This prospect came to me in the fall of 2010 looking for advice on his 401k and his wife’s 403b. His brother, who is a client, referred him. He called me. Husband is 55 and was a welder with a local company. Wife is also 55 and is a RN. They both had recently switched jobs. She switched to a different hospital and he lost his job when the local company closed its doors. This company was bought by a competitor and is now open again. He is now working for the new company with similar position.
1st Meeting
November 2010… previewed my services and they agreed to go through the planning processes with me
2nd Meeting
One week after the first meeting… filled out financial fact finder and discovered His old 401k total $176,000. Her old 403b total $133,000. In the planning process I also discovered IRA’s totaling $168,000. They also expressed interest in Long Term Care.
3rd Meeting
December 2010… Recommended 401k rollovers and IRA Transfer to Managed Accounts with me and LTC insurance proposed. They liked the plan and we did some initial paperwork and agreed to meet after x-mas to finish the paper work.
January 2011
Another meeting set and they canceled. Husband indicated he wanted to “think on it” and get back to me. Contacted numerous times in 2011 and cannot get meeting set.
January 2012
Talked to husband and indicated he would meet with me again and would check with his wife’s schedule to see when they would be free. I called about once a month and left message and have received no return call.
I last left a message in May 2012. I do see him face to face periodically. He tells me he has been busy and we need to get together soon… how can I end this never-ending sales cycle?
You could pink slip him or send empty envelope –
Go silent for 30-60 days…
I would try to get him on phone or next time i see him set an appointment to meet (outlook calendar it) and talk or swing in to talk to him (drive by).
Ask him if he chose to go another direction so you can move forward as well and keep him in some mailers or emails about market with Long Term Care or 401K info…. Thought of you when i seen this – email.
Hi Prospect!
Have to admit, am a bit confused. In our original correspondence and in our meeting, you mentioned how acute your need was to get some solid investment advice and how challenging and frustrating it is to get same.
As you know, the market has been quite volatile and many, if not most folks have lost money in the market and lost money due to not have the correct portfolio. Don’t want you to be in that same position. Fortunately, my clients are not in that situation.
Having said all this, I am concerned I have not heard back from you. Typically this means either 1) Priorities have changed 2) I didn’t fully address all of your questions or concerns and have outstanding questions or 3) You’ve gone a different direction.
There’s no right or wrong answer to the above. If you have questions, I am happy to personally set up a cal. I want you, and everyone else, to have confidence in my organization. On the flip side, if you have gone another direction, that is fine, just let me know.
I just want to understand where things are with things on your end, so I will best know how and when to appropriately follow up with you.
Thanks!
GSK
It doesn’t sound like the salesperson fully qualified the opportunity before doing some free consulting and presenting possible solutions. Obviously the prospect’s pain wasn’t that critical and he should’ve been sniffed out sooner. Er go, no pain, no sale.
At this point, a simple email would preserve the relationship while letting the sales rep move on to a more qualified opportunity. “Bill, doesn’t sound like this a top priority right now. I understand. So I’ll leave the ball in your court, let me know when you’re ready to discuss further. Sound good?”
“In my experience when a prospect/client says they’re not ready to do this, they usually mean “no” but don’t want to hurt my feelings by telling me. I don’t suppose that’s the case with your, is it?”
From the master, himself!