Running An Effective Training Appointment
ALL LEADERS WERE FOLLOWERS FIRST
Of all the components that make your entire training process efficient and productive, making sure you get on training appointments fast and effectively is possibly the most essential.
Using The Training Process
As important as your study is, theoretical knowledge (or what you learn from your classroom and books) will never produce the results that field experience generates. Doing the work is extremely important, but doing the work well is just as important. So let’s talk a little about how a training appointment goes and how we can make these things work well for you.
Setting an Appointment
Obviously, if you want to have a good training experience, you have to have an appointment to go on. We encourage you to stay as scripted as possible when setting these appointments up. That will create a sense of stability, consistency, and confidence – even when you might be nervous.
The script we use for setting up training appointments is called E.T.H.O.R. As the image above shows, ETHOR is an acronym designed to guide through the statements and questions for setting a good training appointment. The acronym is as follows:
E – Excited
T – Training
H – Help
O – Opinion
R – Referral
A script that applies this acronym is in the Additional Info Packet. Make it a habit of practicing this every day, both on your own and on actual phone calls setting up actual appointments!
Going on the Appointment
Always meet your trainer ahead of time. The trainee should never go into an appointment before the trainer arrives. As a general rule, the trainee and trainer should ride together to the appointment in the trainee’s vehicle.
However, married trainers or trainees of the opposite sex should meet close to the location of the appointment riding in separate vehicles. You should spend your time before the appointment informing the trainer about the family you will be visiting as well as discussing the flow of the appointment.
Trainee Responsibilities
I. Get to the Kitchen Table
Most people make important decisions around the kitchen table. You as the trainee carry the trust with this family. It is your responsibility to get to the kitchen table. If there is food or a mess on the table, offer to help clean it up. This will provide a more professional environment as well as a better note-taking experience for you.
II. Allow the Trainer to Build Rapport
It’s great that you have a solid relationship with the family, but let the trainer develop one as well. Before diving into the actual discussion allow the trainer 5-10 minutes to get to know the family.
III. Edify (Introduce) Your Trainer
This is often overlooked but is one of the most critical steps for the entire appointment. Without a proper introduction, the rest of the appointment is an uphill battle for the trainer. It is tempting to thank the family for letting you do a training appointment with them. Fight that urge. Proper edification of the trainer means a sincere, positive affirmation of gratitude towards him/her being willing to train you that evening. It also conveys the degree of knowledge and experience that the family is fortunate enough to have in their home. You thank the trainer and the trainer will thank the family for allowing us in their home. The entire edification process should be discussed and role-played prior to entering the home.
IV. Take Thorough Notes
A sure way to create a sense of meaning and value in what the trainer is teaching is by you taking notes. You should be paying close attention to not only what is being said, but how it is said, when it is said, why it is said, and how the trainer responds to all reactions from the family. Also, taking notes will help you learn more quickly. Do your best to stay mostly silent during the training appointment. Do not respond to questions the trainer is asking the clients. Just take good notes.
V. Don’t Linger Longer
It can be tempting to stay after an appointment and eat dinner or catch up with the people you visited. Don’t do this. Leave with your trainer and conduct a debrief of the appointment. Ask any questions you wrote down during the appointment and go over the ‘Debrief Questionnaire’ together.
Trainer Responsibilities
I. Set the Upfront Contract
The upfront contract is one of the most pivotal moments of the appointment. It is a verbal contract that consists of:
- The purpose of the appointment is for training and if that is all that happens today then the trainee will be grateful.
- The second focus of the appointment is to gain exposure, (Trainee) is starting a new business and as such people need to know.
- Third, as we go through this you are going to see value in things that we share, maybe in the past you have either not heard of or were not able to take advantage of but now would like to learn more. We can address that when we get there.
- Due to the current state of the average American budget, this stuff needs to be taught. We are on a crusade to share this with as many people as possible and as such we are looking for raw executive talent, as we cover this today be thinking of people who you think may be a good fit to work with us.
II. Get Return Appointment
The trainer will request a second appointment and set it during a time that will work with the trainer’s schedule. You as the trainee need to make yourself available at the time that works for your trainer. their time is valuable, DO NOT ABUSE IT!
III. Get Referrals
Every appointment is an opportunity to gain greater exposure and find more families to serve. Most trainers maintain the standard that if someone wants to become a client then a minimum of 10 names and numbers is required as the fee of service. Most financial firms will charge $1500-$15,000 to perform the detailed financial needs analysis that we will do for them, we just ask for more families that we can go help.
The secondary purpose of this is to jumpstart your business, at this point you have come into this business with a list of about 30 names and numbers. The trainer’s objective is to complete your training and get you a list of 100+ new warm market contact to launch you into a successful business.
In Conclusion
If done correctly, the training appointment has the ability to help you develop the skills necessary to become independent. The more quickly you get through enough training appointments to become independent, the more quickly you will be able to accomplish your goals and vision. There is no better time to start than now. Get out on 10 appointments with a trainer in the next two weeks!