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How should you approach a casual acquaintance and open the dialogue about working together?
This is the quintessential “asking for the first date” question – major awkwardness potential here! When I was an advisor I was successful using a few methods – depending on how well I knew the prospect. Here is how to maximize your chances of success before, during, and after the ask.
Warm them up for the ask
To take the edge off “the big ask,” one of the best ways to give your prospect an idea of what you do is to include them on your newsletter distribution list. But make it a highly personalized newsletter that reflects your brand, not some boilerplate, overly technical piece.
I piqued the interest of several of my acquaintances, and it did lead to prospects setting up meetings, through my email newsletter. I used extremely creative subject lines, for example, that displayed my character. Example: “Conveyor belt of money.” I remember I walked into the computer room at the Harvard Club and one of my acquaintances who happened to be on the newsletter list said some joke like, “You’d better let her use that printer before you – don’t get in the way of her conveyor belt of money!”
Years later in a casual conversation he brought up that his girlfriend needed an advisor and requested that the three of us set up a meeting. See how that warmed him up?
Connect on social media, also. This way they see your updates and have an idea of what you’re about. Just as with the newsletter, generic content will just give them the impression that you’re “one of those advisors.” Show your personality.
The LinkedIn instant messenger feature is a great way to transition them into a phone call. It’s a casual way to reach people. You can tell when they’re online by seeing if their profile displays a solid green dot. If you see the green dot, you know they’re logged on – so that is a great time to hit them up on chat and see if you can somehow get them on the phone. This is LinkedIn’s best kept secret, and one that not enough people use in their sales work.
Lastly, don’t go into this interaction cold. Get ready for the dialogue and practice your rebuttals. If you’re too embarrassed to ask anyone to role play with you, then record yourself saying your pitch into your iPhone and play it back. Keep doing it until you’re happy with what you see/hear.
How to ask an acquaintance to meet with you
My best advice is to put yourself in their position. If you were the doctor who knows the advisor from the golf course, how would you feel being on the receiving end of this pitch?
Here are some guidelines:
- In order to get them to talk to you on the phone so that you can have the opportunity to pitch a meeting, call them directly. If they don’t answer then leave a voicemail and send an email or text. This may sound like overkill but most people don’t listen to voicemails nowadays.
- In your voice message and email, tell the person that you came across a few things in the course of your work recently that made you think of them, and you wanted to run it by them. Give them a clue that you’re going to ask them for a meeting; don’t blindside or mislead them by saying that you want to talk about next month’s Boy Scout camping trip since your sons are in the same troop. Notice that I said to mention “things” – not one thing. If you tell them you want to talk about something they’re going to think you’re trying to sell them an annuity. That usually is “the thing” that people are used to from advisors.
- When you talk, keep the pitch to two sentences. The pitch may fall flat on the floor so it’s better to get the whole thing done quickly if that happens. This will reduce pain for both parties involved.
- Mention your observations of specific things you’ve seen in their life and how you think you could improve the situation – I’ll show you in two examples below – stay tuned.
- This is not time to start rambling about how you’re a fiduciary and you’ve served doctors for two decades and use advisor jargon. They don’t care. You’re talking about yourself, not about them.
- Talk about why you feel that you can help. Use what I call “the language of giving” to frame your offer in terms that reflect how they will benefit.
Example:
Beth, I recently met with a physician who, like yourself, is a highly skilled radiologist in a high tax bracket. Although he, as you probably do, already has an advisor, he agreed to let me review his portfolio and I was able to find a way to reduce his dividend tax by about 15%.
Now Beth, I know firsthand from what I’ve seen of you in our book club that you work very hard and put in long hours. If I could help you take home more than you are now after taxes and help you get more out of all the effort you’re putting in, would it be worth 30 minutes of your time?
Example:
Martin, one of the things that people who work with me tend to mention, over and over again, is that I’ve helped them to do things with their money that they didn’t think were possible.
As we’re members of the same boating club it’s become clear to me that this is something you, your friends, and your kids really enjoy. It just seems to light you up on the inside.
If there were a way that I could possibly help you free up more cash flow to devote to this hobby, would you consider sitting down with me for a brief chat sometime?
Is it a sales pitch? Well, technically yes. But putting myself on the receiving end of this, I’m not sure I would walk away feeling as if somebody just tried to put one over on me. If I were Beth or Martin being pitched to here, it would not sound so bad.
What to do if you fail
I once asked a casual acquaintance if he would consider letting me review his portfolio, to which he replied, “Sara, I will never ever allow you to manage my money.”
Okay…so that was a little awkward.
I can’t say that I blame him, honestly. I was much younger and this was before I had sales training. The whole thing was poorly executed on my part.
Well, I never spoke to him again, but there are others who I asked at some point to do business with me. Some did, some didn’t. If you do get rejected, it may take two or three years, but people will eventually forget – remember people have short attention spans. Just don’t do anything to offend them or they’ll have a reason to remember.
In the moment you face rejection, though, remember this: The way you handle it determines how they will handle it. If you show that you’re okay with it, then they’ll be okay with it.
The key thing is to have a few words prepared in advance to let them off the hook easily. Keep it light, humorous and friendly. Brush it off lightly and make them laugh.
Example:
Don’t worry, Ben, I’m not going to stalk you and you don’t have to avoid me at the Doritos Bowl the next NFL Sunday party we have in our condo club. You’ll still be cool with me as long as you remain a Giants fan and not a Patriots fan.
If you can end on a positive note the experience will be less awkward for everyone.
Your wife is a financial advisor? Get out of here, Sean. That makes you two a big-time power couple. So it sounds like you’re in good hands, but let me ask you this...who do you know, maybe from your work or even from our circle of friends, that what I mentioned could possibly be helpful to?
Sometimes shifting the conversation to a referral can take the tension away.
Sara’s upshot on converting acquaintances to prospects
You’re not going to win every time you try, but the ability to convert casual acquaintances into qualified opportunities is a valuable skill for an advisor. You will maximize your chances of success if you utilize marketing tools that help you build comfort and trust before “the ask,” such as newsletters and social media.
Be prepared because the conversation is going to be a little awkward, which is why rehearsal is so important. Use empathy, ask in a straightforward way that makes it clear what you have to give them, use examples from your experience knowing them, and be ready with words that will let them off the hook easily and help to minimize awkwardness.
Try this and if you need any guidance then please hit me up on APViewpoint.
Sara Grillo, CFA, is a top financial writer with a focus on marketing and branding for investment management, financial planning, and RIA firms. Prior to launching her own firm, she was a financial advisor and worked at Lehman Brothers. Sara graduated from Harvard with a degree in English literature and has an MBA from NYU Stern in Quantitative Finance.
Read more articles by Sara Grillo
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives
