The six golden rules of client scheduling

In the busy world of financial advisors, where juggling clients, meetings and administrative tasks is the norm, there’s one activity that outweighs them all: scheduling. It’s the heartbeat of an advisor’s practice yet often relegated to the back burner amid the daily chaos. Why is scheduling so crucial? Simply put, without a consistent stream of appointments, growth stalls. 

Here are the six golden rules to masterful scheduling, ensuring a steady flow of opportunities while nurturing the client base. The six golden rules are:

1. Delegate scheduling.

2. Proactively work your client base.

3. Make daily outbound calls.

4. Prioritize calls to maximize impact.

5. Leave brief messages.

6. Don’t give up.

Delegate scheduling. Scheduling shouldn’t monopolize the advisor’s time. Instead, it’s a task best handled by a dedicated scheduler. With tools like Calendly, personal touch shouldn’t be sacrificed for efficiency. 

A well-trained team member can handle all the calls to clients, prospects, referrals and seminar attendees. Their role is to nurture relationships and schedule appointments while the advisor focuses on being present and prepared for their meetings and building the business by asking for referrals. The scheduler is selling you, the advisor, not a product or service. And because they are in the office all day, they won’t miss a returned call.

Proactively work your client base. Most advisors fall into the trap of cherry-picking their clients and prospects based on time. A structured approach to contacting every client and prospect can uncover hidden opportunities or, as I like to call it, their gold mine. By allocating time each month to proactively call prospects and clients, you will turn prospects into clients and clients into referrers.

I’m a firm believer that anyone worthy enough to be in your database should be called at least twice a year: once for a review and the other to touch base. Because the advisor is not making the calls, their scheduler can be on the phone one hour per day to get the results needed to make appointments as well as nurture future opportunities. Around the 22nd of each month, print a list of prospects and clients to be called the following month. If you pull up people by their birthday and again six months later, nobody will fall through the cracks unless you cherry-pick. If you don’t have a date of birth for someone in the database, use the month and year you first spoke or met with them, or make it today. Whatever your system, they must be called.

Make daily outbound calls. Timing is key, which is why I believe 9 a.m. is the golden hour to make outbound calls. By doing so, the calls get made and people have all day to return the call. Even when you have a sizable client base, a consistent effort of 25 calls per day keeps the pipeline flowing steadily. Because the calls are made daily, you’ll see consistency on the calendar instead of having one week full and the next one empty.

Prioritize calls to maximize impact. Not all calls are created equal. It’s easy to call existing clients to schedule reviews; however, for the most part, that’s maintaining your business with a couple of cross-selling opportunities in the mix. By strategically arranging the calls, you’ll maintain a balanced calendar with growth potential. What’s the priority? Reschedules, follow-up meetings, referrals, seminar attendees, prospects and then your existing clients. 

Leave brief messages. Less is more when it comes to voicemail. Have you ever received a long-winded message and hung up before the punch line? The same is applicable to anyone in your database. Keep messages concise and to the point, sparking curiosity without overwhelming the client. A simple prompt to return the call often yields better results than a lengthy spiel. 

As an example, if calling a client, most people will say, “Hello, Sally, this is Gina with John Jones. He would like to schedule a time to meet with you. Please call me at 123456. I look forward to speaking with you.” Compare that with “Hello, Sally, this is Gina with John Jones. Please call me at 123456.” If you tell them you want to schedule to meet, they may think they don’t want an appointment or they’re too busy to schedule something at the time. Less is more, and believe me, it works!

Don’t give up. Persistence pays dividends. If you’re discouraged by the lack of a response, get creative. Follow up diligently, mixing up communication channels to maintain engagement. The effort will ultimately bear fruit. 

On average, most callers give up after one or two attempts. If they don’t get a return call, they give up or move the prospects three to six months down the road. Persistency pays off when you don’t give up. If you call someone on Monday, call again on Thursday and then the following Tuesday. 

If there is no response, send an email. Vary the messages by sounding energetic while being persistent. The email is sent only when you do not get a return call, not in lieu of the call or after leaving a message. 

Here are examples of voicemails to an existing client.

First message
Hello, Sally, this is Gina with John Jones. Please call me at 123456. I look forward to speaking with you.

Second message
Hello, Sally, this is Gina with John Jones. I know you’re busy; however, I need a couple of minutes of your time. Please call me at 123456. Have a great day.

Third message
Hello Sally, this is Gina with John Jones again. I’ve left you a couple of messages and haven’t heard back from you — are you receiving them? Please call me at 123456 so I know you’re getting my messages.

Email after no response
Hello, Sally, I hope this email finds you well. Yes, I’m a persistent one. I’ve been trying to reach you by phone. Does email work better?

After three calls and an email, I still wouldn’t give up. I may push them out a week and try the sequence again. 

To execute these golden rules seamlessly, hire someone or elevate a key team player in your office to do the scheduling. This person needs a blend of personality, tenacity and clarity about the importance of this responsibility. It’s about selling you and the appointment versus selling a product or service. 

In all the years I was making outbound calls for my advisor, I learned it was easier for me to make the calls. Why? I made the time daily, and most people on the other end of the phone were courteous and friendly. I think that’s because they didn’t consider me a salesperson, yet I was selling, selling the appointment!

Embrace the golden rules of scheduling and watch your calendar fuel the future success of your business.

Gina Pellegrini is owner of Pellegrini Team Consulting. Contact her at [email protected].