A funny thing can happen in the mind of a prospect during their initial consultation with you.
When a prospect shares their challenges and you show them your solution, it’s easy to assume they’ll become a paying client. That is the wrong assumption.
Being an expert comes with what I call “the curse of mastery” – when someone tells you about their problem, you immediately try to solve it – because you can.
It’s an awkward question, because the last thing you want to do is defend or sell yourself against another advisor.
Sales gurus have taught for decades that people buy from only those they know and like. That’s the wrong advice.
You shouldn’t be using email at all in your sales process.
How many times have you had an initial consultation with a newly qualified prospect, and no matter how well you explained your process, they just wouldn’t take the next step with you?
It’s easy to assume when you can pack a seminar room full of qualified prospects, you’ll expect a bunch of new paying clients.
What could be worse than having a qualified prospect slip through your fingers and vanish?
Advisors have been conditioned to believe that their prospects must like them before they’re willing to become a paying client.
The above phrase is a respectful way to uncover the truth of any resistance that they may be holding back from sharing with you.
The black hole is the empty space where they haven’t committed to move forward, and you’re forced to chase them to find out where they stand.
Free consulting is when you provide information and education to prove you know your stuff.
When a patient is told they have six months to live unless they get a safe, recommended treatment, they don’t tell their doctor, “Let me think about it.”
Many advisors have potential clients who slip through their fingers because they believe their goal is to build a relationship pre-sale. But that’s not your potential clients’ goal.
No one likes being sold and advisors don’t like selling.
How do you re-engage your un-engaged clients to see if you can offer them expanded advisory services?
Unless you create deep trust first, any qualification process will make your potential client feel you only want to know if they’ll buy your services.
When you say: “Hi, I’m just ‘following-up…” it sends the message that you care about making the sale more than solving their problem.
When a potential client says to you the dreaded phrase, “We’ll get back to you,” understand... it’s not about you, it’s about them.
When prospects 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?
