A prospect comes into your office; let's call him Jake. You shake hands and offer Jake a seat. Stop – at that point, what do you know about him? Chances are, you know very little: name, approximate age, race, degree of fitness, taste in fashion. So, the questions are:

• How are you going to use any of that information to help him?
• How does any of that help you do your job?
• How do any of those facts help you get a new client?

The answer to all those questions is: They don't help you. They're as valuable as knowing Jake's shoe size.

Following this logic, what would you like to know about Jake? How much wealth he has? How is that going to help you connect with him? Does he already have an advisor? Irrelevant. Why is he in your office? Perhaps – but, unless you can quickly develop rapport and trust with him, you'll probably never get him to answer those questions.

Thus, the real question is: What can you find out about Jake in five seconds?