When working with clients or looking to grow your practice through strengthened processes, try these ideas from MDRT members.
Framing questions
I use the STAR behavioral interview method (situation, task, action, result) to frame questions with clients. I don’t just ask clients, “What do you need?” Instead, I use in-depth questions to reveal the family’s true situation and potential risks, such as “What scenario are you most worried about in the future?” and “If an accident happens, how long can the family’s current cash flow sustain it?” This approach allows me to customize a protection plan that truly suits the client’s life, rather than being limited to the product itself. I often play the role of mediator with spouses by listening to the demands of both parties neutrally and finding a balanced solution that satisfies them both.
—Lingjia Liu, nine-year MDRT member
Map out the money
People often don’t have a grasp of what money is coming and going. I work with my clients to have distinct purposes for their various accounts. Usually there is a mother account — typically a checking account — that income goes into. From there, money flows out to other checking and savings accounts. These could be an operating account that pays regular monthly bills, a tax account to accumulate money for taxes, a long-term savings account for retirement, etc. Then, I create a visual flow chart to help them envision where their money goes and how it is used. It takes time and collaboration to tweak it and get it right, but once it is, clients get very excited about it.
—Jennifer P. Mann, MBA, CFP, 22-year MDRT member
4 P process
To develop and implement a new process in our practice, we use a simple four-step loop:
- Prototype: Identify the pain point and map an ideal fix.
- Prove: Test it live with one team or small group.
- Polish: Refine based on feedback and data.
- Publish: Add it to our documented procedures playbook, train staff and automate it.
Nothing goes firm-wide until it’s bulletproof.
—Karl Hartey, 31-year MDRT member
This is excerpted May/June 2026 Round the Table article, “How to frame questions, work with orphan clients and keep your pipeline full.” MDRT members can read the full article online.
The human brain is predisposed to an easy default answer of NO to most requests. No is just a safer and easier response. One way that I have used to turn the default “NO” into a yes is to phrase my request with this opening… “Would you have any objection to… sitting down with me sometime and sharing some information? or… meeting with me sometime? or… having me call you next week?” The answer you are looking for in these situations is “NO” and the results is a “positive” because the default NO gets you to the result you’re looking for… a sit down or a meeting or a phone call.
Tom Levasseur, 38 year member from Dover, NH, USA.