By now you have seen at least five examples of written communications you can send to your clients to, hopefully, favorably influence their fears and concerns about the impact of the Coronavirus on their money. So, you don’t need me to tell you to email one of these to your clients, prospects, friends and family or give you another sample of what to write. After you’ve sent that email, implementing these ideas can turn these challenging events into an opportunity to elevate your client value and grow your business.

• CALL every client. Glean your talking points for that conversation from the text from the email you sent. Script: “You may have seen the email l sent with my thoughts about how the Coronavirus events could impact your money. The purpose of my call is to see how you’re feeling and answer any questions you may have.” Listen with empathy. Be prepared to respond to market, economy and Coronavirus questions. Ask follow-up questions and listen with empathy. If the “door opens” to have another phone conversation or a face-to-face meeting that may lead to being of service and doing more business, step through it. If not, feel good about being of service to your clients. Well done.

• CALL every prospect, friend and family member in your database to have the same conversation. This means that you sent the same message your clients received to your prospects, friends and family members. The same script works. “You may have seen the email l sent with my thoughts about how the Coronavirus events could impact your money. The purpose of my call is to see how you’re feeling and answer any questions you may have.” Listen with empathy. Be prepared to respond to market, economy and Coronavirus questions. Ask follow-up questions and listen with empathy. If the “door opens” to have another phone conversation or a face-to-face meeting that could lead to being of further service and doing business, step through it. If not, feel good about the value you’re putting into the world. What goes around comes around, right?

There's a popular Chinese proverb that says: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” Here are three Ideas to be better prepared for the “next time.” What do you wish you had done a year ago, three years ago, or even five years ago that would have better prepared you for this short-term market downturn or a longer-term market correction or recession? How much business cash reserves would you like to have?

• Consider adding more fee-for-planning and fee-for-advice revenue that is not tied to AUM, therefore it will not go down with the market. Set your AUM goal to generate 20% more annual revenue than you actually need so you have a cushion when the market corrects again.

• In good times, put that excess revenue in your business cash reserves account.

• Are you feeling the pinch of a thin pipeline of prospects? What are you going to do about that? Right now is the best time to fill your pipeline and work hard to convert prospects into clients. Right now is the perfect time to make more calls.

Bill Bachrach is a respected thought leader, keynote speaker, author, trainer and coach working exclusively in the financial services industry.