IPO

The first step in growth is to maximize your client relationships. It is far easier to do more for the clients you have than it is to acquire and bring in new or better clients. That's important, but that's the next step.

 

However, while you're doing the best for your clients by maximizing and providing the right advice, nothing says you can't let them know you're open for business. This is a great opportunity to leverage the IPO. We're going to touch on three topics today in this video. 

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1.  What is IPO? 

   • What does it stand for and what's the methodology?

2.  Break down each part.

   •  What it means and how you can use it for yourself. 

3.  Role play.

   •  Show how you can use it and what it sounds like from the side of a client. 

 

I - Improve

P - Praise

O - Offer

 

All we're doing is engaging the law of reciprocity. We're letting clients know we're open for business and helping them understand who we help best. Why are they a great client for us and who should they introduce us to.

 

I- Improve

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This is where that law of reciprocity comes in. We want to tell the clients that "we're always trying to do the best we can do for you. We constantly want to give you the top-shelf, first-class experience and white glove treatment."

We want to do this by asking what they want. If we don't know what they want, what they appreciate, and what they're looking for, we're just guessing.

 

When we guess, we really don't know. 

 

I get a lot of people who ask, "How do I provide this great experience, and what do clients want?" 

 

The quickest way to answer that question is to ask them. 

 

"Brandon, I am absolutely committed to providing the best client experience possible. I know certain aspects of this world I can't control. I wish I could make the market go up. I wish I could lower taxes. I wish inflation would slow down. But I can't control that. What I can control is our communication, how often you hear from us, and what it feels like to be a client of ours. So, with that being said, what can I do to improve?"

 

You've just done step one. 

What can I do to improve?

 

Before you move on to the next step, you want to let them know, 

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"Hey, thanks for that feedback. I want you to know that I am so committed to this. I am going to ask you every time we talk, so if there's ever anything that comes to mind, please don't hesitate to let me know."

 

Now you've set it up that you're going to talk to them every time about how you can be better, and you're going to offer that help every time you talk to them. If you're meeting with someone four times a year, if you offer to help their friends four times a year, not only is it not going to feel intrusive, it's probably not enough. You should be doing more than that.

 

 P - Praise 

 

We want clients to know who we help and who are the right clients to refer to us. We can't assume that they know. We want to praise them for having the attributes of the clients or the type of client we look for. Do they have a specific hobby that they enjoy? It's important to know that people tend to hang out with others at the same economic level as they are. When I go on trips to Minnesota for games, the people I go with generally make the same amount of money. We have the same general family structure and the same goals. 

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If you want to replicate a client, think about what they do and who they hang out with. Don't just focus on who they work with. It's more likely that the people they hang out with also have the same income and economic status. So that is where you want to focus. 

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What hobbies do they do? 

Do they belong to a church nearby or a country club? 

Do they go to games? 

I am a huge Minnesota golfer fan. I go to golfer fans, friends of mine. That would be great referrals. 

Do they live in a certain part of town? 

Are they in a gated community? 

Are they millionaires? 

 

It's okay to tell a client, 

"Hey, I love working with you because you're a millionaire, and we can do a lot more creative financial planning tactics when you have that ability and that level of income."

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They know they're millionaires. They know, you know, their secret. If you want to work with more people, help them to understand who you help. Praise them with 3 to 4 things that you would love to see in your next client, that you see in them.

 

O - Offer

 

Offer to help. That's it. It's not writing down names. It's not let's pull up LinkedIn. 

It's, "If there's anyone else that's like you that you care about that could use a second set of eyes. I'd always make time on my calendar for them."

 

You're letting them know you're open for business. You're offering to help. 

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Putting it all together:

 

"Jon, I'm glad we got a chance to sit down today. I love having you as a client, and one of the things that I'm absolutely committed to, especially now going into the end of this year, the beginning of next year, I am absolutely focused on providing the best client experience possible. Now, there are some things that I can't control. I wish I could make the market go up. I wish I could lower taxes and especially lower inflation. Unfortunately, I can't. I can control the kind of communication you get, how often we're connecting, and how it feels to be a client with us. So, with that being said, what could I do to improve?"

"I appreciate your answer. I'm absolutely committed to this, and I'm going to bring this up every time we talk. So, if there's ever something you think of in between meetings, I want to make sure that I can capture it every time. As I said, I love working with you. I love working with you because you love fast cars. You know, you have kids who go to the town's private school. I love that you're a huge wine connoisseur. Frankly, you want advice, you take advice, and you're in the game of helping others. That's what you do. I love working with clients like you. So that being said, if there's ever anyone that's just like you, that's in the cars, that loves wine, and that really genuinely cares about helping people, I will always make time to help them and see if I can lend them a second set of eyes."

 

 

That is the IPO - Improve, Praise, Offer. 

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Use it with clients, let them know:

Who you help

You're open for business

You're taking on clients 

While you're maximizing the amount of advice and implementation you're doing with them, they will know when friends ask them, "Who do they work with?"

 

They're going to they're going to think of you first.

 

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