Neil’s guide to Winning a Financial Planning Beauty Contest (Stop Laughing At The Backš¤£)
Wondering what financial planning has to do with beauty contests?Ā Donāt worry, you donāt always have to be the prettiest – you just have to be āthe oneā.Ā Let me explain.
Weāre all participants in the Financial Planning beauty contest
Iām sure weāve all been unwilling participants in the Financial Planning beauty parade.Ā It happens when a client attends for a site survey (with their issue) and after youāve talked them through the big questions, your process, your service, structure, pricing and value, they say, āthanks for that.Ā But Iām not making a decision yet, because I want to see a number of other planners first.ā
It can all feel a bit personal.Ā Itās a bit like being on a first date and the person says, āI really like you but Iāve got 2 other dates next week, so Iāll see how they go and maybe get back to you.āĀ I suspect there are a number of things you might say, if that was a real date!Ā But in business, we just canāt do that.
Whatās driving your client to go and see other advisers?
To understand why your client feels the need to approach other advisers before committing to you, itās helpful to think about how you approach new services.
In some situations, you are probably happy to choose a service after only speaking to one service provider.Ā Imagine you have a burst pipe, for example.Ā You ring a plumber, he quotes Ā£65 to come out and fix the pipe, and you might decide to go ahead because (in your experience) the price sounds reasonable.Ā You donāt feel the need to shop around.Ā Had they quoted Ā£1500, you would know that the price was off the scale of whatās deemed reasonable.
But what about services that youāve never experienced or bought before?Ā How do you know what price is reasonable?
Clients often experience this feeling with Financial Planning and Financial Advice.Ā Why?
- It might be the first time theyāve met a Financial Planner – they genuinely donāt know if it should cost Ā£65 or Ā£1500.
- Shopping around helps them to gauge the pricing scale.
- Speaking to a range of advisers helps them to understand the landscape that they are walking in, and where your service sits.
How can you help yourself to win the contest?
Rather than taking it personally and feeling defensive, be the opposite.
- Be honest.
- Be accommodating and generous.
- Ask who else they are planning to go and see.
- Ask what criteria they are planning to use when they choose who they are going to use.
Itās important to know your local and national competition.Ā Have an awareness of their charges, the services they offer and their strengths and weaknesses.
If a potential client is planning to go and speak to one of your local competitors, tell them their good points:
- āYes, they are local and have been around for 20 years – they are great people. They charge a bit less than us because they donāt x, y or z, but are a good option if thatās what you are looking for.ā
If they are considering a national competitor, be honest:
- āYes, they offer a 24-hour telephone service and cost less (but they arenāt face to face) so if thatās what you want then they would be a good choice.ā
How does this approach help you?
By providing this information, and being so honest and magnanimous, you are colouring in the landscape for your potential client.Ā You are actually putting them in a better position to make a decision because they can understand where you sit on that scale.
If you are in the clientās sweet spot – if you are āthe oneā – then youāre giving them the emotional comfort to be able to commit to that and get things moving.
If youāre not the one, thatās okay.Ā Youāve still guided the client to a suitable alternative.Ā At least someone is going to look after them.Ā Signposting them in the right direction shows good will – it shows that you are a decent person and youāve helped them out, at some cost to you.Ā Itās the right thing to do.
Youāll also find that it will probably get you more of the right business in the long run – youāll be working with clients who are right for you.Ā And so will all the other firms.
So remember, if you want to win the contest, itās not about being the prettiest.Ā Itās about being the one.
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