When it comes to live events for prospecting new clients, advisors typically fall into one of two categories: dinner seminars at a popular restaurant, or a non-dinner workshop at a college or library. There are differences between the two.
Dinner Seminars
Most advisors believe a dinner seminar is an educational event. Believe it or not, that’s incorrect. Though you are presenting information to help the audience understand certain financial concepts, the event is more about you—why you do what you do, what you believe in, who you work with and what makes you different.
Think of it as a movie trailer for your practice. You are trying to make an emotional connection with the audience and a slide deck full of charts is unlikely to be successful. Your presentation needs to be more about feelings and stories; as a matter of fact, many of the most successful seminar advisors don’t rely on a slide deck at all. It’s been said that the smartest advisors in the dinner seminar setting are often the least successful; it’s the advisor who took an acting class who has the best chance to connect and convert attendees.
Dinner seminar presentations should be from 45 to 60 minutes in length, and should focus on developing trust and setting an appointment. Be sure to be clear about your expectations up front. This is about meeting new clients and introducing them to what makes your practice different.
Workshops
A non-dinner workshop, in contrast, tends to attract a slightly different audience. They are looking for an education, and are more likely to be “do-it-yourselfers.”
The important thing to remember is that even though you are presenting a lot of information, the ultimate goal of a workshop is still to get prospects to like you. Keep the presentation to 90 minutes or less, tell stories and really connect with the audience.
You have two minutes
At both dinner and non-dinner events the audience will consciously and unconsciously decide in the first two minutes whether you have a shot to work with them or not. Hit the ground running! The best way to accomplish this is to tell a great story up front.
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Quantum can help
If you are an advisor that prospects for new clients with dinner events or college workshops, it’s important to understand the differences between these strategies. Quantum can help you develop your story, show you how to start the conversion process before the prospect even gets to the event and how to get the appointment without asking.
The information in this video reflects consumer data and “best practices” from successful advisors in the field. If you need guidance to optimize your current events or just want to get started, contact Scott Drake at 800.440.1088 or sdrake@thequantum.com.
Scott spent 20+ years as a large market radio host, on-camera news talent and VP of content creation. He helps develop and manage all advisor client acquisition strategies for Quantum, including live events, digital, social and legacy media campaigns.