Deepesh Mehta, Grow Wealth
When I started my practice in 2007, client acquisition was a challenge since I did not have many contacts. So I set up a canopy in my housing society to attract prospects. Seeing my canopy, a 70-year-old lady approached me to seek guidance on her retirement kitty. Her husband was a retired wing commander who received pension which was not enough to cover their basic needs. I analyzed her portfolio and found that her investments were not delivering any returns.
I had to be careful with my recommendations as they had no other source of revenue and could not risk losing money. I assumed they would be risk averse. But to my surprise, she was willing to take risk to earn higher returns. So I advised her to invest 20% in equity and the remaining in debt and money market instruments. The level of satisfaction I saw in her when she started following my advice was a very memorable moment for me.
She is still my client and I have received many referrals from her.
Rajesh Hattangady, THiiNK
I did not have an office in the initial days of my business. So I used to share office space with an insurance company.
In 2002, a psychiatrist walked in to the office of the insurance company and the security guard asked him to visit me. He was just looking to save money and did not have any particular investment goal in mind. So I talked to him about different investment options and their merits and demerits.
He was very happy with my approach. I recall that agents were only pushing products back then. I wanted to provide holistic investment solutions. I used to meet many people from the industry to understand their perspective on different investment products. I believe this helped me recommend products to my clients in a better manner.
The client was ready to buy insurance policies from me in the first meeting itself but I had to stop him since I wanted to know him well before recommending any product. He appreciated my honesty since other agents had not guided properly. After understanding his goals, I drew up an investment plan for him. I advised him to buy a health insurance, life insurance and start SIPs in equity funds.
Impressed with my approach, he also recommended me to his family members and they are still my clients. He considers me one of his family members and we share a great bond.
I learned that taking clients for granted will never help us grow in this business.
