Hope Floats. Fear Sinks!

Have you ever considered using a “hope-based” presentation technique instead of using fear? When holding a seminar, you have about 2 hours to start developing a relationship with your potential prospects. During that short time with your seminar attendees, what you present and how you present it can have a direct impact on setting appointments.

There’s no doubt that showing a PowerPoint slide with a grieving spouse next to a casket is an effective way to motivate a prospect or client to buy life insurance or set up a living trust; or, showing an image of a 70-year-old woman working at a grocery store in her retirement years to make the case for having a solid retirement income plan.

But, consider the impact of using FEAR to justify your financial and estate planning solutions. Do you really want the relationship you have with a client to be based on – and mentally linked to – fear?

I would argue that for every fear-based scenario there’s a hope-based image or scenario that will work just as effectively. Think about it. When you’re meeting with a new prospect, instead of scaring them with statistics about how inflation can turn their retirement dreams and nest egg into a nightmare, place in their mind images of being with their grandkids for their soccer games, dance recitals and holidays.

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never is, but always to be blessed:
The soul, uneasy and confined from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.
– Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man

Ultimately, isn’t the goal of every well-drafted financial, retirement or estate plan to give your clients peace-of-mind?
Hope-based marketing – give it a try!

Jorge Villar is President of Response Marketing Excellence (RME), with more than 26 years of direct marketing experience, he is known in several industries for his ability to create mail packages that garner the highest response rates. He is responsible for the Seminar Success program that for the last 17 years has accounted for more than 65% of the events being held in the nation, with over 17 million individuals making reservations. Mr. Villar has also been very successful marketing to physicians and business owners regarding Succession Planning and Asset Protection. RME’s marketing programs are presently being utilized by over 10,000 clients, including: top producing financial advisors, estate planning attorneys, large financial organizations, health care organizations, franchises, universities and many other industries. Mr. Villar is a frequent key note speaker at national financial symposium and marketing training conferences.

Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (800) 846-1555
www.aaepa.com