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The life blood of your practice is your ability to bring in new clients, consistently.
Why is it that so many new client opportunities end up disappearing?
You’ve done everything “by the book.” You’ve built a relationship, provided value, education, and given them plenty of room to make a decision without any pressure…then poof, they’re gone.
Why does this keep happening if you honestly could have helped them with their financial concerns?
The “hopeium” trap
Many advisors are in “sales mode,” caught up in what I call “hopeium,” a comical term that means focusing on your hopes and desires to make the sale.
But hopeium is a trap because subconsciously you’re hoping to make the sale, instead of focusing on getting to the truth about your prospective client’s core problems – to determine if you’re a fit or not.
When you focus on the outcome – making the sale – you anticipate the next steps, which takes you away from creating deep trust.
When they don’t return your calls, you feel betrayed….because you gave them everything they needed to convince them to choose you.
Is there a way to prevent being “ghosted” like this?
You bet there is…but it requires a mindset shift, away from the sale to getting to the truth of what’s on their mind.
Step backward, not forward
Here's the solution: Take a step backward rather than trying to move things forward.
When you’re chasing a vanishing prospect with follow-up messages to get them onboard, you’re following the old mindset of chasing the sale. You’re focusing on getting a “yes” without knowing the truth about what they’re thinking. You haven’t lost the sale; you don’t know the truth yet. To re-engage your prospective clients, give them a call (preferably) or email them with what I call the “apology” message.
“Subj: Apology…
Hi Jim, hope you are well… I’m not reaching out to you to move things forward, as I assume you most likely chose another financial advisor…which is perfectly ok.
I’m just writing to you for only one reason… to apologize.
I feel like somewhere along the way, I may not have answered all of your questions or provided you with all the information that you were looking for…or perhaps it was something else.
I’m reaching out to you to ask if you’d be so kind to share some feedback on how I can improve and could have done a better job, should we ever have a chance to work together in the future.
We only get better in life if others are open to sharing the truth of how we can improve ourselves.
Jim, I would really appreciate any feedback that you'd be open to sharing.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts…”
At first this might feel uncomfortable for you to say or write this to your “lost” prospects, but let me tell you, if you’re willing to be humble and “fall on your sword” in this way, then you’re likely to hear back from them faster than you could ever imagine -- and they’ll tell you the truth of where you stand.
Don’t take this approach lightly.
The alternative is to continue to “chase” them, which is the last thing you want to do.
Ari Galper is the world’s number one authority on trust-based selling and is the most sought-after sales conversion expert for Financial Advisors. He has been featured in CEO Magazine, SkyNews, Forbes, INC Magazine and the Australian Financial Review. His newest book, “Unlock The Sales Game”, has become an instant best-seller among Financial Advisers worldwide – you can get a free copy here.
Read more articles by Ari Galper
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
