We highly recommend that most of our clients follow this process. The prospect watches the 90-second ad, then the ten-minute video, then books a 15-minute fit call. It's usually by phone, and more often than not, it isn't the advisor taking it.
Every time we don't have a 15-minute fit call, advisors complain. Every time we do, advisors love the process. Here's why, and what happens on the call.
Why Shouldn't the Advisor Take the First Call?
Because a lot of the people who book won't show up, some who do won't be a fit, and advisor time is too expensive to spend finding that out.
About 50% to 65% of the people who book an appointment from a Facebook ad, after going through this process, actually show up. That leaves 35% to 50% who don't. We don't want to use the advisor's time on them.
Of the ones who do show up, we see 75% to 80% book a discovery meeting, in person or over Zoom. Some of those go on to the next meeting with you, and some of those become clients. The full set of benchmarks is in what good looks like.
The call is often taken by a business development rep. But you don't have to have one. A receptionist in your office, a client relations manager, anybody who isn't an advisor can handle it. Advisor time is too expensive to spend on intro calls.
How Much Advisor Time Does It Save?
In a typical example, about 25 hours a month.
Let's do a quick calculation. Say you have 40 booked meetings a month.
In the first scenario, the advisor takes them all, and each meeting is an hour. So every month, the advisor blocks off 40 hours for these meetings. Half of the people don't show up. Of the 20 who do, about 25%, or 5, aren't a fit. That leaves 15.
In the second scenario, you add a 15-minute fit call. You still get your 40 bookings, but now it's 40 times 15 minutes, or 10 hours of your staff's time. Your staff takes the calls, and only the qualified ones, the 15, go on to the advisor.
That frees up 25 hours a month for the advisor, with no loss in the qualified prospects they meet.
A productive advisor at your firm is worth $1,000 to $2,000 an hour. So you're saving $25,000 to $50,000 a month of advisor time by having a 15-minute intro call. The advisor likes it so much more, and they're much happier.
For what a qualified client is worth to your firm, and what you can spend to get one, see what a new client is actually worth and what you can spend to get one.
Should the Intro Call Be by Phone or Zoom?
Phone, for most people.
A lot of our clients use Zoom, but for most people we use the phone. Phone is easier to commit to. More people book an appointment when it's by phone instead of Zoom, and more people show up.
What If You Want to Meet Prospects in Person?
It's the same process: the fit call comes first, and the in-person meeting comes after.
An attendee asked whether we target prospects in a local area and book in-person meetings. We do, and it's the same process. A 90-second video ad, then a ten-minute educational video, then a 15-minute fit call.
You have to have the 15-minute fit call. It's a phone call. Prospects aren't booking an in-person appointment. They're booking a 15-minute fit call. Someone on that call qualifies them, and if they're a fit, invites them to come to your office. Thursday at 2 PM, at this desk.
Most people do come in. If they show up in person, you have a 35% or higher close rate. More experienced advisors do even better.
What Should the Person on the Call Ask?
A lot of firms use BANT: budget, authority, need and timing.
There are different scripts, but here's one some of our clients follow.
Set up the frame. Start by thanking the prospect for booking. Then give them a quick heads-up: I'm not your advisor. My role here is business development representative, or client relationship associate. This should be a quick 15-minute conversation. My goal today is just to meet you, tell you a little about our firm, and see if we can help you. If we can, I'm going to connect you with the right advisor from our firm, who can help with your specific situation and answer your questions. If not, I'm going to point you in a better direction. I just have a few questions. Sounds good?
Need. The first question: what made you book this call? They'll answer with what they need help with.
Budget. Next, some sort of question around budget, which is really: tell me a little more about what you've saved for retirement. They'll say, I have this much in my 401(k), this much in my IRA, and so on. If they're above the threshold, they move forward.
Authority. Are they married? Is anybody else involved in the decision? You want to get that out of the way early. If there's a spouse, you want the spouse to come to the meeting.
Timing. Say they booked because they have a question about a Roth conversion. The person on the call tells them they're confident someone on the advisory team can help with that, then asks: is this something that's important for you to solve this year, or would you rather push it off to a few years from now? If they say it's a very hot topic and they need to figure it out now because they're retiring next year, great.
If not, the person probes for something else. Besides the Roth conversion, what else might have made you book a meeting? They're trying to find a concern the prospect needs help with urgently. That's typically what gets asked on these calls.
How the Call Fits the Rest of the Funnel
The confirmation page video sets the same expectation the call opens with: your first conversation is an introductory call to learn about your situation and see if we can help. If we can, we connect you with the right advisor. If we can't, we point you in a better direction. How the ad, video, booking page and confirmation page fit together is in why your ad can't ask for the booking.
And the intro call is one of the fixes for prospects with no intent to hire. If they're looking for something the firm doesn't offer, it doesn't make sense to waste their time or yours. That's one of the six reasons your Meta ads didn't work.
