By Christopher Hill
Seminars offer a golden opportunity, unlike any other form of marketing or advertising. By hosting seminars, you have a captive audience of qualified prospects for approximately 30 minutes to an hour. During this invaluable period of time, you have the unique ability to provide every attendee with four key answers they need to know before they consider working with you:
1. Do they like you? Yes, first impressions are important. However, quality relationships happen over time. Most people can usually determine after a reasonable period of time whether they like you or not. By “like” I mean they can answer certain key questions such as; can they see themselves enjoying spending more time with you? Do they connect with you on a professional and/or personal level? Can they see themselves inviting you to their home or to a party?
2. Do they trust you? In addition to the ability to determine your “likeability” factor, seminars also offer the ability to develop a level of trust. After spending a reasonable period of time with you, most people can determine if they view you as a credible and trustworthy professional. They are able to decide if they feel comfortable opening up their financial lives to you, and whether they can trust your professional advice and services.
3. Do they think you are competent? Throughout the course of a seminar, you have an extended period of time in which to present your abilities, skills, knowledge, expertise and overall competency. People are able to come to a decision as to whether you know what you are talking about, if you are a qualified and trusted professional, and if they believe your advice and services can be of value to them.
4. Do they think you have their best interests at heart? Seminars provide you the ability to not only present your likeability, trustworthiness, and competency, but they also allow the attendees to learn and understand the kind of work you do and how you work with your clients. They get to see how you talk, educate, and interact. Most importantly, they become familiar with important factors such as how you work with your clients, how much time and effort is required on their part, what they can expect when you meet, any costs or fees, and how you are compensated.
Note: the entire article will appear in the September Register.
IARFC Member Profile for Christopher Hill.
