You run into a doctor prospect who engages in DIY financial management.
Is this a good prospect for you?
I would argue that your best prospect is someone who already hires experts.
Do your best clients prepare and file their own taxes? Unlikely.
Did your best doctor clients once participate in the The White Coat Investor community of physician financial DIY’ers? Maybe.
Its founder James Dahle, MD is a practicing emergency physician who describes multiple run-ins with unscrupulous financial professionals early in his career. I don’t know the details.
Dr. Dahle launched The White Coat Investor to “help those who wear the white coat get a fair shake on Wall Street.” Does this sounds like something you do?
However, Dr. Dahle now recognizes that not ALL financial advisors are unscrupulous. Now he invites financial advisors to contribute blog posts and advertise on his White Coat Investor site.
On average, doctors are part of this community for a few years and then leave.
I recommend against investing your time persuading died-in-the-wool financial DIY-ers to outsource their wealth-building. This is like a bee trying to persuade a fly that honey is a sweeter and better fuel than poop. No fly will ever change its eating habits.
Instead, find the doctors who already see the sweetness of outsourcing some part of wealth-building.
Then you do not have to invest energy persuading prospects of the value of trusting and hiring the right people.
Your job becomes demonstrating that you CAN be trusted. You put your clients’ interests before your own. You’re not a financial predator.
The best way to communicate this critical message is by having another doctor say so! The most influential person in a doctor’s life is another doctor.
You can also prove that you deliver value by delivering value! Offer prospects ideas that will give then a quick financial win.
For example, many doctors don’t know that they can radically cut prescription drug costs for themselves, their own family members and even their patients by getting coupons at goodrx.com. This is a tip that can immediately help your doctor prospects and their patients!
My financial advisors clients successfully open doors by giving doctors copies of my books.
When you run into doctor financial DIY-ers, ask them, “How is that working for you?”
If they say it’s working well for them, wish them well! Invite them to get your free tips.
If they say they’re not sure, invite them to get your free tips.
If you send out regular tips–and I hope you do–it doesn’t cost more to send digital content to 3 doctors than 300 doctors.
I’ve have prospects on my list for years before they became clients.
You can only work with so many doctor clients. Choose well. Find people who value you and your contributions.
What do you think?