Editor’s note: Chris Holman is a Master Certified Coach, executive coach to financial advisors, and author of the book “Discovery Shift: Why Talking Less and Listening More Wins Business.”
Advisors sometimes assume that the follow-up meetings after a seminar happen for a simple reason. Interest. Someone, i.e. a prospect, attended the event, liked what they heard, and scheduled a meeting. The advisor assumes the next step is to explain the process and move the conversation forward.
Something deeper is happening.
Authority opens the door. Uncertainty brings them in.
When advisors understand this distinction, discovery changes. The purpose of the meeting shifts from explanation to understanding. What appears to be a routine follow-up reveals something more important. The prospect is not simply responding to information. They are responding to a sense that something in their financial life needs clarity.
The authority environment
A seminar creates a psychological environment before the first meeting begins. The prospect has already seen you leading the room, explaining complex ideas, and providing structure. Your expertise is established in advance.
Authority is preloaded.
The prospect arrives expecting direction, clarity, and professional control. If the meeting feels vague or overly casual, confidence erodes. Advisors sense this expectation and often respond by increasing explanation. They review material, describe their process, or present solutions early. This reinforces credibility, but it does not address why the meeting exists.
The hidden driver: Uncertainty
Seminar prospects schedule meetings because something in their financial life feels unresolved.
Sometimes the concern is specific. Retirement timing. Market losses. Tax exposure. More often it is vague. A sense of risk. Uncertainty about the future. A feeling that something is not quite right.
The seminar did not create the concern. It surfaced it. The presentation gave language to a worry that was already present and permission to seek clarity.
This expectation is rarely stated directly. It sits underneath the conversation. Advisors who miss it remain at the surface. They explain services and present solutions. Advisors who recognize it help the prospect make sense of their situation.
You are not simply explaining your service. You are helping them understand their own financial life.
The advisor’s two jobs
Seminar discovery requires two responsibilities.
First, stabilize the environment. Provide structure. Define how the meeting will be used. Create a clear container for the conversation. Authority creates psychological safety.
Second, surface the underlying concern. What brought them here. What feels unresolved. What tension they carry. Many advisors never reach this layer. The prospect’s real concern remains unspoken. Interest appears. Trust does not deepen.
Authority without discovery produces a professional but shallow interaction. Discovery without authority creates uncertainty. The meeting requires both.
Structure is not progression
Because authority is expected, advisors often feel pressure to show movement. They outline next steps and guide the process quickly toward outcomes. This feels efficient, but it introduces progression pressure.
Structure defines the container. Progression pushes toward a destination.
Seminar prospects want leadership, but not acceleration. When movement appears too early, disclosure narrows. Authority works best when it removes pressure, not when it advances decisions.
The practical shift (Interpretation → meaning → real conversation)
A small change in the advisor’s opening posture can transform the meeting. Instead of beginning with process explanations or solution framing, begin with interpretation. Ask what brought the prospect back. Ask what felt most relevant. Ask what remains unclear.
Questions such as “What from the seminar made you want to talk further?” or “What feels uncertain for you right now?” provide direction without pressure. They respect the authority environment while inviting the underlying concern to surface.
What this looks like in practice is simple.
Advisor: Before we talk about process or numbers, I’m curious. What from the seminar made you want to talk further?
Prospect: Well…when you talked about outliving savings. That stuck with me.
Advisor: Say more about that.
Prospect: My father ran out of money late in life. I don’t want that happening to my wife.
Already the conversation has moved beyond information. The concern is personal. The meaning is emerging.
Staying with meaning
Advisor: What feels uncertain for you right now?
Prospect: Honestly…I don’t know if I can retire when I thought. Markets make me nervous.
Advisor: Is it the market swings themselves, or what they might mean for your future?
Prospect: What they mean. I don’t really know if I’m safe.
The real driver appears. Safety. Not assets. Not allocation. Security.
Listening for what is not fully formed
Advisor: When you say “safe,” what does that look like to you?
Prospect: Knowing my wife is okay no matter what happens to me.
Advisor: So this is about security for her.
Prospect: Yes. Exactly.
The prospect clarifies their own thinking while speaking. Discovery creates the conditions where meaning becomes visible.
Only now does structure appear
Advisor: That helps me understand why this meeting matters to you. Here’s how we can use our time today. We can explore what security would actually require and then see what your current situation suggests. Does that work?
Prospect: Yes. That’s exactly what I want.
Authority remains. Pressure disappears. Trust rises.
From there, the advisor listens differently. The focus shifts from information gathering to meaning. Listen for tension. Listen for emotion. Listen for what is not yet fully formed. Seminar prospects are often trying to understand their own thinking while they speak.
Discovery creates the conditions where that thinking becomes visible.
What is really happening in seminar discovery
The follow-up meeting begins with uncertainty. Discovery begins with curiosity.
The advisor’s task is not to repeat information or move the prospect forward. The task is to provide clarity where there was confusion. Interpretation comes before recommendation. Understanding comes before advice.
Authority opens the conversation. Curiosity reveals the meaning.
When advisors recognize both forces, seminar meetings change. The conversation slows. The prospect speaks more openly. The real problem appears. Clarity emerges. From clarity, trust follows.