Advisory board of your clients

1. Most common challenges that I hear advisors face are: 1. Getting referrals from top clients and professional relationships 2. Rolling out new products or strategies to prospects 3. Getting a high conversion rate out of workshops or seminars 4. Getting face time with more prospects

2. Advisory board of your clients • Formulate a 6-8 peoples advisory board of your good clients. • Call them on meeting for 1 hr. • Appreciate their time by offering them gift token or voucher (no cash please) • Focus groups cannot be a “clever” platform to sell people. You have to retain the integrity of the group and truly care enough about your business to see the feedback as valuable.

3. Bill Magnusson urged me to share this idea with you that he learned at the 2008 MDRT conference. He asks for two business cards from a person and turns one into a laminated luggage tag. He mails the tag with a personalized letter. Then he calls for an appointment. Bill says the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

4. Qualified prospects have five attributes: • 1. They must be willing to meet with you on a favorable basis. • 2. They must have a need for your product or services. • 3. They must have the money to invest in your products or services. • 4. They must have a sense of urgency. • 5. They must be confident that you can help them.

5. six quick tips • Here are six quick tips to help you build a sound prospect list. • 1. Build a client profile. • Certain consumers or businesses are more likely to buy your products or services. Don’t guess who they are—find out by building a profile. Start with your most common customers. Are they females in their 40s? Rapidly growing companies? Whatever the characteristics, list the top five things that your current customers have in common. Then go after the people (or companies) who meet most or all of the criteria. • 2. Prospect through referrals. • Your customers likely socialize with other people like them. Try offering a referral program to capture their information. For instance, offer a free product or a service discount to existing customers who give you contact information for new clients.

6. six quick tips • 3. Cross-pollinate. • Consider partnering with businesses that target similar demographics, but provide different products or services. For instance, if your CPA firm targets small businesses in the area, partner with a few local law firms. If your doggy day care needs new customers, partner with a respected veterinarian. Share customer lists, display each other’s promotional materials, and offer discounts to each other’s customers. You could even set up educational sessions that feature you and the other business owner as speakers—collect an attendee list and share the information.  NFIB member Jim Pursley, owner of Liberty Lighting in Gresham, Ore., formed a co-op with three other competitors, trading commissions for references. Since then, his sales have doubled. “Thirty percent of sales came from the co-op,” he says. “Though it’s more money in my competitors’ pockets, they [also] brought me extra sales I wouldn’t have had.” • 4. Set up registrations. • Prospects are closer than you think—they visit your website and attend tradeshows where you exhibit. The best way to capture these prospects: Set up some sort of registration. On your website, offer a free e-book, coupon or e-newsletter for “signing up.” At trade shows, set up a bowl to collect business cards and offer a drawing for a free product or service. Then use the cards to start a prospecting list.

7. six quick tips • 5. Use prospecting software. • Web-based software sites such as ListGrabber and Leadmesh help you generate your own prospect lists from free, public information on the Internet using specific criteria. (It gathers entries from Yellow Pages and association member directories, for example.) • 6. Search competitors’ followings. • Much of social media is open and public, which means you can access prospect lists by looking in places where your customers are already interacting. Are you targeting moms of newborns? Find a couple of Twitter feeds and Facebook groups targeted at new parents. Hint: Don’t directly solicit people in these spaces—just build a prospecting list from the data you can extract on your own.  

8. 10 Places to prospect • Business clubs like BNI. • Social clubs like – Rotary, Lions. • Network marketing MLM/Chain marketing • Marriages/ Birthdays/ Social gatherings. • Tradeshows, Business fairs. • Festivals in societies. • Social Media Platforms. • Reference. • Corporate like offices and Companies. • Relatives or friends endless chain

9. Business Clubs • BNI – www.bni-india.com • SME club - www.smebusinessclub.in • Marathi Business club – www.mbcindia.org • business-networking.meetup.com

10. Social clubs • Rotary club • Lions club- www.lionsclub.org • Acres club

11. The methods of prospecting are as follows: • (i) Endless Chain Method • (ii) Center of Influence Method • (iii) Personal Observation Method • (iv) Spotters Methods • (v) Cold Canvas Method • (vi) Direct Mail and Telephone Method • (vii) Exhibitions and Demonstration • (viii) Bird-dog Method • (ix) Lead from Sales-managers • (x) Advertisements and AdvertisingAgencies

12. The methods of prospecting are as follows: • (i) Endless Chain Method • ‘Endless chain’ or ‘family tree’ method works on the principle of Multiplication of relations. The salesman collects the names and addresses of friends and relatives and interviews the persons who are likely to be prospects. A person who is convinced or satisfied readily recommends the names of his friends and relatives who according to him should also be benefitted by the proposition. This method is most effective in development of prospects of intangibles like investments and insurance covers. Further, the salesman is having easy access to these recommended person which is a special merit.

13. (ii) Center of Influence Method • Strictly speaking, every individual is the center of attraction or influence in one way or the other. Being the center of his or her own worlds he or she has some influence on those who are in the orbit or world. This point is encased under this method. A salesman develops a selected band of persons who serve as his center of influence in his own territory or the community. The more friends a salesman has, the more center of influence he can tap in finding the prospects for his products. These selected persons are either the customers or the influential friends of customers. Such persons may be ministers, MPs, MLAs, doctors, lawyers, bankers, professors, club officials, business leaders, social workers and the community leaders. • (iii) Personal Observation Method • For a prospect minded salesman, prospects are everywhere. The salesman plays the role of a keen observer as if what is going on ground. A salesman, who is agile and alert to identify the prospects, does it so easily and quickly. That is why, this method is popularly known as “eyes and ears” inductive method. He observes keenly, meaningfully and meticulously. It may be a conversation – a street comment- cinema house chitchat- office grape- wine- comments at public meetings- remarks at recreation- a close talk in a hotel- a dialogue during a journey. As a creative professional, he makes an all out effort to explore such possibilities and exploit the opportunities open. A shrewd salesman reserves some time daily for meaningful and purposive observation to gain prospects in normal course.

14. (iv) Spotters Methods • Junior salesman are employed, many a time, to locate the prospects, in a particular territory of a specific social status. As these junior salesmen are to spot or locate the prospects, they are called as spotters. These spotters move from house to house spotting out prospects. The work of spotters is purely to locate the prospects and report them to the senior salesmen who would take over the responsibility of selling as the experienced professionals. That is, a detailed survey is conducted by the juniors and follow up work is taken by the seniors. Most of the people cooperate for such survey work. This method is lucratively used in case of products which are attractive, useful and durable like automobiles, two- wheelers, TV sets, air-coolers, air-conditioners, vacuum-cleaners, sewing machines, cooking-ranges, washing-machines, sound-gadgets and so on. • (v) Cold Canvas Method • This method works on ‘laws of averages. This method is also known as ‘cold turkey’ ‘survey’ or ‘’new account’ method. Here, the salesman does not know the prospect even as a lead salesman takes a calculated chance by collecting the names and addresses of such leads in a particular locality and meets them by canvassing. The thrust is on service than sales as he is meeting him for the first time. The underlying idea is to benefit a person by calling on him. Salesman uses extensively ‘you attitude’ and is used in case of consumer and industrial goods.

15. (vi) Direct Mail and Telephone Method • The salesman contacts the former and present users of the products by mail. The contact message covers the arrival of new products. Circular and sales letter along with advertising folders are sent to both old and present and likely customers depicting the latest features of the new line, advantages of new line and the benefits of the new line. This direct mail approach needs a selected mailing list which is up-dated. This is better than personal call, because it select best, uncovers the unknown prospects and makes prospect need-conscious. In addition, telephone contacts can be established particularly, in city areas. It is a great time saver and has the same effect as that of a personal call. Constant contact is possible with past, present and potential customers. • (vii) Exhibitions and Demonstration • Exhibitions and demonstrations take place from time to time at city, regional or national or international level. The selling houses sponsor such trade-shows and demonstrations along with sales staff. As the visitors walk into the pavilion to examine the products, an experienced salesman takes a few minutes to qualify leads, gets their names and addresses so as to contact them later on either at their homes or offices for demonstration. Though salesman and prospect contact is a quite brief, this type of gathering of special interest gives salesman extensive contact with a large number of potential buyers over a very short span of time. • (viii) Bird-dog Method • Closely related to spotters method is that of ‘bird dogs’ approach. ‘Bird dog’ is the nick-name given to those persons who visit the houses at a definite interval. For instance, we have electric or water meter readers, gas boys, milk suppliers, news-paper boys visiting in official capacity many households in a particular locality. Even these may be watchmen, liftmen, household servants. These ‘bird-dogs’ or ‘sales associates’ provide a good deal of demographic information relating to households on which the salesman can capitalize. This works out as the most reliable source of information and economical too. The information is got without asking the prospects.

16. (i) Lead from Sales-managers • Sales managers as a departmental lead has official and unofficial contacts with the people of the other departments of same organizations and also other firms in whose contact he comes in personal as well as official capacity. The names and addresses of leads provided both intra-firm departments and extra-firm departments are a political source. Thus, an automobile sales manager would give a list of leads to the salesman for its repairs and servicing, spare-parts and so on. The salesman will locate the likely buyers of new cars. • (ii) Advertisements and AdvertisingAgencies • Today, spending on advertisements is increasing as it yields good results. It is an investment rather than expenditure. A well designed and placed advertisement brings good many prospects. What salesman does by personal efforts is done by each advertisements as it has need recognizing and need converting capacity at quickest span this has become much easier because of audiovisuals. In addition to these advertisements proper, the agency or the advertising department of the business house to provide the list of leads to the salesman that enriches his reservoir of prospects.

17. Prospecting for child segment • Registrar office: We can do the promotion activity at the Birth registration office, everyday thousands of parents approach the registration office for getting the birth certificate. • Free Birth certificate: We can tie-up with few maternity hospitals and registrar office. Birth certificate cost about 20 rs. Many agents are providing approximately 150-200 free birth certificates to their prospect every year. We can delegate this activity. • First photo: First baby of the photo is the closest thing to the heart of the father, many agent’s do this activity the hire a professional photographer and take first photo of the baby at maternity hospital. The photo is the edited beautifully and the delivered to the parents as a momento.

19. Full calendar • 12 month wall calendar. • Every page should have your visiting card. • Detailed biography of you. • Roles & duties of FP. • How to do investment. • Opportunities ahead. • Financial concept page for each month. • The tips should interest & guide them for better planning

20. Financial Organizer • 3 Ring Folder with Clients name at the cover page. • Also get your logo and details printed on it. • Include Tab or Divider or sections for Financial • planning, Insurance, Mortgage, Investments, wills, • Bank deposits, Post office, others. • Keep a section on Financial planning concept.

21. Thank you cards I wanted to send a brief note to let you both know how much I enjoyed our meeting.” [Here you can add one or two sentences.] “I look forward to the opportunity to work with you, and I appreciate your confidence.” [For existing clients write, “I really appreciate all the confidence that you have placed in me over the years.”] “Please feel free to contact me anytime.” At the very bottom of the card write, “All my best! Regards, [your name].”