Option 1: A speaker delivers a generic presentation. You don’t understand how their material applies to you, so you’re bored.

Option 2: A speaker learns information and makes it relatable to you, so you feel engaged and supported.

Easy question: Which approach do you prefer?

For Shannon Thompson, CFP, the second option is his ticket into Fortune 500 companies. By educating employees about their benefits and why they are fortunate to work for the organization, the 13-year MDRT member from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA, endeared himself to companies while setting a course for further conversations about insurance, 401(k)s, retirement planning and filling in the gaps that are not provided by employer benefits.

The strategy began nearly 20 years ago. Thompson was looking for a way to get in front of more people with a message that would get them excited. After meeting a professor, who like many employees didn’t necessarily understand all the benefits they receive from their employer, Thompson saw an opportunity to dive into information that can be overwhelming and provide a free service that can lead to long-term professional relationships.

“For corporate workshops, we had to figure out why the employer would let us do it,” said Thompson, who has a staff of four and partners with two to three other advisors. “Why not highlight the benefits of employees working there to gain goodwill with the employer and truly help the employee?”

Now, this technique generates 70% of Thompson’s business. The other 30% — developing exit strategies for business owners — is just getting started and uses a strong process for creating connections and delivering value.

Establishing connections

If Thompson knows through interaction or through LinkedIn that he has a contact at a company, he ensures they understand his work is helping people maximize their benefits and grow their net worth. He then seeks out their HR rep and attempts to schedule a meeting with that person to explain his goal of educating employees, which would foster usage of their benefits and appreciation for the company. This task is easier when Thompson already has relationships, often driven by an initial client and referrals, with numerous employees in the company. If he doesn’t know anyone, he sets his own path to find and contact the HR rep and explain what he’d like to do:

• Read the employee benefits booklet cover to cover (this is usually 30 to 200 pages).
• Deliver four workshop sessions of an hour each, focusing on retirement goals, understanding of taxes, investments, ways to create guaranteed and discretionary income for retirement, legacy planning and benefits.
• Demonstrate his knowledge of employers’ offerings and then add information about areas employees may not know about, like nondeductible 401(k) contributions, discounts on different benefits like phone coverage or auto insurance, available legal services, or how to pick investments in a retirement plan.
• Humanize to maintain engagement. For example: Thompson had been conducting a workshop about knowing your credit, but attendees were losing interest. That changed when he shared his own story about the two weeks it took him to resolve a dispute with an apartment complex, which raised his credit score by 100 points.

The style is low pressure and aims first to bring clarity and opportunity for the employees and their company. One time Thompson highlighted the rarity of a company that offered not just four weeks of vacation but a mandatory four-week sabbatical as well. Normally, he attracts about 30 people for workshops. In one instance, only 10 people showed up, but two of them, each worth more than $1 million, wound up becoming great clients.

Handling adversity

If there are challenges that need to be addressed — like an employer who put everyone in an annuity program that was hard to leave — Thompson waits to speak directly with employees about that, rather than addressing the issue in the open forum. Initially, that discussion among an employee, the HR rep and the retirement provider became contentious, but Thompson merely demonstrated that what he said was accurate, and his relationship with the employer grew stronger. Another positive was when the HR person changed organizations, they called Thompson to do workshops with the new employer.

Not every attempt has been successful. During one presentation in front of 50 employees, Thompson was asked not to return after a question was asked and Thompson prevented the HR person from answering.

“I was like, ‘I’m going to get to that later; let’s not discuss that now,’” he remembered. “They wanted to voice their opinion at that moment, and I should’ve let her speak her mind after having brought us in. All the hits that you take make you better at presenting.”

Of course, advisors also know the power of determination and how reshaping perspective can improve results. In one case, Thompson’s persistence to communicate with an HR rep and conduct workshops initially were ignored. That is, until he later wound up sitting near the HR rep at a seafood restaurant, struck up a conversation and Thompson was invited back.

“That person is still a really good friend of mine,” Thompson said. “And at their new employer, they invite me to do workshops.”