A financial advisor was speaking to a client who said, Do you sell group health insurance? The advisor replied, Well, did that years ago and I am licensed to do that, but that s not really my specialty. But I know a guy who does nothing but that. He specializes in that he s one of the best there is. I d be happy to send you his contact information.
The client is pleased. He then tells the advisor, My wife is having some difficulty in dealing with Medicare supplement issues. Is that something you handle? Again the advisor says, Well, I am certainly capable of handling that but that s not my area of expertise. I know a guy who is well versed in that because that s all he does. Let me get you his contact information, and he can lend a more precise hand.
Once again, the client is appreciative of his advisors assistance. As the two carry on their conversation, talks turn to business continuation. Is that something you can do? the client asks. Well, I could do that, and I am licensed to do that, but that s not specifically what I do. However, I know a guy who is an expert in business continuation because that s all he handles. I can get you his contact information so he can sort things out for you.
Finally the client says, Well, what on earth DO you do if you don t do all of these other things?
The advisor explains that he specializes in helping people 65 75 years old make final arrangements for their IRA distribution in such a way that allows them to control when they pay taxes.
The client s expression brightens as he mentions that his wife is about to retire from teaching after 30 years. He says, She and some of her co workers, who are also about to retire, are having a tough time finding someone who can help in that area. If you re willing to meet with about 6 7 other people, I ll introduce you to her and she can introduce you to the others.
How do you think the advisor responded to that question?
So, what are the key lessons to learn from this true success story? First, you must know exactly what you want. Many advisors will jumped at any opportunity presented. Even if it was not their strongest area, they would have re routed the dialogue towards the group health insurance and would have never known about the other opportunities.
Second, you must maintain focus. Even though this advisor was an expert in IRA distributions, he could easily have lost focus and settled for one of the other opportunities. By maintaining his focus, he got what he wanted.
Third, he was a resource. It would have been simple for the advisor to say Sorry, I do not do that. However, prior to this conversation, the advisor had established a network of professionals with a variety of skills. Providing solutions to different needs is a great benefit to the client. Not only is it good for the client, but the advisor is able to refer business to three different colleagues. How do you believe these advisors will reciprocate? The advisor will receive referrals from them. Being a resource will pay big dividends.
He would have never been able to get in front of those additional prospects had he not been specific about his niche. He maintained his focus and turned away business that wasn t an area of expertise for him. He was a resource for this potential client. Follow this formula and you will get the clients you want.
Author Resource:
Steve Lawson is the Principal of Steve Lawson Consulting and the Founder of The Prospection Network. Since the early 1990s, he has been training independent professionals to grow their business while spending little to no money. http://www.ProspectionNetwork.com
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