Pilot Package — Additions
Section titled “Pilot Package — Additions”Two short pieces that complete the runnable kit.
A · RECRUITING PILOT ADVISORS
Section titled “A · RECRUITING PILOT ADVISORS”Draft note — send to two or three you know well
Section titled “Draft note — send to two or three you know well”Subject: Would you test something with me?
[Name],
I’ve spent the last while building something and I’d rather have you tell me it’s wrong now than find out later.
It’s a client meeting process called a Market Drop Opportunity Discovery. Forty-five minutes with a client, and it produces two things: a dollar figure for what a market decline would actually be worth to them — most of it certain, none of it dependent on a recovery — and a written plan they sign in the room for what they’ll do when one arrives.
No product, no leverage, no forecast. Planning and education only, so there’s nothing to clear with compliance.
Three things it’s built to do: give you a legitimate reason to learn a client’s full situation, make you materially harder to replace, and earn a referral ask that doesn’t feel like one.
What I’d want from you: run it once, with one client you want to keep. Roughly 90 minutes all in for your first one. Then twenty minutes telling me what was useless, what was missing, and whether you’d do it again.
What you get: the whole kit — a two-page reference card, the client prep sheet, a calculator that runs the numbers, the client handouts, the plan template. Yours to keep and use regardless of what you tell me.
I’ve built it to be small on purpose. A process advisors admire and never run is worth nothing, so if any part of it is too much, that’s the most useful thing you can tell me.
Worth a conversation?
[Talbot]
Notes on the ask. Keep it to three advisors. More produces contradictory feedback before there is anything stable to contradict. Choose people who will actually be blunt — a polite advisor who says it is excellent and never runs it is worse than no pilot at all. And offer the kit unconditionally: making it contingent on feedback turns a favour into a transaction.
B · THE SEGMENT FILTER
Section titled “B · THE SEGMENT FILTER”Add to the Client Inventory
Section titled “Add to the Client Inventory”Three tick boxes. The client’s own answers select which overlay pages apply — the advisor never has to pick a segment, so a mixed book stays fully served.
Which of these apply to you? ☐ I own a corporation or professional corporation ☐ I have a RRIF, or will convert an RRSP within five years ☐ I have an outstanding Home Buyers’ Plan balance
What each unlocks
| Box | Overlay | Strategies |
|---|---|---|
| Corporation | Incorporated | Capital dividend account timing (pay out CDA before harvesting losses — losses reduce the balance) · non-capital loss carryback · corporate wrapper migration |
| RRIF | Retiree | In-kind withdrawal (minimum satisfied without selling units; no withholding on the minimum) · withdrawal sequencing (non-registered first, TFSA last) · next year’s minimum falls automatically |
| HBP | — | Make this year’s repayment early while prices are low. Mandatory anyway |
Why it works this way. Of the 18 Tier 0 strategies, roughly 13 are universal. The segment-specific tail is about five. That does not justify four separate processes — one process plus a short overlay covers it, and the overlay is selected by the client’s circumstances rather than the advisor’s self-description.
Marketing is the exception. “The Business Owner edition” is a compelling thing to sell and costs almost nothing when the delivery underneath is common. Segment the packaging; keep the process unified.
Latent fourth segment, not built: employees with group plans and equity compensation. Largest population, least served, and the RRSP Gross-up is nearly frictionless inside payroll. Worth a box once the pilot reports.
Timing: add the three boxes to the Inventory now — they cost nothing and they tell you which overlays are actually needed. Build the overlay pages after the pilot, not before.