PRACTICE
how they can maximize their tax-free
income during retirement.
She has found that if a prospect
has only one or two pain points, it is
unlikely that she will be able to be of
much help. She looks for clients who
have at least four or five pain points.
In a second meeting, Vessenes
delivers a proposed financial plan to
the client. “In addition, if it looks as if
the client is a candidate for disability
insurance, life insurance or long-term
care insurance, we may take applications at this meeting,” she adds.
In a third meeting, Vessenes talks
about how she would manage the
client’s money. “We go through our
investment philosophy and how it
works,” she says. “If they are on board,
they can move their money over to us
at this stage to manage it. However,
some of them may want to get more
of help, such as a disability insurance
policy,” she replies. “I don’t want to put
myself or my staff through the work of
planning for and holding four formal
meetings if they are not necessary.”
She notes that for every hour spent
with a client in a meeting, she spends
about four hours in preparation; her
employees also spend about that same
amount of time. So, if a client has a lim-
ited need, the complete defined sales
process doesn’t make sense.
delegate diligently
If you are a sole practitioner seeking to
expand, he adds, you must learn how
to delegate: You need to train some-
one to carry out your practices. This is
also an opportunity to create a division
of duties and to focus on the tasks you
love to do and delegate those you dis-
like. “In fact, when you staff up,” Pardo
says, “you need to specifically look
for people who like to do the things
that you don’t like to do. For example,
some people hate dealing with people,
but love doing paperwork.”
It is also important to identify
which processes and systems have
some flexibility. In his meetings with
prospects, Pardo sometimes adjusts
‘My team knows the process that I use, and they know what I plan to
do in each and every client meeting.’
information first or think about it.”
At a fourth meeting, the prospects
have become clients, and it is time to
talk in detail about putting the strategy
into effect. “We describe the portfolios,
including what percent would go into
equities, what percent would go into
bonds and so on, so they know where
it is going,” she says. “I also provide
them with information on how they
can log in to their accounts.”
In most cases, this slate of meetings
would be enough. If clients have further
questions or issues along the way, how-
ever, Vessenes might decide to schedule
a “Meeting 2. 5” or “Meeting 4. 5.”
“After each meeting, we set a specific
date for the next meeting so that these
don’t fall through the cracks,” she says.
Does Vessenes ever vary this pro-
cess? “Every once in a great while, I
will short-circuit the process if I have
someone who just needs a certain type
Wealth Financial Partners in Basking
Ridge, N.J., agrees about the value of
creating a standardized approach. “In
terms of the process itself, it is detailed
to the point where there are certain
things that I do in the first meeting,
certain things I do in the second meet-
ing and so on,” he says. “I developed
my process over time. I was always
looking for the Rosetta Stone, and I
used a lot of different systems that
people had. I finally ended up combin-
ing a lot of these ideas and creating a
system that worked for me.”
In addition to using a defined
process for meetings with prospects
and clients, Pardo has expanded the
concept to other aspects of his busi-
ness. “When you are self-employed,
all of the systems and practices that
you develop revolve around you,” he
explains. “At a certain point, though,
you hit a ceiling and you want to grow
his approach based on the needs of
the individual. But other practices are
cookie-cutter. For example, someone
in Pardo’s office makes sure each pros-
pect or client gets a call confirming an
appointment 48 hours in advance;
prospects also receive a welcome kit.
”These experiences are defined, and
they are the same every time and are
repeatable,” Pardo says.
William Atkinson is a financial writer in Carterville, Ill.
