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The idea that you need multiple meetings to build trust with a qualified prospect is a myth driven by old-timers who say: “This is how I built my practice. Do as I do.”
The reason your advisory practice exists is to get paid for your financial knowledge and expertise.
Most advisors tiptoe around that fact and unnecessarily elongate their sales process.
Instead of building trust with their prospect and holding their authority, many lose both by doing free consulting and follow up.
“Isn’t that just the selling game?”
No.
It’s what happens when a profession commoditizes itself by adopting flawed ideas around selling.
Think about it.
The discovery and the financial planning meetings are mini-engagements with your prospect where you share your time, knowledge and expertise as an advisor.
What usually happens at the end?
Your prospect “wants to think about it” and vanishes.
They got your time and your valuable knowledge, but you didn’t get paid.
It’s literally free consulting.
Shift from this standard industry practice and use a radically different path...
Eliminate all “next-step” thinking in your sales approach
You’re either onboarding your prospect from the initial sales conversation or not at all.
There is no next step.
“Are you insane? That will never work in a complex environment like advisory.”
Well, consider how a doctor diagnoses their patient, writes them a prescription, and they immediately agree to the medicine.
Do they take the prescription home to think about it?
Do they wait for a chemical analysis of the drugs before they buy them from the pharmacy?
No, they complete the process from diagnosis to buying the treatment, in one single step, because they trust the doctor.
Diagnosis alerted them to a problem, and their need for a solution then became a priority.
There was nothing more to think about.
(The complexity of the medical world is irrelevant to the patient – what’s relevant is having finding someone from the medical world they can trust.)
Your sales process needs to elevate your prospects’ need for “financial treatment” to the same level of priority.
Free meetings, consulting and elongated relationship-building, over a series of steps, will never do that.
To shift your thinking, order your complimentary book and consultation below.
Ari Galper is the world’s number one authority on trust-based selling and is the most sought-after high-net worth/lead generation expert for financial advisors. His newest book, “Trusted Authority” has become an instant best-seller among financial advisors worldwide – you can get a Free copy of Ari’s book here and, when you click the “YES” button in the order form, you’ll also receive a complimentary “plug up the holes” lead generation consultation. Ari has been featured in CEO Magazine, Forbes, INC Magazine and the Australian Financial Review. He is considered a contrarian in the financial services industry and in his book, everything you learned about selling will be turned upside down. No more chasing, no pressure, no closing.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
