Steve, through persistence and enthusiasm, developed enough rapport with accounting firm, Bond & Associates, so that three of the accounting firm’s four partners decided to “test the water” with him.
He was asked to follow up a technical question regarding a mutual client, provide a second opinion regarding a client’s investment portfolio and provide some indicative quotes for some insurance. Unfortunately, Steve didn’t quite pick up on the importance of the technical question and didn’t do anything about it. He was late in responding to the investment review.
It quickly became apparent that insurance would be difficult to obtain given the client’s age. Steve left a voicemail for the referring partner advising this situation but didn’t get to actually speak with him about it. Several weeks later, the partners of Bond & Associates were sitting round the table when the fourth partner asked: “I’ve been meaning to ask you about Steve. I need to refer one of my clients for some insurance. Would you recommend him?”
Around the table the responses came: “He never got back to me”, “Took ages to review Fred and Mary’s super” and “Tossed in the towel on Brian Smith’s insurance”. Nothing further was said. Steve was scrubbed by all four partners. They gradually withdrew their interaction with him.
Shortly afterwards, the fourth partner had a meeting with Sandra who was in the process of finalising a risk review for a mutual client. Sandra had secured the meeting in order to secure the accountant’s input on how to structure some life insurance in conjunction with the client’s superannuation. The accountant was quietly impressed when Sandra presented a one page schedule of proposed insurances complete with premiums, amount of cover and contact information.
There and then he referred Sandra to his other client with insurance needs. Unlike Steve, Sandra recognised this as an opportunity to impress and gave the matter top priority. The complexity of that client enabled Sandra to showcase her technical skills, whilst finding an appropriate solution taking into account the client’s pre-existing health issues demonstrated Sandra’s willingness to go the extra mile. All of this was duly relayed to the other Bond partners whereupon it was decided to direct some more opportunities to Sandra.
Hopefully the lessons from Steve and Sandra’s interaction with Bond & Associates are readily apparent. Because Steve didn’t understand the concept of “test case” he treated the partners’ requests very casually, whilst waiting in vain for a bigger client to be referred. All of the lunches he’d paid counted for nothing when they decided he wasn’t responsive enough.
Sandra on the other hand took every opportunity to impress and secured further referrals.
