prospect to a week, that’s really good. This chapter alone will get you one to two new prospects on your calendar a week for you, without you having to do anything. That’s 20%! You can get 20% new business for your practice by doing nothing! You can get 20% of your sets just from your clients doing all of this for you. That’s amazing. 

Get Buy In Preview 16:21

Choose the Right People

You might think you can just start doing this with everybody. Not true. You’re not going to get buy-in from everybody. There are people that instantly will want to do this with you and others who won’t. We suggest you identify your top ten clients that you feel you have a partnership with.

How do you do this? You have to take a look at your client base and ask yourself, “Who are my partners?” Some financial advisors call these people centers of influence. To find these people, ask yourself, “Who are the people who do the following with and for me?” 

Give Your Clients the Tools Preview 14:18

In the last chapter, Matt Heckmann qualified his prospects and then he told them: “Here’s some tools where you can introduce me to the prospect.” What we’re doing in this chapter is starting off the exact same way by qualifying the prospects, but now we’re saying, “Here’s some tools, where you can introduce the prospect to me.”

Look at your client base. Chances are you can probably pick out somebody in your client base that’s doing this for you already, without any tools. You’ve probably had somebody, maybe just once a year, introduce someone to you. That’s because they believe in you. They believe in their partnership with you. What this means is that people do this for you already. That’s huge. Most of your clients are capable of doing this, they just don’t do it naturally. That’s why, in this chapter, we’re giving you the tools to give to them to harness this, and we’re going to show you how you can get them to do two or three prospects at a time.

Your clients will likely want to introduce other prospects to you in the manner that they were introduced to you. For example, if one of your clients was cold called by you, that client will likely want to introduce you to others by cold calling those people. As we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, we’re going to show you how to get your clients to introduce you through two key ways:

1. Get your clients to introduce the prospect to YOU through email.

2. Get your clients to set up and secure a meeting FOR you. 

Hold Them Accountable Preview 16:31

This process gets your clients to sprinkle prospects into your system where you’re having people organically coming to you. This is not like a hard and fast “forty-dial- a-day” deal. It’s the opposite of what you were taught when you first came into the business. This is a sprinkler. As such, you need to set clearly defined boundaries for this, motivate your clients to do it, and handle situations where they don’t. That’s what this section is all about. 

Question and Answer Session - Part 1 Preview 17:55

Your Turn to Review the Final Six Sessions 

In this section, the gurus sit down to review the previous six sections on prospecting. They also hold a question and answer session with the audience.

Question and Answer Session - Part 2 Preview 11:37

Your Turn to Review the Final Six Sessions 

In this section, the gurus sit down to review the previous six sections on prospecting. They also hold a question and answer session with the audience.

Question and Answer Session - Part 3 Preview 16:42

Your Turn to Review the Final Six Sessions 

In this section, the gurus sit down to review the previous six sections on prospecting. They also hold a question and answer session with the audience.

Question and Answer Session - Part 4 Preview 15:46

Your Turn to Review the Final Six Sessions 

In this section, the gurus sit down to review the previous six sections on prospecting. They also hold a question and answer session with the audience.

Assessment Training Intro Preview 05:12

What is the Assessment?

We’re excited for you to be getting certified in Rule the Room. At the very end of this program, each rep will be given a thirty minute assessment by the other reps in your pod, your mentor and/or your facilitator. It is a performance based qualitative assessment, not a “scantron.” For Stack the Deck, you will be asked to do coach a fellow coworker as well as demonstrate your skills in prospecting and phoning.

What is the Role of the Assessor?

The assessment is administered by your mentor and/or your facilitator. There is a complete rubric and guide on exactly how to assess each rep below. This will be a thirty-minute assessment, plus time for sharing feedback with reps.

Why is the Assessor so Important?

As you assess reps, know that we’re trusting you to ensure that only the highest quality reps become certified. Please don’t take this responsibly lightly. This is a qualitative test, not quantitative meaning we’re looking for you to ask yourself how you feel about the rep’s abilities to coach, phone and prospect rather than did it logically make sense. At the end of the day, if the rep being assessed didn’t get you to naturally and comfortably move forward on the solution, they should not be passing. Only when you feel a genuine and calm sense of urgency and a desire to move forward with a recommendation is when somebody should be certified.

How does the Assessment Work?

The financial rep has to coach, set a meeting over the phone, and prospect the assessors. The assessors will score the rep using each of the three scenarios below. The three scenarios combined should take no more than thirty minutes to complete with each scenario taking approximately ten minutes. The reps can bring in whatever sales literature they want, but again, their job is to naturally and genuinely coach, phone and prospect the assessor.

At the end of each scenario, add up the total points the rep earned for that scenario.

Scoring the Assessment

Take the total points earned from scenario one and multiply it by (.40). Take the total points earned from scenario two and multiply it by (.40). Take the total points earned from scenario three and multiply it by (.20). Add up those numbers and that is the rep’s score for the assessment. Below is a breakdown of what that score means for the rep:

•    Gold (Walks on water good): 90 points or above.

•    Silver (Really good): 80-89 points.

•    Bronze (Good and comfortable): 70-79 points.

•    Fail (A sliver or more of doubt): Less than 70 points.

  Each rep that fails the assessment can retake the assessment up to three times before they have to sit through the entire program again. Each rep can also retake the assessment up to three times if they would like to get a higher ranking certification and emblem. 

Assessment Training - Scenario 2 Preview 13:16

These 2 videos will take you through an example of an assessment on how it is scored by an actual assessor. The practice assessments for Scenarios 2 and 3 can be found on pages 363-366.

What is the Assessment?

We’re excited for you to be getting certified in Rule the Room. At the very end of this program, each rep will be given a thirty minute assessment by the other reps in your pod, your mentor and/or your facilitator. It is a performance based qualitative assessment, not a “scantron.” For Stack the Deck, you will be asked to do coach a fellow coworker as well as demonstrate your skills in prospecting and phoning.

What is the Role of the Assessor?

The assessment is administered by your mentor and/or your facilitator. There is a complete rubric and guide on exactly how to assess each rep below. This will be a thirty-minute assessment, plus time for sharing feedback with reps.

Why is the Assessor so Important?

As you assess reps, know that we’re trusting you to ensure that only the highest quality reps become certified. Please don’t take this responsibly lightly. This is a qualitative test, not quantitative meaning we’re looking for you to ask yourself how you feel about the rep’s abilities to coach, phone and prospect rather than did it logically make sense. At the end of the day, if the rep being assessed didn’t get you to naturally and comfortably move forward on the solution, they should not be passing. Only when you feel a genuine and calm sense of urgency and a desire to move forward with a recommendation is when somebody should be certified. 

Assessment Training - Scenario 3 Preview 19:37

These 2 videos will take you through an example of an assessment on how it is scored by an actual assessor. The practice assessments for Scenarios 2 and 3 can be found on pages 363-366.

What is the Assessment?

We’re excited for you to be getting certified in Rule the Room. At the very end of this program, each rep will be given a thirty minute assessment by the other reps in your pod, your mentor and/or your facilitator. It is a performance based qualitative assessment, not a “scantron.” For Stack the Deck, you will be asked to do coach a fellow coworker as well as demonstrate your skills in prospecting and phoning.

What is the Role of the Assessor?

The assessment is administered by your mentor and/or your facilitator. There is a complete rubric and guide on exactly how to assess each rep below. This will be a thirty-minute assessment, plus time for sharing feedback with reps.

Why is the Assessor so Important?

As you assess reps, know that we’re trusting you to ensure that only the highest quality reps become certified. Please don’t take this responsibly lightly. This is a qualitative test, not quantitative meaning we’re looking for you to ask yourself how you feel about the rep’s abilities to coach, phone and prospect rather than did it logically make sense. At the end of the day, if the rep being assessed didn’t get you to naturally and comfortably move forward on the solution, they should not be passing. Only when you feel a genuine and calm sense of urgency and a desire to move forward with a recommendation is when somebody should be certified. 

Stack the Deck Assessment Preview 02:21

It’s time to actually take the test. This week’s session is a chance for you to actually take the test and get a score back to see how you’re doing. If you don’t pass it, you will be able to re-test next week.