Aaron Grady, Advisor Consulting Director at USA Financial: Not too long ago, we shared a RARE video talking about the follow up process to doing public events. And how, unfortunately, some advisors will put all the work, time, energy, and resources into doing a public event, and then they will get the ball to the five yard line and then they fall short on the best practices they need to follow to get the biggest impact. But when we had that conversation, one of the things that we kind of stepped over was the presentation itself. So what actually happens in the actual presentation at this event? I don't want to sell short or diminish what happens, because that is as important as just about anything we talk about as well. In fact, Steve, you and I were down in Tampa not too long ago with a group of advisors, and one of the topics that you were sharing were some best practices around the introduction (the lead into) and then the outro (the back end) of any presentation. Whether it's a Social Security seminar, a public workshop, some kind of educational event, or something where you're in front of a group of people, the importance of, "how do you you do this"? I know you're very passionate about this, and so I'd like you to kind of share a little bit about why does anybody care about some best practices?
Steve Phillips, Chief Practice Management Officer at USA Financial: I love the word event. And, you know, with our Advisor Protocol team and our approach to everything, the words matter, and I think it's appropriate on an invite. We're talking about an event - it's different, you know? And you also mentioned follow up and what happens in engaging the people that attended? Well, I think all that starts at the beginning. To your point, whatever the event is - Social Security or some type of financial planning or client event - it all matters what happens at the beginning. And I would say that it all lives in creating professional contrast. Here's the thing - for so long people have been talking about, "Oh, nobody's coming out". We know, we see the data, they are coming out. People are coming back out. So the question that advisors have to ask themselves is, do you look different? Do you sound different? Is the energy different? And so professional contrast really right off the bat really lays the track to what you and Allan were talking about. And that's the follow up.
Aaron: How do you separate yourself in a sea of sameness? How do you you create perceived value? And you know, the importance of setting yourself apart when a lot of times you're having the same conversations. If we use Social Security as example, if you're doing a Social Security workshop, and 10 other guys are doing social security workshops in your marketplace, they've heard the same six facts. So this is a very important topic I think that resonates with a lot of advisors.
Steve: Well, you're so right. We talk about Social Security, and I think that the themes matter no matter what event you're you're presenting, but Social Security continues to be far and away the most popular one. And so when we talk about professional contrast, I've jotted down a couple of themes that you and I have talked about for years, and things that we've taught advisors, and in fact, things that I was doing when I was out in front of clients. Number one, let me say this. And I want advisors to take this philosophical approach, even if it's not exactly true, but I want you to make the assumption that your attendees have seen somebody else or are going to see somebody else. That's just how these these events tend to work. Number two, be strong in your assumption that nobody in the room is coming to learn anything from you. Perhaps that's a little bit overstated, but imagine that you really are taking that approach as you look out at the attendees - they already have learned some different things. They've gotten information from different places. They've seen another presentation, and they're coming to find out if you are the person. Imagine what an opportunity that presents, especially when we're talking about professional contrast.
So, number one, nobody's coming to learn anything. Are you the person I want to engage with? I think there are a couple of things that you can do. In three or four minutes from the front at the very beginning, you can change the whole dynamic of what happens at the end of the presentation, in follow ups, getting appointments, and so forth. Number one, obviously, be gracious. Thank people for their time, and don't just say it that way. You're in your community. There are many other things people can be doing in your community on an evening. So you need to acknowledge that - "Thank you. You're giving me an hour, 75 minutes, 90 minutes. I know there's other things you could be doing. We're so gratified that you're here and thank you for the time." Now, connected to the time is there are no expectations. I want you to use those words because so many times we have known that people that attend like, "What do I have to do? Is there gonna be some appointment thing?" Relax - I want you to share with the group. You've done your part. You're here. No expectations. The expectations are on us, and here's how we honor the time. First of all, this is our community too. We're a financial firm, but we're also educators. We like to share ideas and knowledge with people in our community. So because you're here, I promise you, there's an idea or two or three that you'll be able to take back to your current situation. I like to say things that people get a little surprised about.
Let me tell you, gang, if you're looking out over a group and none of the people that are there or your clients, they have an advisor. If they're not your client, there's somebody else's. Honor it, say it. "Hey, thanks for being here. I'm going to give you an idea or two that you can take back to your current situation with your current advisor". Nobody says that. That's a little disarming. That's kind of cool. Also, I love the idea - and this is fact - for all of you that have done workshops, say to the group, "You know what, there is a good chance that maybe I won't see half of you or more ever again. Now, I'm not offended by that. I hope you're not. It's just the nature of the beast. It doesn't change what we're going to do here together. I want you to relax, enjoy. Thanks for being here. You've done your part. My part is to share an idea with you." And at some point you're going to point back to the screen and go hey, we're your host. This is the name of our firm. Thank you for being here. You might have something about your firm on the slide. That's not the time to say oh, here's a commercial about who we are and what we do. What do people think when they're sitting out in front of a presenter? I'm going to have to get an appointment. They want to see me again. They're expecting to see me again. I'm telling the group, I don't expect to see you. That's very disarming. And here's the thing, don't underestimate the power of immediately having a group think this advisor is different. That sounds different. I'm really comfortable. I really want to pay attention. There's an idea here. So we talk about professional contrast at the outset, Aaron - it's not rocket science. It's a couple simple things, and those are some of the bullets that really seem to get attention.
Aaron: I really like the idea of setting expectations early and disarming your crowd. You know, there's all the nuances of public speaking and engaging the crowd, getting them to pick up the pen and write this down. But look, too many times advisors spend too much time digging into their bio. It's the old adage of they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care, right? Thanks for showing me all your diplomas. That's all great. You're smart. I'm here because I expect you to be an expert. It's not about the bio. It's about, how do you connect with another human and the audience? And I love the idea of saying, look, if I never see you again, that's okay. It's giving them something for their time. They've already invested in you by being there. You know, sometimes advisors get hung up on all the people that attend these type of events that don't engage. And the idea of, think of those people as extras. Like, I actually love that idea of because they make the people who are engaged more comfortable because they're not exactly.
Steve: One other thing that I tell advisors at the end of your introduction - and there's ways to polish this up and we help, and you can do it in three or four or five minutes - is no matter the topic, is there anything that you do at your firm that lives out there by itself? So many people come to a Social Security workshop, for example, think I'm going to check the box, and that's the first thing I need to account for in my retirement journey. And give me some answers. What if you shared with the group that we'll give you some answers. But we want you to understand that it's one piece of a much bigger process. It may include wealth management or tax planning or risk management or whatever it might be, but the whole psychology of "I feel good about this" is now followed up with, think about what you're actually trying to accomplish. Think about what your current advisor is doing. Everything is part of a bigger process. And now, in a very sort of understated way, you've given them sort of a professional business tidbit that they need to keep in their mind.
Aaron: I love it. Those are some great best practices. Thank you, Steve, for for how to engage an audience in the intro section of a presentation and start building value. Because, you know, we're both big believers that in the absence of perceived value, everything comes back to what you cost. What is this going to cost me? So everything we could do on the front end to front load value is important. Because they are there. It's a gift of their time. As we transition to best practices around the outro, do you want to speak at all to your thoughts around evaluation forms?
Steve: So we do a special one where the evaluation form is really - if you're talking about process and think of pieces - that this is a chance for you to evaluate yourself and your own personal process, not me, the speaker, or the content. And so what you're really giving the attendees is an opportunity to think about themselves. Think about what they have going on. What are things that are of high concern to them? What are things that we have well in hand. And so this is consistent with the introduction you've given. I'm different, sound different. Really, my approach to doing business is different. Everything's a part of a process. And so when you look at the forms, we're not asking for all your information. I don't need your email and your phone and all that right now. I want you to pay attention to the things that you think are important. Circle this, rank that, whatever it might be, there'll be an opportunity at some point to talk about if you want to have a follow up conversation at the right point. Some advisors make the mistake of, "Hey, thanks for being here. Let's get out the forms and fill in some stuff. I need to know who you are, where you live, who are your kids, and all that". So don't take for granted that clients recognize you're different. "Hey, why don't I have to do all the personal stuff? Why is he saying that he may never see me again"? So that's really sort of the clincher on the introduction.
And in between is what, 122 slides? Seriously. I'm like, we've seen presentation. Okay, let's go. People can get their information off socialsecurity.gov or whatever. Let's not impress them with how good we are at reading stuff. Teach them. Speak to them like they're your friends. Here's what you need to know right now, and honor the time. Listen, if you say 60 minutes, be done in 60 minutes. The slides are what kills you. In the intro, you've gotten permission for a powerful close. And Aaron, as you reference this evaluation form, it now becomes, "Hey, take a look at that. What did you write down there that you thought was important if you could have a conversation with us at some point"? Fantastic. And so what we're going to do, is we want to move that evaluation form reference to the very last thing.
However you want to share with clients, what's something meaningful about your practice? You've earned the right now, that introduction, that smaller than ordinary presentation, you've honored my time and now I'm listening. And so you might share your foundational approach, and perhaps it's a focus on what matters most to your clients: Family, Occupation, Recreation, whatever it might be. You also might mention the things that we control at our firm. We don't worry about all the other stuff going on in the world. We have a few key things that we focus on. Perhaps you've named your process and you want to share that with clients. All of the things that you've done at the beginning, all the things that you did in the presentation, earn you the right and, in fact, the attention from the group to share those things. And then I use the word conversation. Yes, it'll be an appointment, but if you'd like to have a follow up conversation to something that we talked about, discuss your process, ask us about ours. Great. That's the point that we'll get information. Notice we're asking for it at the end, if you're interested. So all those little things tend to really, really add up. And I think that you and Allan had talked about really the importance of what goes on in that first meeting.
Aaron: I love the idea of you've earned the right and it's an opportunity not to continue to sell how smart you are, but to bring them back from topics that sometimes deal with what you do as a job. It's more about a philosophical approach or your process or relationship building. It's something that connects on a personal level, or a human level, with people. And we've got these facts and figures and stuff. But now let's bring it back to why we might be a fit on our philosophical approach. So I love that thought process.
Steve: Again, you have to believe what you're saying. We may never see you again, it's okay. If you want to have a conversation, great. If you don't, great. And be consistent throughout that. And I really do think we are seeing results. And of course, if you see something that you want more information from me or Aaron, this is obviously things and themes that we coach specifically to. We're happy to have a follow up conversation. I know you were going to get to that.
Aaron: It's a great point, Steve, and you're right. We could talk about this for 45 minutes, and we have. Final thought there, you mentioned Allan and I actually covered a little bit this in our last conversation. That first meeting is really about just figuring out if there's a fit. Here's the thing some people get hung up on, and here's why I want to bring this up and why it's important. We talk about being transparent at the very beginning of this presentation. Hey, if we never see you again, it's okay. Hey, we hope you get at least something out of our time together. So if we're trying to sound different, why would we hide what's going to happen in that first meeting? Hey, we're not making any decisions at this first meeting. It's simply an opportunity for us to see if there's a fit for us to work together. It's not a hard close. This is an opportunity for you to ask some questions, for us learn more about your needs, your goals and objectives. So I love that you tuck that neatly into the outro.
Thank you so much again for joining us here on The RARE Advisor. If you want to learn more, if you want to get more insights into the nuances of doing public events, or into the intro and outro, please reach out to us at USA Financial. We're more than happy to jump on a call and have these conversations.
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