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Advisors don't like to think of themselves as salespeople. They prefer to view what they do through a lens that does not include the word "sales."
But the process of influencing people to do business with you – or to take a certain course of action – involves selling. The complication is that there is a lot of underlying emotion going on in any interaction that involves individual’s financial affairs.
Many recruits to the financial services industry get excited about their new field because they are painted a picture that, as an advisor, you will be continually creating wonderful financial plans for clients, helping them build a secure future and live happy, successful retirements. That can happen, but what gets lost is the critical piece about finding prospects and converting them into clients.
I believe it was Thomas J. Watson, founder of IBM, who said, "Nothing happens until there's a sale." In other words, until one person convinces another person to part with resources – usually money – to buy either a product or a service, nothing changes.
No one needs a financial advisor these days.
An overwhelming amount of financial information is online – people can go and get it for themselves for free. And they’re a phone call away from a random call center consultant who can discuss their investments with them. Yet most people who have accumulated wealth are so busy working in their own world creating more wealth that they don't have the time, the energy or the inclination to deeply study and then manage their personal finances.
