This is a true story about an experience I had early on while working at an investment firm.  I was intrigued by this mystery broker named Jeff.  Jeff was never in the office, yet he led the firm in appointments and sales.  I started calling him the Appointment King.  Before I tell you more about Jeff, let's talk about the benefits of face-to-face contact.

As we all know, one of the keys to success in this business is "getting in front of people".  While the majority of your business with existing clients may be conducted over the phone, I'll bet the majority of these clients developed from some initial face-to-face contact.  What prospect is going to turn their hard-earned assets over to someone they've never seen before?

An additional reason you want to get in front of prospects is because it's far more difficult to say "no" to someone in person than over the telephone.  Just last night a high-school student came to my door selling magazine subscriptions. I was cooking dinner and in a rush.  The last thing I needed was a subscription to a magazine I probably wouldn't read but I couldn't just dismiss her the way I could a telemarketer.

So let's get back to the Appointment King.  When I joined this investment firm there was an advisor named (Jeff).  I kept hearing his name over and over again, and wondered who was this guy, what did he look like?  He was never in the office yet he led the office in appointments and sales.  I was truly intrigued, how did he manage to do this? 

I finally got the chance to meet him at a Christmas party and struck up a conversation; actually it was an inquest on my part.  I asked him how was he able to get so many appointments.  Jeff was a great guy and kind of a mentor to me.  He had a system for getting appointments he called "The Drive-By".  It was simple and very productive.

Here is how it worked...Jeff would call all of the prospects in his stack of lead cards that lived in a certain area. He always worked with a script. His pitch was simple:

"Hi (customer's name), it's Jeff from XYZ Investments.  Sounding rushed he'd say, hey, I don't want to take up too much of your time, I have a client coming in in a few minutes, but I have an appointment next week with a client of mine who lives just a couple blocks away from you. This guy wants to take a HUGE position in that [investment idea] we discussed. Since I'm going to be in the neighborhood, I thought I'd drop off a packet of materials for you to have a look at. If you're not there, I'll just leave it outside your front door. If you ARE there, I'll shake your hand and be on my way. What day is better for you, Tuesday or Thursday? Mid-morning or early afternoon?"

Have a look at what Jeff had done here.

He indicated that he was a busy (important) man.
He had RICH clients who took HUGE positions in investment ideas.
These RICH clients seemed to think his investment ideas were very good.
He casually mentioned stopping by in a VERY non-threatening way.
Then he gave a choice of Tuesday or Thursday (morning or afternoon).

Why not just any day? He didn't want to provide a yes or no question. You WANT the prospect to commit to a day.

Jeff told me that 8 out of 10 times the prospect was waiting there for him. Expecting him as though it was an actual appointment and even invited him into his home!

Jeff would pick a neighborhood and set up 5 or 6 of these "appointments" in the afternoon, all clustered in the same area. Then he would drop names. "Oh, I just met with so-and-so down the street", adding legitimacy to his message.

Jeff was the top producer in our Boston office that had over 50 FA's on staff. 

The idea here is to be creative.  Not many people take large positions in single stocks any more but the newspapers still carry stories related to various investments. 

Most of you have stacks of leads on prospects you've made contact with in the past. You've talked a little, know something about their investment objectives and maybe a few other pertinent facts, but it doesn't seem like you're getting any closer to developing a new client. With these kinds of prospects, it's crucial to set up an appointment. Otherwise, you'll probably never get anywhere with them.

Use your imagination; try "The Drive-By" or similar approach and rest assured you will experience a dramatic change in your production if you stick with it.  Hopefully you will become the top producer in your office!

Robert Morris, Sales Manager
Larkspur Data Resources