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Strategy 5: 

Nail The Wealthy Client Experience

Strategy 5 Contents

1. The Total Client Profile

2. Introduction to Client Meetings

3. Discovery Meeting, Pt. 1

4. Discovery Meeting, Pt. 2

5. Discovery Meeting, Pt. 3

6. Investment Meeting

7. Mutual Commitment Meeting

8. The 45 Day Follow Up Meeting

9. Regular Progress Meeting

10. Rediscovery Progress Meeting

11. Key Success Factors in a Set Capture

12. The Second Opinion Service: Making The Offer

13. The Second Opinion Service: Following Up Effectively

14. The Total Client Model

15. The Transformative Potential of The Total Client Model

16. Making it Real: Identify Your 10 Best Clients

17. What it Takes to Be Client Centered

18. Spotting Ways to Better Serve Your Affluent Clients

19. Connecting On What Matters Most

20. Position Your Investment Philosophy: Framing The Solutions

21. The Easiest Path Forward: Harvesting The Low Hanging Fruit

22. The Easiest Path Forward: The Asset Capture

23. Making It Real: Capture More Assets

24. Success is in Your Hands: Its Time to Implement

 Resources

Strategy 5: Nail the Wealthy Client Experience sets the foundation for your simple and elegant wealth management business. Through your wealth management process, you will attract, serve, delight and retain affluent clients—all while setting yourself clearly apart from your competition.

To start, we will provide context by comparing wealth management to the other major business model in use today. We will then provide you with the wealth management formula—our quick sketch of wealth management that will make it easy for you to describe to clients, prospective clients and other professional advisors.

From there, we will take you, step by step, through each of the five client meetings of the wealth management process. We’ll follow that with proven approaches for effectively attracting both additional assets to manage and introductions to qualified prospective clients as part of your wealth management process.

By the end, you will have implemented a world-class client experience that will attract affluent clients and turn your current clients into raving fans.

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Nail The Wealthy Client Experience Audio

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Nail The Wealthy Client Experience Transcript

Tools

Tools for Strategy 5:

Nail the Wealthy Client Experience

Wealth Management Process and Formula — Graphic overviews of the wealth management process and formula. May be customized with your firm name and logo.

Total Client Profile Interview Guide (Word) — The interview guide for conducting the discovery interview (Word version).

Total Client Profile Interview Guide (PDF) — The interview guide for conducting the discovery interview (PDF version).

Total Client Profile Sample (Hand drawn) — A sample Total Client Profile mind map in original hand drawn form.

Total Client Profile Sample (SmartDraw) — A sample Total Client Profile mind map created using SmartDraw.

Wealth Management Tracker — A form that enables you and your team to closely track a client or prospective client’s progress through the wealth management process. May be completed as a fillable PDF or printed and completed by hand.

Wealth Management Meetings Agendas, Letters and Scripts — Templates for all agendas and letters/emails along with recommended scripting for each meeting.

Total Client Profile Mind Map Templates — Templates for creating Total Client Profile mind maps in both Word and MindManager formats.

Second-Opinion Service Tools — A template for a second-opinion service flyer, templates for making the second-opinion offer via email and a letter for contacting prospective clients on the Do Not Call list.

2020 Wealth Management Plan — Sample investment plan, IPS and advanced plan. Data is updated through December 31, 2019.

Online Wealth Management Meetings — Templates for emails and agendas for conducting meetings online.

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Wealth Management

Process & Formula Template

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Total Client Profile Interview Guide Word Download

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Total Client Profile Interview Guide PDF Download

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Total Client Profile Sample

(Hand Drawn)

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Total Client Profile Sample

(Smart Draw)

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Wealth Management Tracker

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Wealth Management Meetings, Agendas, & Letters 

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Total Client Profile Mind Map Templates 

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Second Opinion Service Tools

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Online Wealth Management Meetings

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2020 Wealth Management Plan 

1. The Total Client Profile

The foundation of wealth management is your ability to truly know and understand your clients. While you are probably sure that you know most of your clients fairly well, the reality is that if you are like the majority of financial advisors, you still do not have enough understanding of your clients (or prospective clients) to be able to consistently make the on-target wealth management recommendations they need. Instead of having the information you need, you may have the wrong information or not enough information at all—even though you think you know your clients quite well.

Creating the Total Client Profile

To determine your clients’ and prospective clients’ needs, you must comprehend their entire financial pictures. These go far beyond specific asset management or estate planning requirements and into the realm of their most important values, relationships and lifelong dreams. Uncovering these will be the critical skill that you bring to the table: To excel as a wealth manager, you must excel at profiling your clients and prospective clients. In fact, the Total Client Profile will become one of your most important tools for building deep client relationships.

Nearly all financial advisors use some type of fact-finding process when first meeting with clients or prospective clients. However, these questions usually focus on assets and net worth and do relatively little to uncover who the clients really are. In contrast, the Total Client Profile consists of seven categories—only one of which concerns assets—to help ensure that you delve into all key areas. See Exhibit 5.1 for an overview.

You will create a Total Client Profile for each qualified prospective client or client during the Discovery Meeting, the first meeting in the wealth management process. We will describe this entire meeting in detail in the following sections.

To build the profile, you will ask a series of questions in each of the seven categories. Our recommended Total Client Profile interview guide is below and is also available for download from the Tools section of this strategy. We encourage you to become extremely familiar with this interview guide and be comfortable asking every single question.

Resources

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Total Client Profile Audio

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Total Client Profile Transcript

Total Client Profile Interview Guide

Values

  • What’s important to you about money?

  • What in particular is important to you about that value?

  • Is there anything more important than that value?

Goals

  • What are your top accomplishments? What would you like them to be?

  • What are your personal goals?

  • What are your professional goals?

  • What do you do (or want to do) for your children?

  • What do you do (or want to do) for your parents?

  • What do you do (or want to do) for other family members or close friends?

  • What do you want to do for the world at large?

  • Ideally, where would you like to be when you are 45? 55? 65? 75?

  • What are your quality-of-life desires (houses, travel, boats, cars)?

  • What would you like to achieve with your money?*

  • In dollar figures, how much money do you need or want?

  • When you think about your money, what concerns, needs or feelings come to mind?*

  • If you didn’t have to work anymore, what would you do?

Relationships

  • Which family member relationships (spouse, children, siblings, parents, etc.) are the most important ones to you?

  • How important are your relationships with people you work with?

  • How important are your relationships with people in the community?

  • What is your religious orientation? How devout are you? How important are your relationships with people associated with your religion?

  • Would you describe yourself as an introvert or an extrovert?

  • What pets do you have? How important are they to you?

  • What schools did you go to? How important is your relationship with these schools?

Assets

  • What is your source of income (privately held business, employer, profession)?

  • How do you make money today? How is that likely to change in the next three years?

  • How do you save or set aside money to invest? How is that likely to change in the next three years?

  • What are your investment holdings? Explain your strategy for handling your investments in the way you do.

  • What benefits do you get from your workplace?

  • What life insurance do you have?

  • What property do you have (real property, artwork, jewelry)?

  • How are your assets structured now?

  • What new assets do you expect to receive (for example, from inheritances or stock options)?

  • What is your opinion of taxes? What kinds of taxes bother you the most?

  • When you think about your finances, what are your three biggest worries?

  • What were your best and worst financial moves? What happened?

Advisors

  • Do you have a lawyer? How do you feel about the relationship?

  • Do you have a life insurance agent? How do you feel about the relationship?

  • Do you have an accountant? How do you feel about the relationship?

  • Do you have an investment advisor? How do you feel about the relationship?

  • Do you have a financial planner? How do you feel about the relationship?

  • What were your best and your worst experiences with a professional advisor?

  • Of late, how frequently have you switched professional advisors?

Process

  • How involved do you like to be in managing your finances?*

  • How many face-to-face meetings would you want over the course of a year?

  • How often would you like phone updates on your situation?

  • Do you want a call about your personal situation when there is a sudden change in the market?

  • Do you prefer our written communications to you to be by letter or by email?

  • What security measures do you want to see used to protect your personal and financial information?

  • How often do you want an overall review of your financial situation and progress toward your goals?

  • Whom else do you want involved in the management of your finances (spouse, other advisors such as accountant or an attorney)?

  • How important to you is the confidentiality of your financial affairs?*

Interests

  • Do you follow sports? Which are your favorite teams?

  • What are your favorite types of TV programs and movies?

  • What do you read?

  • Do you have health concerns or interests? What is your health program?

  • Are working out and fitness important to you? What is your program?

  • What are your hobbies?

  • What would an ideal weekend be?

  • What would an ideal vacation be?

  • What charitable causes do you donate to? Volunteer for?

*Indicates questions that determine high-net-worth personality.

We recommend that you ask every single question exactly as it is written in the interview guide for your first 20 Discovery (or Rediscovery) Meetings. If you need to ask additional questions to gain additional clarity, that’s fine, but do not modify or drop any of the questions in the interview guide during these first meetings.

With 20 Discovery or Rediscovery Meetings under your belt, you will have enough experience to begin to test modifications to the Total Client Profile interview questions. If you make changes that yield a broader or deeper insight into your clients, please let your CEG Worldwide coach know. We will test the questions ourselves and build them into the interview guide if our testing shows positive results.

Understanding The Rationale of Each Question

Every question in the Total Client Profile interview guide is designed to reveal key information that will help you astutely manage the client’s investments, identify and address advanced planning issues, and build a trusted relationship with the client. The chart below provides the specific rationale for each question.

Documenting the Total Client Profile with Mind Mapping

As you proceed through the interview, we recommend that you use mind mapping to create a graphic representation of the Total Client Profile. Mind mapping was first developed in the 1960s by Tony Buzan, an expert on the brain and learning, to help students take notes by using only key words and images. For working with a client during the discovery process, mind mapping has important advantages over traditional note taking:

  • It helps you to drill down to the client’s key issues faster and more accurately.

  • It captures information quickly yet in a highly organized format.

  • It makes it easy to link and cross-reference very different yet connected pieces of the client’s financial picture.

  • It involves clients more deeply in the discovery process, motivating them to provide you with all the information you need to complete their client profiles.

  • It provides a basis for moving forward, with clear goals and next steps.

  • It provides you with a document that is fast and easy to review.

  • It is an excellent starting point for brainstorming solutions with members of your network of professional advisors.

There are four elements to every mind map:

  1. The subject. This is the center of attention and focus of the entire map. For wealth managers, the subject is the client or prospect.

  2. Major themes. These are major topics that radiate from the subject. For most clients or prospects, these themes should correspond with the seven categories of the Total Client Profile: values, goals, relationships, assets, advisors, process and interests.

  3. Branches. These connect the subject and major themes with each other and with associated details.

  4. Structure. The entire structure of the mind map is held together by the branches, forming an interconnected picture.

In addition to these major components, mind maps can include any other graphic elements that will help to fully capture both hard information and nuance. These might include symbols, call-outs, colors, boxes, circles and arrows—the only limit is your imagination.

To create a Total Client Profile using mind mapping, use an artist’s pad or notepad (preferably with unlined paper). Start by writing down the client’s name in the center of the paper and circling it. Then begin your discovery interview. Your first topic is the client’s values, so “values” near the client’s name, circle it and connect it back to the client’s name with a line. As you uncover the client’s most important values, note these and connect them with one another as appropriate. You may find that you need several levels of detail to accurately capture the client’s responses.

As you progress through the interview, do not let the mind map constrain your conversation. It is intended to do just the opposite: to trigger connecting questions, stimulate subsequent thoughts and capture random yet important details. You do not need to “finish” one branch before moving on to other topics. Instead, let the map flow along with your discussion. Look for fact patterns—sets of facts that are conditional on one another.

We have found that most clients enjoy the interview/client-profiling process and like seeing their financial situations presented in a graphical way. Many will actively help you to fill in any holes or gaps in key information. By the time you have completed your interview, you will have a profile that has captured the most important issues, is packed with relevant detail and suggests the next steps.

Click the image to see an enlarged image of a sample Total Client Profile in handwritten form. This illustrates a typical completed mind map—what you would expect upon completion of your discovery interview.

After the Discovery Meeting, have an assistant transfer your handwritten Total Client Profile to your computer system by using a mind mapping software program. See the Resources section for a listing of major mind mapping programs.

 

Click the image to see an enlarged image of a sample of a Total Client Profile created using a software program. This sample shows you what the hand drawn mind map looks like after it has been created with a software program. This was created using SmartDraw, a popular mind mapping program. You can download templates for creating your Total Clients in both Word and MindManager, another popular mind mapping program, from the Tools section.

Identifying Values Effectively

Of the seven categories that make up the Total Client Profile, the most important is the one representing the client’s values. In fact, one of the most important conversations you can ever have with clients or prospective clients is about their values.

Why are values so powerful? Because they are one of the core motivations for everything we do in our lives. They have a profound impact on every important decision we make, from what we choose to do for a living to whom we marry to how we spend our free time—in short, who we are as people.

For example, most people who are parents would tell you that they value their children above almost everything else in the world. As a result, they want to protect them, to educate them well and to set them on a smooth path in life. Financially speaking, one of the things many of these parents want to do is build an adequate college fund for their children. This is a common goal known to every financial advisor. But underlying that goal is the fundamental value of loving their children.

As important as values are, however, most people are not particularly good at articulating them. While they act definitively on their values, most have not necessarily thought deeply about exactly what those values are. So when you ask your clients to identify their core values, you not only uncover exactly where your own focus should be in assisting those clients, you also help them to clarify their direction and what they want to achieve in life.

The Total Client Profile interview guide will help you uncover your clients’ values systematically. It leverages work done by social psychologists and developmental psychologists during the late 1960s and early 1970s. As an industry, we’re indebted to Bill Bachrach and his “values-based selling” approach for making this work on values clarification accessible to financial advisors.

The values section of the interview begins with the question, “What’s important to you about money?” Assuming, for this example, that the client answers, “Security,” you would then ask, “What is important to you about security?” If the client responds, “Knowing that I can take care of my family,” you would then ask, “What is important to you about taking care of your family?”

You would continue uncovering the client’s values in this way until you think you have heard his or her final answer. Then you would ask the confirming question: “Is there anything more important to you than (the last value mentioned)?” If the client says “Yes,” then ask, “What is more important?” and continue with the questioning format. Once the client answers “No,” you will have likely uncovered the client’s single most important value.

While this is straightforward on the surface, it’s important to realize that it takes skill to drill down to the client’s most important value. In fact, most advisors tend to do only partial values conversations, ending them before the core values have been identified.

It’s useful to know that there are generally three levels to every values conversation:

  • Level one. This level is about the basic self, including issues such as security, financial freedom and not having to worry about paying the bills.

  • Level two. This level is about others, including family, friends and community.

  • Level three. This level is about the higher self, including issues of faith, destiny and reasons for being.

Many financial advisors end the values conversation at level two or even level one. However, you have to persevere through to level three. You can encourage the client to move to the next level by matter-of-factly observing, “We’re not done.” You will usually know that the client has reached level three and that the conversation is nearly over when he or she moves into abstract, or even esoteric, territory. You want to reach a point where you are talking about something that deeply inspires the client.

Determining High-Net-Worth Personality

As you proceed through the Total Client Profile interview, you have the opportunity not only to gather key information about each client or prospective client, but also to determine his or her high-net-worth personality.

As you will recall from Strategy 2: Implement Wealth Management, affluent clients tend to fall into one of nine different high-net-worth personality types. Each type brings unique needs and perspectives to the table. By understanding which personality each of your affluent clients has, you will be able to communicate and meet their needs much more effectively.

Built into the Total Client Profile are four questions that are designed to reveal the high-net-worth personality. Each question is open-ended, so you may need to ask only one to pinpoint the personality, or you may need to go through all four.

 

1. “What would you like to achieve with your money?”

This question will reveal two different personality types:

  • The Family Steward, whose primary motivation is to protect his or her family in every way possible, including financially. Family Stewards will answer this question with full explanations of everything they would like to do for their families, such as funding college for children or estate planning to ensure harmonious division of their assets among family members.

  • The Independent, whose primary goal is personal freedom. In response to this question, Independents will tell you about their achieving financial independence in order to pursue their dreams, such as early retirement or a vacation home.

 

2. “When you think about your money, what concerns, needs or feelings come to mind?”

This question will help you identify these three types:

  • The Accumulator, who has more financial knowledge than most other types and is focused solely on accumulating additional assets. What Accumulators will do with these assets is secondary; they are just driven to acquire them.

  • The Mogul, who values money for the power it gives. Because they like to control people and their surroundings, Moguls’ responses will be all about having more money in order to have more control.

  • The VIP, who is status-oriented, desiring to be recognized and acknowledged for his or her possessions and lifestyle. The VIP will answer this question in terms of how money is important for what it can buy and the status it can confer.

 

3. “How involved do you like to be in managing your finances?”

This question will reveal these personalities:

  • The Phobic, who dislikes and even fears investing. Because they are intimidated by investing, Phobics’ answers will be all about the worry and burden they feel around it. Many will simply try to change the subject completely.

  • The Gambler, who loves investing and is extremely knowledgeable about it. Because it is very often their hobby, Gamblers will answer this question by talking about the excitement of investing and the thrill of market volatility.

  • The Innovator, like the Gambler, knows and loves investing. But rather than being attracted to the emotion of investing, the Innovator is drawn to its intellectual challenge. The Innovator’s answer will reveal technical sophistication and a desire to be on the cutting edge of investing trends.

4. “How important to you is the confidentiality of your financial affairs?”

Your final question will pinpoint just one personality, the Anonymous. While confidentiality is important to all groups, the Anonymous are fanatical about it. They are extremely concerned about personal security and look for constant assurance that their advisors will protect the integrity of their information. Their answers to this question will clearly indicate this intense focus on confidentiality.

The answers you receive will give you a clear idea of the personality that you are working with, but you should follow up with an additional question or statement to confirm that your first impression is valid. These “trial balloon” questions should reiterate what you understand, albeit with a bit of hesitation so that you are not locked in.

Here is an example of a trial balloon that you might use with a client you believe is a Family Steward:

“Let me make sure I’ve got this right. It seems your family’s well-being is your primary concern. We’re going to create a portfolio that’s focused on your family, that’s going to really take care of them long term. Is that your goal?”

Watch and listen closely to the client’s reaction. The client will either respond positively, confirming that you are correct, or negatively. In the latter case, return to the four questions to get more information.

Here are some other trial-balloon questions to use with prospects who may be one of the remaining high-net-worth personality types:

Phobics

“I get the feeling you’re not that comfortable with investing. Is that true? That’s okay, because I am, and I am going to do my best to make sure that your goals are met so that you don’t have to worry.”

Independents

“It’s really important to you to have the investment resources in the bank to make sure you can do what you want. From talking to you, I sense that what you want is the freedom to do whatever you want. Maybe retire at 55 and pursue some hobby or interest. Is that right?”

The Anonymous

“You operate similarly to the way I work with my clients. My key concern is that confidential information stays confidential. When we work together, you can rest assured that confidentiality is one of my highest priorities.”

 

Moguls

“I feel that you want to be in ultimate control of everything we do together. My job is to make sure that you have the best advice and information in order to make the big decisions. Do I have that right?”

VIPs

 

“It’s important that you know we work with some of the biggest names in the investment management industry. People who are at the same level as you. People who know and understand the appropriate investments for someone in your position.”

Accumulators

“It seems to me that you are very astute about money. You know how to save it and how to make it grow. I enjoy working with clients like you, and I’m going to do my best to make sure we create an investment strategy to make the most money possible. Are we on the right track? Is that what you want from a financial advisor?”

Gamblers

“Investing is exciting for you, just like it is for me. I love everything about investing: whether it’s finding a great stock, watching CEOs on CNBC or doing research on financials. Together, we can make sure we keep up with all the events going on. I sense that your ideal advisor is one who is as excited about the process of investing as you are.”

 

Innovators

“You have a great deal of knowledge about investing, and it’s very important to you to use state-of-the-art investment approaches. That’s precisely what my firm and I, in particular, specialize in.”

(Source of the high-net-worth personality diagnostic system: Russ Alan Prince and Brett Van Bortel, The Millionaire’s Advisor™, 2003.)

Handling Difficult Questions

There are two questions in the Total Client Profile interview guide that some financial advisors feel uncomfortable asking. Rather than skipping these questions, we suggest that you understand the reasons for those questions and how asking them can help you to serve your clients better. Here are those questions and the rationale behind them:

  • What is your religious orientation? How devout are you? Many people are passionate about their religion, and it often has a material effect on their finances. Without asking about it, you might never uncover this. For instance, when one financial advisor we work with inquired about a prospective client’s religious orientation, he found out that her biggest goal in life was to start a charitable organization in Israel. A successful businesswoman, she also wanted to hand over her business to her son so that she could head up the charity. These are critical insights, but they did not come out in the discovery interview at all until the financial advisor asked about her religion.

  • Would you describe yourself as an introvert or an extrovert? The answer to this question should give you a better understanding of how you can best support and communicate with the client. For example, a client who is an introvert may not prefer to attend large client events, but may appreciate smaller, more personal gatherings.

Digging Deeper to Uncover Opportunities

In most cases, you will find that the Total Client Profile interview guide is a starting point only. As each conversation progresses, your questions should build on the information you are gathering, to pinpoint issues of particular importance to the client or prospect. You may find it useful to organize your thinking by breaking out your questions by type:

  • Questions that obtain information. These questions are designed to jog clients’ memories and motivate them to share their information. (Examples: What life insurance do you have? Do you have an accountant? What benefits do you receive from your workplace?)

  • Questions that test comprehension. You need to ensure that clients are making informed decisions, based on a clear understanding of their issues. Any question that requires the client to rephrase, interpret, compare or add additional detail will accomplish this objective. (Example: Given the current structure of your family business, how do you think your ESOP is working for you?)

  • Questions that require analysis and evaluation. These questions will help you understand the personal, subtle and often sensitive issues clients have around their finances. (Examples: What family relationships are most important to you? Since you’re uncomfortable with your children inheriting your money all at once, how do you want that money administered and over what time frame?)

  • Questions that move the process forward. It is more effective to skillfully use questions to move the client or prospect to the next stage of working with you than it is to simply make assertions. (Examples: Whom else do you want involved in your decision making and in managing your finances? When would be a good time for us to review your alternatives?)

Using the techniques presented here, you will be able to create accurate, detailed pictures of your clients and prospective clients using the Total Client Profile. As you will see throughout this strategy, the Total Client Profile will help support your entire wealth management process.

2. Introduction to the Client Meetings

When you provide a world-class experience for your clients, and do so consistently, year in and year out, you will deliver on a value promise that competitors will find extremely difficult to touch.

However, there’s a substantial challenge in basing your value promise on your client experience: You must have systems in place to deliver the experience consistently and cost-effectively. Without these systems, you create a nightmare of endless rounds of one-offs.

To meet this challenge, you will implement a systematic process and then replicate it again and again. This process will enable you to provide true mass customization: While your systems will function like an assembly line in the background, each client and prospective client will experience it as a true custom experience that addresses their unique needs.

We believe you will find the wealth management process to have one of the most significant impacts on your business that you have ever experienced. This is what you can expect:

  • You will be perfectly positioned to leverage your core competency in client relationship management.

  • You will systematically build trusted, high-quality relationships with clients.

  • You will uncover your clients’ true financial issues with a high degree of accuracy, which in turn will enable you to determine the appropriate actions for addressing those issues.

  • You will delight your clients, who will be more likely to provide both additional assets to manage and introductions to qualified prospects. This in turn will lead to greater revenue and, ultimately, a substantially higher net income.

  • Because the process is systematic and replicable process, you can offer it in a relatively cost-effective manner, increasing your profit margin.

The wealth management process is built around a series of five meetings with each client. (See Exhibit 5.2 for an overview.) To assist you and your team in executing on the process, we have created a wealth management tracker that is available for download from the Tools section of this strategy.

3. Discovery Meeting, Pt. 1

Resources

The first client meeting in the wealth management process, the Discovery Meeting, is focused on gaining complete, in-depth understanding of the prospective client so that you can make appropriate investment recommendations and later guide your professional network in providing advanced planning recommendations. As you gain this understanding, you will also begin to build the foundation for a trusting, long-term relationship with the individual or couple.

Goals of the Discovery Meeting

  • To immediately establish trust by positioning yourself as an authority in addressing the financial concerns of members of your niche community

  • To differentiate yourself from your competition through your superior client experience

  • To uncover the client or prospective client’s most important financial issues and to determine his or her high-net-worth personality

  • To collect all information necessary to assess suitability for your services

  • If appropriate, to collect all information necessary to complete an investment plan and advanced plan

  • To begin to position yourself as a personal chief financial officer

  • To begin to build a deeper personal connection by sharing your personal story.

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Discovery Meeting Transcript

Preparation for the Discovery Meeting

You have acquired a prospective client through your own acquaintance, an introduction from an existing client, a strategic alliance, a presentation or conversion of an existing client and have scheduled the Discovery Meeting.

To ensure that the meeting is as productive as possible, send a letter to the prospective client that confirms the meeting and lists the information you need him or her to bring to the meeting. You should send this letter immediately after scheduling the meeting.

The following is a sample Discovery Meeting confirmation letter. (We will address all our sample correspondence and scripts for our meetings to our new affluent client, “Joe H.N.W. Client.”) You will find a customizable template for this letter and all communications we recommend for the wealth management process in the Tools section of this strategy.

"Dear Joe,

This letter is to confirm our appointment for Wednesday, April 23 at 9:00 a.m. in our offices. I have enclosed a map and driving instructions for your convenience. Please plan on the meeting lasting about 90 minutes.

At our meeting, we will ask you a series of questions to really understand what is most important to you, what you would like to accomplish and what keeps you awake at night. We will determine where you are now, where you want to be and any gaps or obstacles that stand in the way. It’s our chance to get a very clear picture of you so that we can guide you in how best to achieve your most important goals.

To help us obtain a comprehensive view of your financial situation, please bring the following:

  1. Your last two years’ income tax returns

  2. Any recent financial statements prepared for refinancing, etc.

  3. Current bank statements, if any

  4. Current mutual fund statements, if any

  5. Current brokerage statements, if any

  6. Current mortgage statements, if any

  7. Current life insurance policies, if any

  8. Current employee benefit statements, including those for 401(k) or other retirement plans, if any

  9. Any wills or trust documents

  10. Anything else you believe would be useful for me to gain a better understanding of your financial situation