You have a discovery meeting with a potential new client who’s getting ready to retire. You’ve probably had this conversation dozens if not hundreds of times. You know the questions you’ll ask and you can anticipate their answers.
In fact, you’ve seen this movie before and you know how it will end.
Now, let’s try something different–start with nothing.
What I mean by that is, go into the conversation with no assumptions, no goals, no pre-conceived model, no “5-step process to…,” no biases, no agenda, and no expectation of an outcome.
Instead, conduct the discovery meeting to discover…reality.
If we go into a discovery conversation with a plan on how it’s going to unfold, then we’ve rigged the search. We run the risk of consciously or unconsciously steering the conversation toward a reality that fits us or our model or process, rather than finding what’s really happening with the potential client.
When we start with nothing, we end up seeing what’s actually there. Instead of being an active listener, you are an active observer. You see what there is to see.
And if something the potential client said (or didn’t say) is unclear, you don’t skip over it and fill it in with your own assumptions. Instead, you ask, you clarify. You could restate then ask, “Is that right?”
Another key here is to think in pictures rather than write down a bunch of notes. As your potential client is speaking, turn what they’re saying into pictures, then connect those pictures into a movie. Watching the movie in your head will help you see the patterns and structures embedded in your potential client’s life.
Let’s make what I’m describing a little more practical and go back to the original situation—you’re meeting with a potential client who’s nearing retirement.
A few weeks ago, I polled more than 200 financial advisors and asked them this question: What percentage of your clients are retiring TO something?
The results were startling and disheartening.
Turns out that 87% of the advisors said that less than half of their clients were retiring TO something. In other words, the vast majority of advisors’ clients were retiring to get away from something as opposed to being drawn toward something in retirement.
I find that quite sad yet therein lies your opportunity.
By “starting with nothing” in your discovery conversation with your potential client, you no longer take at face value that they want to retire. As my poll showed, most retirees are trying to get away from something and until your client faces the reality of their present situation, you can’t build a strong “retire to” foundation.
Your opportunity lies in not immediately jumping into the “Do I have enough money to retire?” conversation, but rather taking some time to discover the reality of the client’s current situation. By getting clear on their reality, they may still decide that it’s time to retire, but now they’ll be doing it from a position of self-awareness and with a better sense of what they want to move toward instead of run away from.
This start with nothing idea will take some practice. For goal-directed advisors, it’s a foreign concept. But if you want to expand your skillset, if you want more of your clients to succeed instead of staying stuck in unhealthy patterns, then starting with nothing should be in your toolkit.
Click here to learn more about ROL Advisor’s digital discovery tools, then sign up for a 7-day trial to become a better Life Centered Financial Planner, and finally, schedule a demo.