How to Implement Pre-Meeting Potentiation (P.M.P) to Supercharge Your Close Rate

If you’re like most insurance and financial advisors, you:

• Spend a lot of time putting yourself “out there” by publishing content, creating funnels, and optimizing your LinkedIn profile so that you can book more meetings and fill up your calendar with qualified prospects.
• Spend additional time preparing for these meetings so that you can convert prospects into clients.

And at first, you think it’s working…

You go from two meetings per week to five, then seven, then 12!

Now we’re cooking, you think to yourself.

But you’re quickly sobered by the fact that more meetings doesn’t necessarily mean more clients, commissions, or AUM.

In fact, more meetings can actually be a waste of time, IF…

You aren’t doing an effective job of mastering something called Pre-Meeting Potentiation, or P.M.P.

The 3 Keys to Successful Pre-Meeting Potentiation (P.M.P.)

P.M.P. is an acronym that I use to describe the process of establishing preeminence and setting expectations prior to any meeting.

P.M.P. is important for any type of meeting, but is especially critical when it comes to virtual meetings where prospects are much more likely to show up late, be disengaged, or not show up at all.

There are three key elements to P.M.P.

Let me unpack them for you…

P.M.P. Element #1: Ground Rules 

If you don’t respect your time, nobody else will. This is why I highly recommend setting up ground rules at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting. 

You can do this via email, phone, Loom, or any other medium or platform that you find convenient. 

The ground rules you set up will be specific to your objectives, but here are a few that I recommend using:

• Let the prospect know that you will start on time. Not only does this encourage them to show up on time, but it also lets them know that you respect their time. As a result, you’re both able to schedule the meeting with confidence.
• If the prospect is married, it’s a smart rule of thumb to require both spouses to be present. This prevents misunderstandings and prevents unnecessary followup meetings where you have to repeat everything you said the first time. (If one spouse can’t attend, consider recording the Zoom meeting and sending the link over via email.)
• Ask your prospect to have all required documents already pulled up before the meeting starts. Otherwise a huge chunk of the meeting might be spent tracking down the appropriate statements, forms, and numbers.
• Kindly request that the prospect refrains from joining the meeting while driving in the car. Not only does this prevent them from using video, but it’s highly distracting for both parties. Ask the prospect to find a quiet and private place where they can focus.
• Always set a strict time budget to let the prospect know how long the meeting will last. Not only is this respectful, but it also holds you accountable and forces you to be precise with how you approach each facet of the meeting (so as not to run long).

As a footnote, please don’t use the word “ground rules” with a prospect.

It sounds too much like you’re the “professor” and they’re the “student.”

Instead, say something like: 

“This is how it’s going to go…” 

OR 

“In order for me to serve you at the highest level, here’s what I’d suggest you come to the meeting with…”

This simple shift in verbiage makes it feel more like expectations than rules.

P.M.P. Element #2: Indoctrination

Do you struggle with prospects saying the following?

“I need to talk to other people and then I’ll get back with you.”

“Will you please give me some references?”

“I need to think about it before making a final decision.”

If so…you aren’t alone.

I’ve known many advisors over the years who find themselves constantly facing this noise…and it’s frustrating!

You put in all of this work to win over a prospect and then they push you to the proverbial back burner to see if there are better options out there.

But there’s a way to get around this issue. 

It’s called indoctrination.

And as an advisor, I believe you should be using techniques to indoctrinate people about you, your belief systems, what you stand for, and your expectations before people even show up to speak with you.

Any time you invest into creating an indoctrination process, sequence, or methodology will pay dividends. However, there are a couple of things that you must know:

(1) Indoctrination is a process, not an event. It doesn’t happen in a moment. It happens over time. 

(2) An indoctrination process doesn’t have to be complex. Find what works for you and tailor it to your objectives.

If you’re prospecting in the cold market, here’s a sequence I recommend:

FB Ad → Lead Form → Landing Page With Thank You Video → Email Sequence

At the end of the landing page, include a CTA for people to book a meeting.

But remember, we don’t call them “meetings.” Use a unique mechanism like: 

• 15 Minute Retirement Strategy Chat
• Financial Security Breakthrough Session
• Money Mavericks Clarity Call
• Retirement Revolution Discovery Session

If the prospect doesn’t book a meeting on the landing page, you can use the email sequence to indoctrinate over a series of messages and drive them back to the calendar. 

For best results send a four-part email campaign on Day 0, Day 1, Day 4, and Day 7 and be sure to:

• Make yourself human
• Send pictures of you and your family (show your personality)
• Share your ideas (stop using cookie-cutter industry language and set yourself apart).
• Avoid being pushy

Not every prospect will respond to these emails (and that’s fine). 

If you don’t hear anything back by the fourth email, place the prospect into your weekly newsletter for long-term nurturing.

P.M.P. Element #3: Video Confirmation 

Just because people say they’re going to show up, doesn’t mean they’re actually going to show up. (That’s just the reality of the cold marketplace!)

But you can increase your show rate exponentially by using one little trick: Personalized video.

This is definitely the hardest element of the P.M.P. methodology, but it has the greatest payoff. And if you really want to have powerful confirmations, video is the way to go.

There are three good tools you can use:

• BombBomb
• Bonjoro
• Loom

BombBomb is awesome, but runs you $49 if you want all of the integrations, templates, and advanced analytics.