Narrowcast instead of broadcast. Set a goal to become the specialist, not a generalist; the specialist for business owners. There are business owners within your client. These clients are going to have continuity and succession and family investment legacy issues – so engineer a process to become indispensable to these clients. From a pure organic target marketing perspective, simply start calling business owners in your town, especially family enterprises and smaller blue collar first generation businesses that are self-made. Don't call them up asking for business - ask them for advice. There's an old saying: "If you ask someone for money, you often get advice. If you ask someone for advice, you often get money."

Learn to focus your efforts, join Duncan at a Pareto Systems Mastermind event in beautiful Palm Springs, CA. or Kelowna, BC. Limited seats remain for dates this fall, visit our website to learn more: www.paretosystems.com/mastermind-total-client-engagement

Why do people refer a professional to their friends, family, or people in their inner circle? Usually when I am discussing this topic with Financial Advisors, invariably the answer the Advisors come up with is that “they want to help that person.”

I don’t deny that this is probably true, but our belief is that the motivation is more ‘selfish’ on the part of the person that is referring. Yes, they want to help their friend or family member etc., but ultimately they want to hear back from that person, and they want to hear validation about the recommendation in question. That is true whether or not it is a Financial Advisor they referred, or a good book, or even a terrific bottle of wine.

Just as giving to charity makes us feel good inside, having someone come back to us and say: “Thanks so much for introducing me to John, he is a true professional” or “That book you recommended was amazing, thanks,” go a long way to validating the choices we have made in our own lives. We want to share the special things we have discovered. Put simply, when we get the positive feedback at the end, it feels great. We are also doing a good deed in the process, so let’s call it ‘enlightened self-interest.’

I mention all this because when someone has just signed on with a new Advisor, the new client’s propensity to refer that same Advisor to someone else is at its highest right at the very beginning. That said, this last fact is entirely dependent on the Advisor’s process for how that client was brought on at the beginning.

Did the Advisor use an agenda when we had our first meeting? Or did he take notes on a legal pad? Was there a pre-appointment process that made me feel I was heading into something special before I even met with the Advisor? Or did he see me within two days of the initial contact, projecting absolutely no scarcity in the process? When the papers were signed, what happened then? Did the Advisor just move on the next conquest, or was there a New Client Welcome Process that continued to validate my decision to work with that advisor?

All these things in concert with one another create an experience that makes people want to share the experience with someone else, and right off the bat too. If the Advisor is consistent with all of those things, and the person that I refer has the exact same experience that I did, I know that person will come back to me, and they will say:

“Wow, it was just like you said. I wish I had done that five years ago.”

Of course that makes me feel special, and the feeling I get is that I want to do it all over again with another friend so I can get that same emotional payoff. Better yet, now I am even more assured of the Advisor’s consistency because of the feedback I received. As a result, I am even more confident about referring someone else!

Examine your process for taking on a new client. Is it memorable? Would you refer someone into your process? Would you be confident that you would get glowing feedback from the person you sent there? These questions and answers have huge implications as to the number of referrals you receive.

If you don’t have a pre-appointment process, start one. Make it good and stick to it; you know; just how the dentist does it. Send out a letter, an Introductory Kit perhaps, and then make a courtesy call the day before the appointment as a reminder.

If you are not using agendas, start! Decide on a nice Welcome Gift that is sent out when all the paperwork is signed, and then be consistent with it. Also, when selecting an appropriate welcome gift, don’t pick something that looks like you walked approximately 20 feet down to the company gift shop. Make it seem as if there was some effort, and that will reflect that you genuinely value your new relationship with that person.

From what I have seen in my experience, this type of attention is so rare in today’s business world, that if you decide to get serious about some of the things I am discussing (hopefully all of them), people will be referring you all over the place. When you exceed someone’s expectations, not only will they contrast it with their prior experiences, they will tell others. It is basic human nature, and we all do it. Continued Success!

Contributed by: Duncan MacPherson

The circumstances don't make the man; they reveal him. It's not about the glass being half full or half empty – the question is this: Is the glass growing? A mentor shared this with me a long time ago, he said, “If you fill a cup with water and you leave it there, when you come back, it will have evaporated. You’ve got to top it back up - but that's as big as the cup gets. When you top up with experience and take some risks, you keep personally and professionally developing your skills and refining your process. The Cup gets bigger even as you keep topping it up.”

If you’d like to increase your capacity by professionally developing your skills and refining your processes, join Duncan at a Pareto Systems Mastermind event in beautiful Palm Springs, CA. or Kelowna, BC. Limited seats remain for dates this fall, visit our website to learn more: www.paretosystems.com/mastermind-total-client-engagement

Clients don't just buy something, they buy into something. Moving customers who are just “buying something” into a client role can reveal a vein of gold, and that shift can come about when you go back and treat your existing customers as prospective clients. Reintroduce yourself, your process and your value to gain that empowerment.

If you would like to learn more about converting customers into fully empowering clients, join Duncan at a Pareto Systems Mastermind event in beautiful Palm Springs, CA. or Kelowna, BC. Limited seats remain for dates this fall, visit our website to learn more: www.paretosystems.com/mastermind-total-client-engagement

In this episode Duncan discusses the strategy of using the wall décor and greeting cards to enhance and reinforce your personal branding.

To view the finest selection of the highest quality greeting cards and prints, visit our friends at www.lavishcards.com. Tell them Duncan sent you! Also, as my kids have reminded me, there’s no Chinook Salmon in Mission Creek or Okanagan Lake, they’re Kokanee!

You need a process to sift real prospects from the mass of suspects. Your advocates will do that for you. Your most valuable prospective clients are the friends and family members of your existing clients. Your existing clients have more persuasive impact on them than you ever will, so don't go out there and try to convince new people - work better with the people who are already convinced. Show them how to convince people and you'll create client acquisition.

Our Blue Square Method clients learn how to convert their top clients into referral generating advocates. Click here to learn more: www.paretosystems.com/blue-square

with Brad Kessler, Rob, Edwin and Bridget Jaffe along with Billy Hopkins at the Silver Oak Securities, Inc. Conference in St. Louis on behalf of Michael Fink at First Trust Portfolios.

In this episode Duncan discusses fine line between a Rut and a Groove and how to overcome challenges to remain on track to take your client relationships to the next level.

We help our Blue Square Method clients focus on reframing their client relationships to prime the pump for quality referrals. See if you are a fit for Blue Square: www.paretosystems.com/blue-square

Use a Fit Process so that, when someone opts in, they come to their own conclusions: They're buying in. You're not closing them - they're closing you.

Need help developing or refining your Fit Process? Speak to a Pareto Consulting Coordinator: www.paretosystems.com/schedule-a-call