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Fifth in a series
In four prior articles, I have addressed filling up the seminar room. In those articles, I solve the most frequent problem of financial professionals, getting adequate seminar attendance (if you want copies of those articles, please visit the web site below and use the email button on that page to make a request).
In this article, let’s discuss converting those attendees to appointments in your office.
My specialty is in dealing with people age 60 and over (they’re the ones with money). In motivating this audience to take action, I need to understand their emotional hot buttons and I also need to remove their potential objections.
I use this general outline at the close of the seminar:
I announce that I need a small favor from them. I need them to complete the evaluation forms they received at the beginning of the seminar (and without taking a breath) and that the evaluation form is also their lottery ticket today.
Let’s face it, most people could care less about filling out evaluation forms, so I give them a reason to do so. They can win something by completing and returning the form.
My evaluation form gets them warmed up with some specific questions before I offer them the opportunity for the appointment with me. I never ask for an appointment, rather, I give them the opportunity to request an appointment. This may seem like semantics, but this approach is far more powerful. With the right wording, you will be in the control position if they request the appointment of you, rather than you requesting (begging for) an appointment with them. As a result, people who request the appointment keep it. If you request the appointment of the attendee, you will have large fallout and many will not show up.
To further solidify the appointment, the attendees select an appointment time and date right on the evaluation form! Why leave this open and try and nail it down the next day? Or worse, if you can’t get the attendee on the phone the next day, your chance of ever having an appointment will fall precipitously.
Attendees sign up for the appointment with me because I promise two things:
#1 I will make no attempt to sell them anything at that appointment.
#2 I will show them at least one significant financial mistake they are making and not even aware of.
As a result, I ask for and get 100% of the appointments to bring in their list of investments and tax return.
Do you think you could do business with someone who comes to your office with their list of investments and tax return and wants to hear what you have to say? This method of doing seminars and closing appointments right at the seminar is so successful, I can’t imagine why any professional would ever make cold calls!
By the way, to end the seminar, I collect and shuffle up the evaluation forms and select a winner. The winner receives a free copy of my book, Retirement Investing!
Using the techniques outlined in these five articles,
I get 20-22 appointments every month, in my office, with
qualified new prospects.
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