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Last week, we spoke about asking great questions when you’re having that first prospect meeting so you can listen closely to their responses and ensure they’re hearing you appropriately, and then fine-tune and tweak following questions to make sure you’re both on the same path. And if you didn’t see that video last week, click on the link below. Watch it so you’re all caught up with where we’re going this week.
Today we’re talking about words that you need to use when you’re asking those questions.
Now we had some great feedback from last week’s post, and understandably, people said, “Great. What kind of questions would you be asking people?”
So here are just a couple of ideas:
“You mentioned that vacation in Europe last year. What was it that made it so special?”
Or, “When you mentioned that time you traveled to Europe, your eyes lit up when you mentioned the cruise. What was it that was so interesting about it?” “What was it that was so memorable?” “What was it that was so special about that trip?”
And if you’re talking with a couple, ask both of them. Don’t assume that they share each other’s highlights.
“When you think back to how it was that you saw your parents handle finances, what was it that you remember most?”
Now, if it seems a little negative, or if their demeanor changes, “When you mentioned that about your parents handling finances, your demeanor changed. Were there some bad memories?” Or, “What was one of the greatest challenges you saw them go through that you would like to avoid?”
“Before going to college, what was it that you thought you wanted to be?”
“After college, how was that influenced? How did you see that change?”
There’s a myriad of other questions you can have ready to roll with people when you’re talking to them.
(These are just some of the details that we cover in our Fiduciary Foundations course. It’s a six workshop course, specifically for advisors, dealing with language in the first 2 modules, and then we look at other practice management components that you’re building as advisors. We’re doing this at Ash Brokerage, and if you are interested, just shoot me an email — Paul.Kingsman@AshBrokerage.com, and I’ll share details about it.) So,
- You need to have these questions dialed in. You want to have them ready to roll, not so that you can just parrot them off quickly, but so you can fine-tune them, depending on that person’s responses back to you.
- Listen to how that person is responding, and then shape further questions relative to what they have said to keep the conversation going deeper, especially if there are important points that you need to ascertain about this person’s behavior, especially when it comes to their finances.
- Practice them. Use the same questions time after time after time and get comfortable with them. You’ll be able to more effectively shape them on the fly, when you’re in conversations. You’re going to show [the people you’re talking with] that you’re not only listening, but that you know the important questions to ask, and, therefore, have them assuming that if you know the important questions to ask, you must know the right answers to supply.