Are Your “Gatekeepers” Killing Your Client Relationships?

I had been limping around for three weeks with a pain across the top of my left foot that didn’t seem to be getting any better.  I made it through five straight days on my feet for two workshops and an active vacation, but the pain did not subside.  So, I finally decided to visit a

Client Retention: They Changed Their Minds!!!

After two visits—a total of six hours—advisor Marianne had gotten an enthusiastic “thumbs up” from her new “almost clients”—a young professional couple with small children—to prepare a financial plan for them.  The plan would specifically include some much-needed life insurance.  There was no doubt the mission was going forward! But a few days later, just

Is SUCCESS Ruining Your Practice?

“I think too much business is the worst thing for my practice,” Brandon complained. Brandon is a financial planner who was working with four or five newer clients.  He was worried that he was too busy to be out looking for his next clients, and in a few weeks, he’d have no one waiting in

As If Your Life Depended on It…

I pushed too hard the other day.  Or did I? I was trying to get Janis, a relatively new financial services representative who works at a branch of a large insurance company, to take the last available seat in my workshop program.  I had offered her help with the tuition, and she had committed on

You Lost Me At “Hello”

I was calling an accountant client of mine—we’ll call him Bill Peterson.  The phone rang seven times, so by then, I was expecting his voice mail.  Instead, I was greeted by an unhappy, bored, stressed-sounding female voice. “Mr. Peterson’s Office,” the voice grumbled crankily. “May I speak with him?” I asked politely. “He’s busy right now,”