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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law.
Gorilla and Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good
Marketing, Inc.
Bill Good
Chairman
Bill Good Marketing, Inc.
Contact Information
12393 South Gateway Park Place, Suite 600
Draper, UT 84020
Phone: 800-678-1480
Fax: 801-495-7288
E-Mail: [email protected]
www.billgood.com
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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
2
1. GENERATE IMMEDIATE INCOMING CALLS
You’re looking at the best “call me” letter in the world. It
gets nearly 100% response.
The magic of “call me” letters is: they are short.
Pick 20 clients the FA would like to talk to. Send them this
letter. The phone will ring.
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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
3
2. RE-OPEN COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
This one is really easy.
The odds are excellent that you have some clients you haven’t
spoken to in too long.
Because you haven’t spoken to them, you may now worry that you
will be pro-rated or
criticized when you call. You might be.
Perhaps you put them in a bad investment. But this I can
guarantee you. If you don’t
reach out, someone else will.
So here is your tool.
Call clients you have not spoken to in too long.
Don’t try to sell anything.
Don’t ask them to do anything.
Don’t update any demographic information (unless they volunteer
it).
It really is this easy.
This is Wooster Hamilton. We haven’t spoken in a while. I wanted
just to call and find
out how you are doing. I thought we would take just a few
minutes and play catch-up.
How are you and Marge doing?
Under no circumstances ask any question about investments. This
is purely a call about
them.
If they ask early on something about markets, investments, or
whatever, you should say
“We will come to that. But for now, how is Marge’s golf game
coming along”?
Make them drag it out of you. And then resist even more.
Do this with 20 clients you haven’t spoken to in too long. Do it
at a time during the day
when you can take the time. Or evenings. Or Saturday
morning.
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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
4
3. CREATE THE ACTIVITY EFFECT
Surely you know that a lot of activity creates more
activity.
Just as you can feel the energy in a high activity office, you
can feel the veil of
depression in an office where not enough is happening.
The solution is: Kick-start the activity by setting appointments
with clients likely to
have additional funds to invest.
Now that’s going to take you some work. With some of the other
tools, you can just
jump right in. Pick up the phone. Call 20 clients. Promote
referrals. Done!
The key question here is: Which clients to call? Call the wrong
clients, and you will not
generate profitable activity.
So who are we going to call?
To answer this question, I need to explain a system we used to
evaluate “client
goodness.”
Client Goodness Defined
No question about it, some clients are better than others. But a
reasonable question is:
What makes a good client?
Is it liquid net worth, i.e., investable wealth? Is it revenue?
Is it quality of the
relationship? Is it AUM?
Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
While it is all of these, over the years I have focused on two
of these qualities: Quality of
the relationship; and liquid net worth.
By assigning each client two different grades, one for
relationship, and one for wealth,
you will not only identify your best clients, but you will get
an idea of where to find
additional assets.
The names I have assigned these “goodness” standards are:
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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
5
Book—This measures the quality of the relationship. This comes
from old terminology
that still survives. People used to have physical notebooks, an
A-book, B-book, etc. But
no one ever defined exactly what an A-client is.
I decided to resolve the issue and define an A-client as a
responsive client. Bs, Cs and
Ds are progressively less responsive.
“Book” then has nothing to do with size. It measures the quality
of the relationship
only. I use an A B C D grading scale for quality of relationship
as follows:
A: Responsive, does what the FA recommends when advised. No
selling is required.
Almost all referrals come from A-clients.
B: A bit cautious. This client will follow advice about half the
time, but often wants “to
think it over.”
C: Cautious. Only follows advice about 20 percent of the time.
Frequently requests info
in writing.
D: Negative, either client to FA or vice versa. Rarely returns
calls. Rarely comes for
reviews. The relationship is soured, if not gone.
Wealth—This is your estimate of the client’s liquid net worth.
Important note: It’s not
just what they have invested with you. It is total liquid net
worth.
To measure this quality, I recommend a 1 2 3 4 5 scale.
1: Top 5 percent
2: Next 20 percent
3: Middle 50 percent
4: Next 20 percent
5: Bottom 5 percent
Depending on whether you live in a wealthy market, or poor
market, your choices
could be defined as:
Palm Springs El Paso, Texas
1 $2.5 million+ $500K+
2 $1 million $250K
3 $500K $125K
4 $250K $75K
5 $100K $25K or less
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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
6
Keep in mind: These are your choices in your market.
The optimum client is, therefore, an A1--wealthy and
responsive.
Show Me the Money
How do we know then who to call?
Here’s something we have learned from experience, many times
over.
As you drop down the “book” scale from A to B to C to D, you are
really dropping
down the scale of trust. An “A” client has extended to you the
“trusted advisor
relationship.” That’s why there’s no selling. None is necessary.
No persuasion is
required.
Now consider a B client. This person is a bit cautious. As far
as granting you trusted
advisor status, they’re not there yet. And if this person has
any significant assets at all,
there is an excellent chance you don’t have them all.
That chance becomes much more pronounced when you get to the C
client.
I hope you’re with me. As we have a little bit more reasoning to
do.
Your best client would be an A1-- responsive and wealthy. If you
tell me, “Bob Barking
is an A1 client but he has two other advisors,” I will then tell
you, “By definition, you
don’t have all of Bob’s trust.”
Look at this client list. I’ve highlighted the people I would be
calling.
Name Source Book Wealth Emp Status Referred ByReferrals
Given
in last 12 Months
Hawthorne, Hester & Thorny Prof Introduction A 1 Other Alice
Ape
Apple, Juan Other A 2 Teacher/Clergy Velda Oldbucks
Ape, Alice Referral A 3 Retired 3
Besider, Elizabeth Cold Call A 3 Retired
Dundee, Croc & Adele Seminar A 4 Business Owner 2
Smith, Adam/Jones, Rebecca Referral A 5 Professional Croc Dundee
2
Apple, Adam Seminar B 1 Retired
Beecher, Henry Ward & Eliza Networking B 2 Teacher/Clergy
Alice Ape
Doctor, Dr. Bob and Prof Alice Seminar B 2 Professional Rex
Futurus
Grug, Lug and Bertha Prof Introduction B 2 Business Owner
Futurus, Rex & Gwen Networking B 3 Corporate Rebecca Jones
1
Rabit, Rhoda Seminar B 3 Retired
Decatur, Steve & Susie Referral B 4 Professional Alice
Ape
Frang, Lawrence and Mary Seminar C 1 Retired Bob Barking
Snodgrass, Hermine Referral C 1 Retired
Axelrod, Adam and Adamant Cold Call C 2 Professional
Billy, Bob Cold Call C 2 Other
Oldebucks, Velda Cold Call C 2 Retired 3
Crusoe, Uncle Rob & Friday Networking C 3 Retired Croc
Dundee
Buonarroti, Mike Other C 4 Business Owner
Gaga, Lassie Cold Call C 5 Professional Fred Friendly
Barking, Bob and Woofie Seminar D 1 Business Owner Velda
Oldbucks 1
Smedley, Harvey Prof Introduction D 1 Retired
Friendly, Fred and Kinda Networking E 3 Retired 1
They are you B1s and C1s—people in the very top of your
estimated liquid net worth
category but in the relationship category, not your best. That’s
where the money is.
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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
7
Creating the “Activity Effect” List.
Here’s where you have some work to do.
I’ve created a spreadsheet for you. What you have to do is get
an electronic list of your
clients and follow directions in the spreadsheet. If you decide
to fill out all of the
columns, you will get some bonus information. But at a minimum,
for each client
assigned them a “book value” and “wealth index value.”
By way of reminder, you have to understand our definition of
“Wealth.”
It’s not what you have. It’s what they have.
Wealth—This is your estimate of the client’s liquid net worth.
Important note: It’s not
just what they have invested with you. It is total liquid net
worth.
You will find the spreadsheet here:
http://www.billgood.com/managechange/
The link to the spreadsheet is in the third paragraph. You are
already registered for my
website. Click the link. Download the spreadsheet. Do exactly
what it says.
Kick-start
Now that you have your list, get on the phone and call your B1s
and C1s. Set
appointments. If they are reluctant to come see you, go see
them.
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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
8
4. MANAGE TIME BETTER: THE “FOURTEEN HOUR A-WEEK” PLAN
Let’s say, for the sake of argument that you have decided it’s
time to go prospecting
again. If I were you, I would implement what I have called the
“Fourteen Hour a Week”
plan.
Monday-Friday 8:00 10:00: Call business owners or executives.
Tell your office
receptionist to hold your calls. During the first hour, you can
frequently get right
through because the “screener” typically does not arrive until
9:00. Where you run into
screeners, try this: “In case I get disconnected, what is
his/her direct extension?”
Monday-Thursday 4:30 – 5:30: More business owner/executive
calls. Again, you are
calling after the screener has left. Continue adding to your
direct extension list because
you will be using it tomorrow. As you build that list, you will
make more contacts.
This gives you 14 hours.
During your 14 hours, do your very best not to take any incoming
calls or make follow-
up calls of any kind. These 14 hours a week represent an
appointment you have with
the future of your business. Keep that appointment.
By blocking 14 hours a week for prospecting (which can also be
applied to our “See
More Prospects” tool you will read about shortly), you are
immediately managing time
better. And guess what, if you try this for three weeks, you
will find you force yourself
to accomplish in the remaining time everything you did before
you started prospecting.
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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
9
5. PROMOTE REFERRALS
Over the years, I have asked various seminar audiences, “Raise
your hand if you like
asking for referrals.” Occasionally, one or two hands go up.
Mostly they didn’t
understand the question or thought I was asking if they wanted
more referrals.
So it is fair to say, dear reader, that you, like the
overwhelming majority of people I
have informally polled, hate asking for referrals and won’t do
it.
Well, congratulations. You got this one right! Because in my
humble (okay, so not so
humble) opinion, asking for referrals not only does not get you
referrals; it can generate
ill will from those clients you put on the spot. In your heart
of hearts, despite repeated
entreaties to ask for referrals, you have known or felt
something was wrong with doing
it. And fortunately, you refused.
Old Bad Advice
I didn’t always have it right. Back in 1988 and 1989, I wrote a
series of articles
for Registered Rep magazine on referral questions to ask. They
included these gems,
contributed by readers:
Who do you know, socially or professionally, who has common
sense and might
have some money to invest? If a client shows any hesitation, I
add, Think of people
with whom you work, play golf, or are in a club.
Mr./Ms. Client, we have been getting a lot of requests of late
for information on
tax-free income investments. It seems as though everyone wants
to save money
on taxes. Do you know of anyone who may have an interest in
learning more
about how tax-free bonds can reduce their tax bill?
Thank you for your business, Mr. Jones. You’re obviously
confident in the
investment you’ve just made, and I am sure you have a friend or
relative who
might also want to hear about it. If you will give me a name and
telephone
number, I’ll be happy to call and share this idea with them.
And the beat goes and on and on. Ask for referrals. Ask for
referrals. Ask for referrals!
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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
10
Newer, Better Advice
After a series of detailed studies in the early 1990s, initially
on my own business and
then reviewing referrals who became clients for various
advisors, I changed my tune
completely.
In one study on my own business, I had my sales crew ask for
referrals. Over about a 2-
month period, we asked for and got 503 referrals. Of these, I
had three buyers. That’s
one in 162. Since my direct-mail and conference-call leads were
closing about 1 in 8, the
referrals were killing my sales crew. I was doing the marketing
equivalent of backing a
truck of horse manure up to my sales team and saying, “OK guys,
there’s got to be a
pony in there somewhere. Here’s a shovel. Start digging.”
After this study I did some detailed interviews with about 30 of
my clients who claimed
that they generated the largest amount of business from
referrals. When we analyzed
the referrals who actually became clients as opposed to just
referrals given, this
stunning conclusion was obvious: Referrals who became clients
were unsolicited.
Big Problem
This presents a problem, doesn’t it?
You would like to have more referrals. But if you ask for them,
what you get are not
referrals. Not only do the names you get fail to become clients,
but the process of asking
puts your clients on the spot and can damage the good will you
do enjoy with them.
Solution?
Promote Referrals!
If you can’t solicit referrals, you can and must create
“referral consciousness.”
Referral consciousness is a frame of mind: If your client has
it, then whenever s/he
encounters a social situation where referral to a financial
advisor is appropriate, s/he
immediately thinks of you.
The key is for you to gently remind your clients that you
appreciate and value their
recommendations.
One of the best ways to do this is to have what we call a
“referral conversation.”
The Tool: Promote Referrals in Referral Conversations
A “referral conversation is a casual – but carefully scripted –
conversation that gets
worked into the normal course of business.
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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
11
They can occur easily almost anywhere.
For instance, you are having a conversation with the client who
mentions, “I won’t be
available for a couple of days. Marge and I will be up at the
lake Thursday and Friday.
But will be back Monday.”
You: Sounds fun. Golf? Fishing? Or just hanging out?
Bob: Some friends of ours get together every year about this
time. There’s a lot of golf,
fishing, and a lot of hanging out.
You: Sounds fun. You know, Bob, I’m always interested in
developing a few more good clients
just like you. Mostly it’s because we have such a good working
relationship and friendship. If the
topic of investments should come up, and if your friend likes
our style of business, would you put
in a good word for me?
That’s how easy it is. You just have to be very familiar with
the different styles of
conversation.
Action Plan
1) Read the first “Referral Conversation” aloud. Perhaps read it
several times.
Pencil in any changes necessary to adapt it to your way of
speaking.
2) Now do the same with each of the other 10 “Referral
Conversations.”
3) I have stashed a “secret copy” of the MS Word version of
“Referral
Conversations here: http://scr.bi/referralconversations. You can
download it and
edit it so the conversations become your conversations.” Before
you click
download, make sure you select the .doc version. Otherwise you
will get PDF
and you cannot edit it.
4) Call 25 clients. Use a log to record the results.
Referral Challenge: If you will do this, you will get 2 real
live referrals right now.
The reason the client has not called you is simple:
They did not know you value and accept additional business.
-
© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
12
6. SEE MORE PROSPECTS
I strongly recommend you do spend some time each week “cold
walking.”
There’s a right way and a wrong way to do it.
Get Organized for Cold Walking
This idea will cost you a little money. Go to a computer store
or Amazon and buy
Microsoft’s “Streets and Trips.” Get the least expensive
version. It’s $35 or $45. You
don’t need the version that comes with GPS.
Call your favorite list broker and order a list. (I recommend
CIS at 800-547-LIST. Ask for
Marcia.) Now order a list of businesses, doctors, lawyers,
dentists, or whatever kind of
business you want to prospect in the day.
Make sure you order your list electronically.
When you get your list, you’re going to import it into “Streets
and Trips.” The
program’s Help message will help you import the list. It takes
about 15 min. to figure it
out.
The magic is that the program puts an electronic pushpin at each
address on your list.
So you can see where your prospects are and then even create a
route to go call on the
people you want to call on.
If you want to have actual driving directions, you can enter up
to 25 addresses in the
MapQuest route planner. You will find it here:
www.mapquest.com/routeplanner.
What Do You Say?
What can you do when you drop in on these folks?
You can drop off an invitation to your seminar. Just tell the
receptionist, “I have an
invitation for Dr. Jones. May I wait here until he’s free and
then take less than 30
seconds to give it to him?”
Or put together some information on 529 plans. Get a list of
small manufacturers and
head for the part of town where they make stuff. Walk in. To the
first person you see,
say, “I have some information on how to accumulate money for
kids’ education tax
deferred and tax free. I would like to give it to Mr. Owner so
he can pass it on to the rest
of you. Can you point me in his direction?”
See what I mean? You need to be in front of more people, right?
So get in front of more
people.
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© 2011 Bill Good Marketing, Inc. Reproduction, adaptation or
translation without prior written permission is prohibited, except
as allowed under copyright law. Gorilla and
Gorilla Marketing are ® trademarks of Bill Good Marketing,
Inc.
13
7. FIND MORE MONEY
When someone buys the Bill Good Marketing System, one of the
first things they get is
an assignment package.
One of the assignments is, “Find the Money.”
They are instructed to call 25 clients and have a “Find the
Money” conversation.
As with referral conversations, you have to work in the
question.
The reason we give them this assignment is we really want them
to use one of our
system techniques to pay for their system before they come out
here for training.
Hint: This could work for you.
So here is your assignment.
Call 25 clients. Have a “Find the Money” conversation with each.
Make a log sheet.
Note the results for each client.
And by the way, for this exercise, just pick 25 names from your
book. Don’t pre-judge
them. Just call the first 25.
“Find the Money” Questions
1) When, in the next six months, do you expect to have
additional funds available to
invest or re-invest?
2) Key Client Question: In order to do the best job possible for
you, I need to know
when you’re going to need investment advice. I am really trying
to make certain that
nothing slips between the cracks. So is there a time in the next
six months to a year you
may have a lump sum due, say a bonus, tax refund, property sale,
gift or inheritance?
3) When is your next CD due?
4) Do you have any kind of lump sums due; say bonuses, tax
refunds, gifts,
inheritances?
5) What investments do you own, say with another firm or in the
safe deposit box,
which you might like a second opinion on?
6) Do your parents ever gift their grandchildren with money?
(Or) Do you ever gift
your grandchildren with money?
7) Any bonds maturing in the next year or so?
8) Have you left a 401(k) at a previous firm?