Establish connections with style

There are countless approaches to forming a connection with prospective clients and developing business. For Michael DeVivo, a one-year MDRT member from Downers Grove, Illinois, presenting himself as successful helped make that success a reality.

“I remember when I bought my first custom suit. As an advisor starting out in my 20s, I had no reason to buy a custom suit; I couldn’t afford it. But I knew that I needed to invest in that so people would say, ‘He looks like he’s doing well,’” DeVivo, now 30, said. “It opened up so many more doors for me. When you’re starting at a younger age, clients will often pick an older advisor because they look more like they know what they’re doing. You kind of have to set yourself apart, and that’s what I did with the way I dress and the car I drive (a Lexus). Those are things I did to give people the perception that, ‘He does pretty well for himself. I would trust him doing my finances as well.’

“Being at networking events or going to meetings, people would comment on my suits, and then all of a sudden it would just spark up a conversation: ‘What do you do?’ Or I would pull up to a meeting in my car and someone would say, ‘That’s a great car.’ And it would just build rapport with the client right there talking about the car. If I would have pulled up in my other car, that conversation never would have happened.”

It is not just talk, of course. The conversations sometimes lead to a professional relationship.

“I pulled up to a referral meeting, and the prospect said, ‘I really like your car.’ I knew this guy had money, so I asked, ‘Do you want to drive it?’ I would never just let anyone drive my car, but he said, ‘This is awesome.’ It just built more rapport, and I ended up actually doing a large case with him just because of something so silly as letting him drive my car.”

For more marketing and practice management ideas:

• “Landing the whale” (pdf)
• “Catching, keeping and growing” (pdf)
• “Room for improvement” (pdf)

Written by Matt Pais, MDRT Content Specialist