Advisors are trained to do fact finding as one of the initial steps in a new opportunity. What many don’t know is that it can create an enormous blind spot. There’s a better way to do it.
Fact Finding is about collecting data so that you can do some analysis. It doesn’t [generally] help the client very much.
The catch is that the client may have a problem/challenge, or show up with “a pebble in their shoe,” but they often don’t have clarity on what they need or why they want it.
Think about it: if the client doesn’t know what they want, and doesn’t know what they don’t know, how you could possibly develop a solution for them?!
That’s why we start with Discovery. Discovery is a process you lead your client/potential client through in order to help them get clarity on their vision for the future, what they value, what they want to actually accomplish, and the goals within that mission.
Now here’s the question: If you can help a potential client get that kind of clarity, do you think you’re more likely to write a larger case, or to have a longer relationship than if you just answered their questions?
We know the truth because we’ve seen it thousands of times. While Fact Finding has a role, Discovery changes the entire game.
