Recently, I was chatting with an advisor who offices in a smallish community in the Midwest. (This state is known for an iconic football coach who did NOT originate the aphorism, "Winning isn't everything...it's the only thing.") The advisor related a fun success story to me...and I wanted to relay it to you.
Some months back, the advisor had inherited a small account ($30,000 or so) from an advisor who had recently departed the firm. With a phone call, the advisor introduced himself to the client. He discovered that: the client was a widow, in her 80's, and had never met the previous advisor face-to-face. This was most likely due to the fact that the client lived 100+ miles away from the advisor's office. When asked the question about additional accounts/assets elsewhere, the client skillfully changed the subject. However, something in the client's response indicated to the advisor that there were assets elsewhere.
Despite the increase in the price of gas, this advisor has made a habit of getting out of the office to visit clients/prospects. Therefore, it was natural for the advisor to inquire, "From time-to-time I'm in your neck of the woods. Would you mind if I stop by to introduce myself sometime?" The client responded, "Of course not."
Within a week or so, the advisor was in the client's "neck of the woods". It turned out that the client was a retired university professor who had returned to her hometown a few years ago. As it turned out, the advisor and the client shared a similar Scandinavian heritage...and the small-talk grew to big-talk. As the conversation deepened, the client pulled out her statements of her two other brokerage accounts. She mentioned that neither of the advisors-of-record had visited her either.
Two-and-a-half hours later the advisor emerged from the meeting, badly needing a restroom stop from all of the coffee consumed...and clutching two signed ACATS transfer forms. The market value of these two additional accounts exceeded $500,000.
Not all out-of-the-office visits are this successful. Yet we all can fall into the habit of assuming that phone conversations are equivalent to face-to-face visits...when it comes to building rapport with a new client or prospect.
I'll leave you with two real quotes from our un-named iconic football coach.
"Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing."
"Success demands singleness of purpose."
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