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May 15, 2012 at 01:49 PM
Recently, a song from the Broadway musical Rent reminded me that we only have 525,600 minutes every year to make a difference. That may sound like a lot of minutes to you, but it is not. Those minutes fly by, and most people waste or misuse these minutes by focusing on the wrong things.
How can we use these precious minutes as wisely as possible in our professional lives? The most beneficial use of these minutes is to spend them in front of our prospects and clients. We have to be present to inspire action. The uncertain financial markets require that our clients hear from us as often as possible. That is a truly valuable use of our minutes.
Many advisors explain that they don’t spend time in front of prospects and clients because they don’t know what to say. But they shouldn’t say anything. They should ask questions. A spectacular question is really a powerful statement in disguise. People will share their views and opinions with you if you just ask them.
Don’t tell, ask. Here are a few examples of great questions:
• What is the best age to start taking Social Security?
• How much could inflation damage your retirement? How can you position yourself to avoid the harm caused by inflation and instead, take advantage of it?
• What do you think would be the most important strategy to combat inflation? Wouldn’t it be nice to never lose any money? How do you plan to do that?
• Why does the European sovereign debt crisis have an impact on your investments and your retirement? How can you make that a positive impact rather than a negative one?
Their answers will surprise you
