A Story to Use When Discussing Your Fees & Commissions
There are times when prospective clients are going to focus on your fees or your commissions. I want to talk about that, because it’s no one’s goal to offer the cheapest possible financial advice. That’s just not the way it goes.
So when someone talks to you about commissions or fees, I want you to tell them the Springfield story.
Watch the video or read the transcript below to hear the full story.
I have no idea who wrote this story. It was given to me by George Wright who is a friend and an advisor from Rhode Island. George said to me in a note –
“Because we’re a nation of consumers, I sometimes find it difficult to imagine why it seems everybody wants the cheapest price, the score, the home run. When clients ask me who manages the cheapest mutual fund, who sells the cheapest life insurance, I like to tell them the Springfield story.”
It’s the story of a traveler who came charging madly to the ticket window of Grand Central station one day, apparently about to miss his train. He was shouting breathlessly – “Quick, quick, give me a ticket to Springfield.”
“Springfield?”, the ticket seller asked, “Which Springfield? Arkansas, Colorado or Georgia? Idaho, Illinois or Kentucky. Louisiana, Maine or Massachusetts? Minnesota, Missouri or Nebraska? New Jersey, Ohio or Oregon? South Carolina, South Dakota or Tennessee? Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia or Wisconsin?”
And the traveler asked, “Well, which one is the cheapest?”
The answer to that question obviously is “It depends entirely on where you want to go”.
The cheapest ticket is the right ticket, only if the nearest Springfield is the one that is your destination.
A cheap ticket that takes you to a Springfield out of your way, or in the wrong direction, is a very expensive ticket indeed.
There are no bargains on parachutes, toilet paper, life preservers, fire extinguishers, brain surgery or tickets to Springfield.
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