The clients in front of me have been on
I’m ready to close my first appointment. I can FEEL it’s been good.
an emotional rollercoaster of sorts, through:
- the excitement of painting the picture of where they want their money to take them
- a little low-level conflict from few conversations being had for the first time,
- the discomforting realisation of where they really are in relation to that, then
- the clarity of brainstorming what needs to happen to bridge the gap.
They feel diagnosed… and I’m about to give them true clarity.
I switch mode from listen to show – checking in first. I let my energy drop further, slowing all forward momentum and allowing them to dictate the pace of the close. They pull me along, no push needed.
“Would you like me to pinpoint your three biggest issues?” I ask simply.
“That would be great”, comes the permission.
I outline it slowly, calmly, and importantly, outline the cost of not dealing with them.
They lean in.
“Would you like me to tell you what I would do if we were working together?”
Again I get permission to proceed.
I tell them exactly the solutions we’d put in place but, importantly, avoid financial jargon. Instead, I tell them what I can do for them in simple but tangible terms they can visualise and grasp easily.
I slow down again, making sure what I’ve explained makes sense and asking what they’d like the next step to be.
I again get permission to proceed and we’re into the WHAT.
I outline how my advice and the business works, the kind of clients I work with and why, and the ethos that underpins how we take clients from where they are to where they want to be.
I continue to slow it down, and again I get permission to proceed.
All that’s left is to talk about HOW.
I outline my financial planning process, drawing it out with my electronic pen just like I did our Ethos.
In truth though, the decision to engage has already been made.
Now, we’re simply showing where we go from here.
The discussion around fees passes easily. I outline “matter-of-fact” how we charge, when we charge and a likely range, taking a moment to confirm that we’re on the same page with regard to how this will work ongoing.
And that’s it.
I answer a copy of questions around the method of payment and timeframes, and we both smile, shake hands and we’ve begun.
Slow and steady wins the race.
