I have been incredibly busy over the past year, and it is both a blessing, and a curse.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining. After all, if my goal is to build the elite investment program in all of York County, that is going to require hard work. I do not mind putting in the hours seeing clients, managing and monitoring portfolios, researching new investment ideas, etc.
In fact, I love it. It is what I was born to do. However, with my time being so scarce, I find that it sometimes creates ill-will with prospective clients. Like this:
“Hi Matt, my name is Henry, and I would really like to meet with you to get your advice about my financial situation.”
“Wonderful Henry, I am honored that you called. My assistant, Catherine, keeps my calendar, and she is infinitely better at managing that than I. If you will hold for a sec, I will have her pickup and schedule a time for us to meet.”
Cue annoying “hold” music.
“Hi Henry, this is Catherine, I understand that you would like to book an appointment?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, great. Matt has availability the week of January 14th. Does Tuesday or Thursday work better for you that week?”
“He doesn’t have anything available until January? Today is December 16th.”
“No sir. That is his first available appointment.”
People just do not want to wait. I do my best to get people in as quickly as I can, but I can only conduct so many appointments in a day.
My point is NOT that I am busy, and that you just need to wait. My point is that prospective clients should WANT me to be busy, and should be willing to wait as long as it takes to get in. If I do a great job with people’s money, and tell them the honest truth in language they can understand, that is attractive to prospects.
Think about this….what is your favorite restaurant in the world? Can you just waltz into that restaurant on a Friday night at 7pm and command a table for 6? If not, how long would you need to wait to get that table? An hour? A week?
Many popular restaurants refuse to take reservations for this reason – they do not want to be booking reservations a year in advance. People love good food, and if they have the means to purchase said good food, they will. Lots of them. That is why great restaurants are tough to get in. That many people would not wait if the food was terrible.
What about popular sporting events? “Hello Mr. Augusta National, I would like to purchase 2 badges for the MASTERS golf tournament next year.” The clerk in the pro shop is paralyzed by laughter….
Professionals are no different. How many elite attorneys or doctors can take appointments on demand? Can you imagine if you called up the top plastic surgeon in Charlotte, and the doctor herself answered the phone?
“This is Dr. Wyatt.”
“Yes, I would like to make an appointment.”
“OK, just stop by whenever you are in the neighborhood. I won’t be busy. I will be here all week, and as soon as you come in, I will see you.”
I would never call this person again. If they were any good, I would have a tough time getting in. If they are available upon request, I would assume that they are either incompetent or desperate for business, or both. I don’t want that person operating on me. Do you?
So, if you are my next client but just don’t know it yet, please do not get irritated when my next available appointment is 2-3 weeks away.
You should WANT it to be that way….and it should confirm to you that a large number of people would not be willing to wait to meet with me if I were horrible at managing money.