You opened this post so I know you are a professional and I don’t need to tell you why underestimating your prospects is so detrimental to your success.

But, as Atul Gawande so powerfully described in his book, The Checklist Manifesto, How To Get Things Right, http://atulgawande.com/book/the-checklist-manifesto/ top professionals use checklists.

Here is my Never, Ever, Underestimate Older Retirees Checklist.

Your prospects are not:

• cute, adorable, or precious;
• a bundle of needs;
• stuck in their ways;
• card-carrying, stereotypical members of any “generation” – GI or silent;
• problems to be solved;
• irrational about running out of money;
• without aspirations;
• full of fear;
• necessarily hard of hearing;
• needing to be told “this is where we eat” when you show them a dining room;
• seeking “activities;”
• enamored by being called “honey” or “you guys;”
• cheap; or
• beyond making major contributions.

What did I miss? I appreciate your comments.

Please email me at DRexford@BuildersDesign.com or give me a call on 443.717.4061. I’d like to learn more about what you want to accomplish.