Three Questions

My favorite leading question is simply, “Where are you from originally?” When asked sincerely, the question gives them permission to take an autobiographical stroll down memory lane. Their eyes take on a nostalgic glow. There is a scant grin as they drift back in time recalling their childhood, their parents and siblings, schoolmates, the home they grew up in, what things were like in those days, and the passport that led them into adulthood. Your job here is to clam up and listen. Take notes like a freshman. You’ll discover bedrock values along with irrational beliefs, paralyzing fears and whimsical dreams. This exercise has nothing to do directly with closing annuity sales or getting to their money... but everything to do with getting to know who earned their money. The value of their assets is less important that the values that created them.

Next I say, “Tell me about the work you did before you retired.” A person’s identity is largely defined by their occupational history. What they did for a living is who they are. Their need to find a sympathetic ear to acknowledge career accomplishments is on equal footing with their need to trust someone to respect what they’ve accumulated along the way. Talk of work often leads voluntarily to talk of IRAs and 401(k)s, but this is not an invitation for you to pounce on their nest egg. They’ve been waiting all their lives for a financial advisor to just listen to them. Use conversation extenders like, “…and you feel this way because?” or “…and that experience is why you’ve kept your money in CDs all this time?” Get to the blood, sweat and tears that went into earning their nest egg.

Then I say, “Now then, John and Mary, tell me why you asked for this appointment and maybe the two or three most important things you’d like us to talk about.” They usually have a list of items to go over from your Safe Money Seminar, but if at this point they look at you like a deer in the headlights, try an alternate question like, “Tell me about the best financial move you ever made.” Many people will seize the opportunity to gloat over victories. Surprisingly often, however, they’ll volunteer their worst financial moves in painful detail, blow by blow, reaching deep to expose feelings that cry for emotional connection. This is when you know at a primal level that nothing in your arsenal for closing annuity sales equals the fire power of getting your prospects to tell their story.

A Few Wows

Your ratio of them talking to you talking should be about 5 to 1 or, in an hour, 50 minutes them to 10 minutes you. Remember, in your Safe Money Seminar you asked them to bring copies of last year’s tax return, life insurance and annuity policies, and brokerage account statements. Since the first appointment is not about the diagnosis (finding what's broken), nor the prescription (closing annuity sales), you’ll use the little time you have to ‘Wow’ them as much as possible. For example, if their tax return shows $7,000 to $8,000 in interest income, it’s a safe bet they have roughly $200,000 in bank CDs paying 3.5% to 4% interest. You quickly do the math, glance up from the documents and say in nonchalant doctor speak, “And you’ve got, what, about $200,000 in bank CDs?” They verify the dollar amount for your notes and think, “Wow, how does he know that?”

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