If we are in the prospecting and promotion business, and you truly believe that the most successful financial advisors are the best prospectors, then it is extremely important that you continue to improve your ability to consistently obtain high-quality favorable presentations. Success depends on your ability to identify and execute proven techniques that increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your prospecting processes. One of the most powerful prospecting techniques is a concept known as Nesting. This is our topic for this article.
What is nesting? Nesting is a prospecting technique that can be applied in a variety of situations. For example, a financial advisor may choose to nest within a certain organization, such as a law firm. The advisor may start by working with a couple of clients in a particular organization and then actively prospect and gain multiple clients within that same company through prospecting referrals. Another example is when an advisor obtains clients within a particular industry and then continues to prospect and obtain clients within that same industry. Prospecting within an industry is obviously not limited to people with the same role or responsibilities. For example, an advisor may obtain favorable introductions from vendors or strategic partners within a particular industry. So what are the benefits of Nesting? What do you have to gain by taking advantage of the Nesting technique? First, it is the most incredibly efficient technique for prospecting. We’ve all heard over and over that the name of the game is high activity. The more people you see, the more chances you have to make something happen. Believe me, this is not just management brainwashing. The leaders of your organization don’t just preach because they have nothing else to do. They do it because they have an obligation to see you succeed in business. Look, if you’re not seeing three people a day, you haven’t earned the right to complain about the business. When it comes to nesting, the statistics speak for themselves.
The difference between an advisor who attends an average of 2 people per day vs. 3 people per day constantly for a year. . . is four times the level of production. (only 1 more person per day). The difference between an advisor who attends to 2 people per day vs. 4 people per day constantly for a year. . . is eight times the production level! (only 2 more people on average per day)
How is this possible? Well, think about it. The typical advisor works 18 to 20 days a month. If an advisor is seeing 1 additional person per day. . . that’s roughly 240 additional appointments per year, which adds an additional four months of production for that particular advisor. The consultant serving four people a day is adding an additional eight months of production!!! So here is the correlation between efficiency and nesting. By scheduling 2-3 meetings in the same organization or building, you can close those appointments in half the time it would take if they were in different locations. No time is wasted in traveling from one place to another. Some of the counselors I train are from various law firms in downtown Chicago. They can see 6-7 people in a day and never leave the building.
You could argue that even having all your dates in town for the whole day is a form of nesting. Here in Chicago, some of our advisors spend a lot of time driving from appointment to appointment. One could be in the city, the next in the suburbs. One on the north side of town, the next on the south side of town. If your goal is to see sixty people a month, which it should be, then it’s very difficult to achieve without taking advantage of nesting. We train our advisors to set aside certain days of the week to be in the city and certain days of the week to be in the suburbs. This creates maximum efficiency and minimizes stress.
Another benefit of Nesting is that you become an expert in that particular organization or industry. Begin to understand group benefits, such as the 401(k), the Group Life and Disability Insurance Plan, and possibly the stock option program. He also has a deep understanding of the personal and professional issues that employees often worry about. Other employees of the organization see him in the office. They see your associates meeting with you. You quickly begin to be perceived as an expert by people in the organization.
When I entered the business as a young consultant, I quickly found myself nesting in a small tech company where some of my college friends worked. I was a bit embarrassed at first because it seemed like he was always at the firm. People were making comments like: You should get an office around here. Over time though, I began to realize the power of nesting and that comments like that were actually a good thing. In fact, I remember sitting down with one of the employees for the first time and he jokingly told me, he was wondering when you were going to call me. You’re working with everyone else. . . Am I not good enough? Very powerful!
In conclusion, nesting is a very powerful prospecting strategy. It is incredibly efficient and very effective. It increases your credibility and positions you as an expert within a particular company or industry. Remember, mediocre growers are a mile wide and a foot deep, while the best growers are a foot wide and a mile deep.