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A prospective client said, “Let me think about it.” You agreed and later spent several hours chasing them to re-connect. They went radio silent.
But you were so sure they wanted to use you to roll over their 401(k) that you already planned on buying that new Lexus.
A HNW referral seemed totally committed to using you for retirement planning. She said, “Let me think about it and I will call you next week.”
You were so excited that you thought about hiring a new staff member.
The problem is that for every hour you chase someone, they have robbed you of about $500 in green cash. Do the math. Your time is worth $400 an hour and you left five voice-mail messages. By the time you reached them a month later, they said, “I meant to call you. I decided to work with XYZ financial instead.”
Think of this as just dumping $500 into the trashcan.
Wouldn’t it be better if they just told you up front they wouldn’t implement your suggestions? A TV commercial showed what a first date would be like if the couple were bluntly honest. Instead of saying at the end of the date, “I will call you,” the man says, “I will never call you,” to which the woman says, “If you call, I won’t answer.”
Wouldn’t you save a lot of time if they just said no?
Isn’t bad breath better than no breath at all?
One of my coaching clients said he never gets objections. I asked why his closing ratio wasn’t 100%. He didn’t know but told me he gets a lot of “Let me think about it.”
The problem is that if they say, “Let me think about it,” you are left in limbo – no question that you can answer, no concerns to overcome, just limbo. The answer is what I call the “Up-Front Close”. The essence is a phrase you should say right before the presentation stage that will stop you from wasting your time.
The Up-Front Close
“At the end of this process, we may decide to put together a financial plan to help you hit your goals. If we do, I hope you will decide to implement it. If it doesn’t make sense, I hope you will tell me that too. I only want to do what is best for you. But I would rather you not say is ‘I will get back to you in a couple of weeks or months,’ That tells me you don’t have enough information to make an informed decision. You won’t hurt my feelings by saying no. Is that OK?”
You have given them permission to be honest and even blunt. Isn’t that better than chasing them for a decision and wasting your time? The crazy thing is that the nicer you are, the less candid the prospect will be. They don’t want to hurt your feelings. But isn’t a “no” better than wasting your time?
When my daughter Caroline was a freshman in high school, she was playing on the Varsity tennis team. I was so proud of her. Just like her dad who played on the pro tour in the 1970s, I was sure she would play Division 1 tennis with a full ride and eventually turn pro. I called a college-prep athlete packaging service so they would video her tennis game and call college recruiters around the U.S.
The problem was the sales rep was so bad he annoyed me immediately. “Caroline, you want to make your parents proud by going to a good school, don’t you? Mrs. Johnson, you love your daughter and want her to be happy, don’t you?”
I looked at my wife Merita and just shook my head. The rep went on for another hour and said the fee was $3,000. Which credit card would we like to use. I told him what you should never hear, “Let me go think about it,” fully knowing we would never engage his company’s services. The sales rep must have called 10 more times leaving voicemail message after message to get an answer. But if he had used the Up-Front Close I would have been honest and told him that we wouldn’t use his services. Isn’t that better than wasting his time?
To increase your marketing results and stop wasting your time, use the Up-Front Close with every prospect or client. Bad breath is better than no breath at all.
Dr. Kerry Johnson is “America’s Business Psychologist.” He is the best-selling author of nine books and a frequent speaker at financial conferences around the world. Peak Performance Coaching, his one on one coaching program, promises to increase your business by 80% in 8 weeks. To see if you are a candidate for this fast track system, click here and take a free evaluation test. You will learn about your strengths and what is holding you back. Or call, 714-368-3650 for more information. Write me at [email protected] or call and I will send you the exact wording and even a video on how to use the Up-Front Close.
Read more articles by Kerry Johnson
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives
