When talking to my most successful advisors one theme is clear- the common denominator of any success story is the elimination of the single meeting sale. There are a whole list of reasons why a multi-step, no pressure close is the right choice. Everything you do should be modeled after the multi-appointment and no-pressure close.

I know in my experience, I can close in one meeting but when I do it hurts me in the long term. More importantly, the clients who I close in one meeting feel pressure and that is not a good basis for a long term relationship.

One of my mentors in the business always stressed the two meeting close. However, he felt it was important to set up the 2nd meeting so that the client knew a decision was going to be made in the next meeting.  Over time I have used this technique to great success. Here is a script that I adapted from his training. Feel free to use it if you feel it can work for you. Or adapt it to your own style like I did.

Script for End of 1st Meeting

Mr. Client- between now and the next meeting I am going to do the research and send you information about the ideas we discussed. Then at the next meeting I am going to spend as much time as we need to explain the idea and answer all of your questions. All I ask in return, in deference to my giving you my time for free, is that at the next meeting you be able to give me a yes or no answer. If the idea does not fit what you need right now then to say “no” is ok,  but if it does fit your goals and objectives I would hope that you can give me a “yes” at our next meeting. Does that sound like something we can agree on?