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At a recent webinar in which I was a co-presenter, a member of the audience asked this question: How difficult is it to implement The Solin Process℠?
You might think it’s a pretty simple concept. But it can be challenging.
How difficult is it?
All you have to do is switch your emphasis from conveying information to eliciting it.
When you implement The Solin Process℠, you stop educating the prospect. You don’t discuss your expertise or the history of your firm.
You don’t screen prospects. You don’t ask the prospect to send you information prior to the initial meeting.
You don’t prepare an agenda.
You make no effort to explain your value or your fees.
You don’t try to “spin” the conversation towards subjects you want to discuss.
At the initial meeting, you make no statements that don’t end in a question mark, unless a question is asked. Then, you respond directly and succinctly. Your questions are thoughtful, sensitive and open-ended, intended to get to know the prospect as a person, rather than making an effort to capture his or her assets.
The goal of your questions is to empower the prospect to talk about who they are as a person and what they want to do. If they want to address other subjects, you take their lead.
You make no effort to “close” the sale. The initial meeting ends with you asking: “How would you like to proceed?” You then follow whatever direction the prospect wants to take.
How challenging can it be to set aside your agenda, listen to what’s being said, and show a genuine interest in the person sitting in front of you?
Very.
A shocking failure
Like most of you, my wife and I have been basically quarantined in our home for the past year. Now that we are both fully vaccinated, we are cautiously venturing out.
We recently accepted an invitation to go to lunch from friends who spend the winter in Naples, where we live year-round.
In every interaction (personal and business), our goal is to implement the lessons underlying the research in The Solin Process℠.
At one point in the conversation, one of our friends remarked that they recently attended the Rodin exhibition at the Naples museum.
If I had been following the The Solin Process℠, my response should have been along these lines:
How was it?
Tell me about that experience?
Did you enjoy it?
Was it crowded?
I can think of many more questions I should have asked.
I didn’t. Instead, I engaged in the opposite.
Without thinking, here’s what I said: “We love Rodin. In fact, we went to the Rodin Museum in Paris.”
Without intending to, my comment had the following negative ramifications:
I hijacked the conversation.
I made it about me instead of about their experience.
I made him feel diminished by “one upping” him with my Rodin visit.
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A powerful pull
I live and breathe The Solin Process℠. I’ve taught it to thousands of advisors all over the world.
Yet I slipped.
The pull to make the conversation about you is incredibly strong. It takes constant vigilance to avoid it and stay focused on others.
Doing so will change your personal and professional life. It’s well worth the effort.
Don’t underestimate the difficulty of implementing it.
Dan trains executives and employees in the lessons based on the research of his latest book, Ask: How to Relate to Anyone. His online video course, Ask: Increase Your Sales. Deepen Your Relationships, is in production.
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