Have you devised an effective and efficient way to determine early in your relationship if the values of the new people you meet are aligned with either the Faithful Delegator or Generous Planner profiles?

If not, you might find the strategy described in this month’s newsletter a simple and reliable way to help you identify and qualify these preferred prospects.

The strategy is founded on the FTD principle. Feelings. Thinking.  Doing or Done.  When you understand how a person feels, what they think and what they have done, are doing, or plan to do, you quickly get a picture you can compare to the profiles of the Faithful Delegator and Generous Planner. 

This strategy has three immediate benefits. 1) The person you meet will feel good about meeting you. 2) You will quickly learn valuable information that will help you qualify the prospect.  3) If the person is not a prospect you may discover a new friend or potential center-of-influence.

An easy way to reliably implement the strategy is combining it with SCOPE™ Listening techniques.  Using SCOPE as a mental or written checklist will prevent you from missing important information because you will have knowledge of the person’s feelings, thoughts and actions in the context of their;

• • Situation/Stories - past, present, & future
  • Concerns/Consequences
  • Opinions/Obstacles real & imagined
  • Priorities/Personal Agenda
  • Expectations - relationships & results

Here is an example:

Let’s say you’ve engaged in conversation with someone new named Susan and she mentioned that she just returned from visiting their grandchildren.  You might continue the conversation by asking,

FR: “How did it feel to see them?”
Susan: “It was wonderful!  I wish they didn’t live so far away so I could see them more often.”

FR: “Sounds like seeing them is really special to you.  How often do you get to see them?

Susan: “Well my husband Tom and I travel to see them at least twice every year and they always come home for Christmas.  We have an extra trip planned for this year because the oldest is getting confirmed.”

FR: “Sounds like you’re really looking forward to that. Do you usually drive or fly when you visit?”

Susan: “We’ve been flying because it’s such a long drive but when we retire in a few years we plan to drive more often and take some time to see more of the country.”

FR: “In addition to visiting the grandchildren, what else are you planning to do when you retire?”
Susan: “The first few years we plan to do more traveling and we both enjoy golf so we’ll be playing more of that.  Another thing we’re planning to do is an international build with Habitat because we’ll finally have the time to do it. We’ve been involved in local builds and enjoy them.”

FR: “Have you picked a country yet? 

Susan: No but we’re starting to talk about it and are getting some ideas from friends who have done it before to help us make a decision.

FR: So you think it makes sense to talk to someone with experience when you are deciding to do something new like an international Habitat build?

Susan:  Yes, both Tom and I like to get input from others before making big decisions.  We both are still so busy at work that we don’t usually have time to do the research.  Besides that neither one of us really likes researching things.

FR: That’s not unusual.  Some people enjoy that type of thing and are good at it but many people would rather delegate that type of thing to someone else.

Susan:  I agree, we have friends that built a new home a few years ago and they acted as their own general contractor.  It worked out well for them in the end, even though they made a few mistakes, but we would never want to do something like that.

FR: Then you feel that things like building a home or planning big trips should be delegated or include the input of people who’ve done it before.

Susan: Yes I do.  It seems to me it’s a sure way to avoid mistakes and make the whole experience a lot more enjoyable.

Let’s take a look at what you’ve learned about Susan and her husband Tom in this short conversation.
Even though you’ve not directly talked about financial topics or even mentioned what you do for a living you’ve already learned some valuable information when you consider what you heard in the context of FTD and SCOPE.     

Feelings: Love their grandchildren, they feel getting input from others helps them to avoid mistakes
Thoughts: They are willing to receive input from others when doing something new,
Doing or Done: Plan head, Generous with their time, Don't enjoy doing research 

Situation:

   Past: Travel to see loved ones, enjoy golf a sport where you keep score
   Present: Travel to see loved ones, enjoy golf
   Future: Retire in a few years; continue traveling to see grand kids and international habitat build

Concerns: Making a mistake when faced with big decisions. | Consequences: Frustration if they try to do it on their own.

Opinions: Makes sense to consult with others. | Obstacles- real or imagined: none identified

Priorities: Kids, grand kids, travel, habitat projects. | Personal Agenda: Not yet discovered

Expectations:

   Relationships with advisors: Not yet discovered
   Results: Continue to travel, be involved with Habitat

Are you beginning to get a picture of Susan and Tom that you can compare to the profile of Faithful Delegator and Generous Planner?  By aligning their responses with the SCOPE™ checklist will it be easier to identify the missing information you may need to qualify them as a prospect?

Action Steps:

• Challenge yourself to create a variety of Probing questions you can use whenever you meet someone new that include discovering their feelings, thought and actions. 
• Listen to the answers you hear in the context of the SCOPE™ checklist and thoughtfully use questions that will help you fill in any gaps on the list.
• Decide if you’ve learned enough to begin qualifying the person as prospect and ask for a Connect meeting. By using a CAPS™ Transition to guide the conversation in that direction.
• If the conversation was too brief to make that decision, make some mental or written notes as soon as you can to determine the additional things you’d like to learn about the person the next time you talk.

Let’s say the conversation outlined above took place at a dinner event and just as Susan was finishing her last statement an announcement was made that dinner will be served beginning in 5 minutes.

If you decided you’ve learned enough to ask for a Connect appointment, you could use a CAPS™ Transition like this one before asking for agreement from Susan.

“Susan it’s been great to meet you and to begin getting acquainted.  Very often when people are nearing retirement like you and Tom they have concerns about getting a plan in place to make a smooth transition from their working careers.  (slight pause to evaluate her attitude) In my profession I help people like you get plans together that help them achieve their retirement dreams. 

How would you feel about getting together again so I can learn more about you and Tom and you can learn a little bit about the work I do so you can decide if some of the strategies we have could be useful for you as you prepare for an enjoyable retirement?