Engage clients’ senses

Think of a significant event from your childhood. Chances are, you can remember smells, sounds, tastes, temperature or texture from your experience. When an experience engages your senses, Bryon Holz, ChFC, CLU, explained, it becomes more memorable and creates a greater connection.

Holz, a 22-year MDRT member from Brandon, Florida, uses the power of sensory experiences to strengthen his relationships with clients. In his MDRT Annual Meeting ConneXion Zone presentation, he offered these tips:

• Office environment – Holz and his staff burn nature-inspired scented candles, such as vanilla or cinnamon, when clients are visiting.
• Soap icebreaker – When clients come into the office, Holz hands them a bar of soap, packaged in paper. They hold the soap in their hands, smelling its fresh scent, feeling and hearing the crinkling of the paper. After a few moments of the clients guessing what it symbolizes, Holz explains: “If you think about it, isn’t money a lot like soap? The more you hold it, the more it washes away.”
• Calm mailing – When the Great Recession began in 2008, Holz mailed an information sheet to clients to explain the changes in the market, with a “calming chamomile” tea bag stapled to the paper.

“Don’t miss another opportunity to engage your clients’ senses,” Holz said.

Find more resources for leaders in the financial services profession and speakers from the Annual Meeting in MDRT’s Resource Zone. You can follow the 2018 Annual Meeting until June 27 on social media at #MDRT2018.

By Kathryn Furtaw Keuneke, MDRT Content Development Director