Before you sell the product, you must sell yourself. It’s a simple guiding principle when using seminars, workshops and meetings to prospect, but the execution can take years to perfect.

That’s according to James W. Johnson and other seasoned MDRT members who have crafted a wide range of strategies for connecting with potential clients. The main message: Go all in and keep fine-tuning your approach — tenacity will pay off over time. They shared practical insights, and some of their methods might come as a surprise.

Think of seminars and smaller introductory meetings as opportunities to find new clients who are ready to begin a conversation about their finances.

“What you’re really trying to do is get a no-cost, no-obligation, leave-your-checkbook-at-home appointment,” according to Johnson, a 17-year MDRT member who has been organizing seminars, dinners and other events since launching his business in 2003.

Styles and methods

While MDRT members rely on a variety of seminar locations and meeting styles, Johnson said one venue that helped build his business from the beginning of his career, when he focused on selling annuities, came from an unexpected source: mobile home parks.

Johnson would go in, pass out flyers and conduct seminars for as many as a dozen people or as few as one. Each seminar cost about $300 to $400 to host. “I would do five or six of those and walk away with $40,000 to $50,000 — not a bad return on a very small investment,” he said.

It’s one of five strategies he uses in organizing seminars. Johnson also hosts monthly dinner seminars, schedules family meetings, and focuses on groups and organizations as well as the centers of influence around his clients. He provided a list of the themes he discusses at his various seminars, which include topics such as Social Security, retirement, annuities, alternative investments, taxes, max-funded life insurance and long-term care.

“Does the seminar have to be financially oriented? The answer is absolutely not. There are no limits here,” Johnson said. “You want to have some fun, get a bunch of your clients together and take a cooking class. You’d be amazed what happens out of that.”

Four-year MDRT member Nguyễn Huỳnh Hiên takes a similar approach with her workshops, primarily focusing on financial issues curated for each client group, but she also breaks away from the obvious financial topics. Her value-added workshops include themes like understanding children and spouses, career development, healing bell meditation and even pottery lessons for children.

Thirty-seven-year MDRT member Aleen M. Swofford, CLU, ChFC, said she, too, tailors her workshops to her audience, but isn’t afraid to stray from the norm. “Who are you trying to appeal to?” she asks, noting that one advisor at her firm hosts cybersecurity workshops.

“Make sure it’s a topic that enables you to identify with the audience, because they’re looking for information that’s going to make their lives better,” she said.

Mami Yamada and Yoshikazu Yamada, five- and one-year MDRT members, respectively, craft order-made seminars for prospecting that provide information on money management. The wife and husband duo noted that one prospect — a business owner with a labor issue — needed help, so she put him in touch with a labor specialist. That simple bit of help later gave him the confidence to become a client, said Mami.

“Insurance is not the only solution for business owners; once they trust us, we can be of support in many ways,” she said, adding that their assistance can include something as simple as helping a client set up their Wi-Fi.

Tamaki Hirano, a 16-year MDRT member, also finds novel themes to attract new clients. Her “Money Lounge” events feature tea and cake in a hotel lounge where she leads a mini-seminar presentation with no more than six prospects. That enables her women-only participants to “concentrate by eating cake and listening,” she said.

Tenacity is key

Swofford and other MDRT members said patience is critical to realizing a return on the seminars, and while those expenses can add up quickly, it’s money well spent.

“Marketing and branding don’t always provide immediate gratification, but you have to be consistent,” Swofford said. “Don’t give up. It takes time, and it takes you getting better at your craft.”

Johnson’s monthly dinner seminars can run between $6,000 and $10,000 each — that’s about $5,000 to $8,000 for mailings and the remainder for meals, tips, handouts and other expenses. His back-to-back dinners run over two days and usually attract 50 to 125 people. Johnson emphasized the importance of keeping them classy and, “Don’t skimp.”

Seminars can be a powerful tool for bringing new clients to the table, but patience pays. Johnson recalled one series of dinners he hosted that resulted in no new business — not immediately at least. That $10,000 investment paid off three years later, though, when one of the attendees returned with business needs worth $120,000, he said.

Swofford has also seen workshop attendees return years later to become clients, but she noted that attracting new clients isn’t the only way to win with seminars.

“I’ve had people come to me and ask if I would present at their company,” she said. “If you can turn that one person’s positive experience at a seminar into presenting to 15 or 100 people, look at the opportunities you’ve created.”

Seminar do’s and don’ts

Building concepts for seminars and workshops is but one aspect of hosting the events. Johnson shared step-by-step his approach once the event is scheduled. First, get an RSVP from everyone who signed up, and then contact them directly a couple of days before as a reminder.

“If you’re not calling them 48 hours beforehand, they’re not coming, so just count on that,” Johnson said, adding that no-shows can be added to a list for drip marketing.

He also advises providing pamphlets that have no product information. “You want to give them as little as possible, because if you give it to them, they’re going to spend their time reading that while they should be listening to you,” he said. He also advises attendees to take notes and then test themselves with questions about their financial future. This exercise is intended to show that they might not have all the information when it comes to their finances. When it comes to taking attendees’ questions during the presentation, Johnson recommends against it because they could “take you down a road you don’t want to go on.”

“I always tell them, ‘Look, if I don’t answer your questions today, I want you to know that when you come in for your no-cost, no-obligation appointment, I’m going to answer every single one,’” he said.

Hiên takes a different approach by asking participants the questions about their finances to help them think in reverse and show that she is putting their interests first. She then guides them with real-life examples that are easy to understand and suitable for each audience so the prospects can recognize the problem.

Measure everything

Building a more effective plan for hosting seminars means keeping close track of your expenses, attendees and other factors. “If you can’t measure it, don’t do it,” Johnson said. 

That includes the cost of mailers, flyers, meals, and any incidentals that went into planning and executing the event. “If you were to ask me about seminars I did back in 2004, I could give you the exact breakdown of what took place,” Johnson said.

The metrics can help advisors figure out where their efforts are working and where they’re not, he said.

To learn more about how to maximize the impact of group presentations, see MDRT’s 13-part Seminar Guide at mdrt.org/seminar-guide.