This advisor filled the room with over 20 high net worth prospects and he blew it, don’t let this happen to you.
It’s been a while since I’ve been on the receiving end of a financial presentation at least one where the advisor doesn’t know me. I must say while I was impressed with the marketing and turn out the advisor blew the opportunity.
When you are able to get in front of 20 high net worth prospects for 1 ½ hours you better make it work.
What he did well:
- An Attractive Offer: The invitation was for lunch and a round of golf (very attractive) at a prestigious private club (Wow factor) in exchange for a 1 ½ hour investment presentation.
- Excellent Leverage: You were encouraged to invite 3 friends to make it a 4some for golf (Great way to leverage the invitation.)
- Good exposure: By hosting this event he immediately appeared more professional and confident in his practice and value (but he could have taken this a lot further).
Unfortunately what he did well stops there!
What didn’t go well:
- Don’t Drown the Audience: I asked our friends after the presentation “What was his core message?” and not surprisingly they couldn’t answer, what they did say was “Well it was a LOT of information.” This is NOT a good result.
- Don’t Keep Us Wondering: While lunch was set up in the back because he never told us the schedule we kept wondering when are we going to eat and how long with this presentation be. These thoughts were a distraction which could easily be avoided by sharing the agenda at the beginning of the presentation.
- Tell Us What Your Going to Tell Us: With 4 speakers we never quite knew what were we supposed to learn from this presentation and how all the presenters work with the financial advisor.
- Tell Us What to Do Next: He never really told us what we should do with all this information or how he can help us, there was no “Next Step” A BIG mistake for the advisor.
What to do EVERY time you host an event:
- 3 Key Points: Always start preparing for your presentation focused on 3 key points, not 2, not 4 just 3. Be sure that every speaker knows the key points and reinforces the key points which emphasizes the importance. These 3 key points can be part of your introduction ie;
I want you to leave here knowing:
1. How Taxes can derail your best laid retirement plans
2. Strategies that can help increase your overall tax efficiencies
3. What my Tax/Investment assessment can do for you - Get Personal: As people enter the room, introduce yourself and your guest speakers, start conversations and introduce other guests to each other. Don’t just stand there, welcome them don’t just hang out with your other guest presenters. Make this an opportunity to get to know people in the room.
- Engage them from the Start: Before you even introduce yourself start with a great story or 2 of someone who lost most of their retirement due to bad tax planning and another scenario of a client who could have lost a lot in taxes but by working with you was able to increase their savings and reduce their tax burden. This all should lead to why they are here and how you can help them.
- Set the Expectations: After introducing all the presenters (including yourself) always explain what’s going to happen next and the timing for the event.
“Were going to talk for about 60 minutes at which time we will let you get some lunch and then we will finish the presentation by 1:00. Then a representative from the club will come out and explain the golf start times. Any questions or concerns before we begin?”
- Tell them what to do: Know what you want them to do after the presentation, don’t just offer a second opinion but package your offer. In this presentation the advisor could have ended by saying:
“Folks as you can see tax planning can be quite complicated but if done well can truly help you leverage your retirement assets. So here is what I will do, come in for a 30 min. tax assessment with me. By asking you a handful of questions and looking at your statement I will be able to determine whether we can help you improve your tax and financial situation and how. From there if you like us and recognize the value of our process we can move to the next step. My assistant is at the door get yourself penciled in for a day and time, we will call you over the next few days to make sure that day and time works with your calendar. This 30 min assessment is a MUST DO for ANY INVESTOR. “
Events can be a fabulous way to leverage your time and energy, increase your exposure and position you as an expert. The key is once you get them in the room you MUST make sure you are ready and prepared to lead them to meeting with you.
