Selling with Belief

Why do you sell the products that you do? When you meet a prospective client, how do you see them?

Do you look at them and think, “Gee, I think he might need what I am selling. I hope he does.” When they raise and objection, do you think, “Oh well, guess I’ll try someone else.”

Or do you feel, “I’m happy I met this person. He needs me, he just doesn’t know it yet.”. When they raise an objection, do you feel, “Great! Another opportunity to prove how much he needs me!”

Most are of the former type. Very few are of the latter. Who do you think is more successful? Better yet, who do you want to be?

Clients, customers and consumers

Which ones do you have?

Clients are those folks that truly listen to your advice, and act upon it. While they may have moments of doubt caused by external forces (markets, other people’s experiences and stories, the media), they ultimately trust you and will let you keep them from making mistakes due to fear and greed. Only advisors can truly have clients (this extends beyond financial services into any business – my wife just bought a bike from a guy who really is an advisor in the truest sense – and she’ll buy her next one from him as well).

Customers are people who like you and buy from you, but their decision is based more on familiarity or accessibility. You are a comfortable and convenient choice. If you happen to run the only bike shop in town, and people can’t get to another bike shop, they buy from you when they want a bike. Their relationship with you is more fragile that you have with clients. When things become difficult, or a new option enters the market, customers may migrate away from you. Salespeople and craftsmen have customers.

Consumers have no loyalty other than maximizing benefit at a low price. They identify what they need, and shop for the lowest price (something the internet makes really easy).  As long as you maintain value at a low-cost, you are OK. Once either factor changes, consumers go elsewhere. This is the world of dollar stores. No room for advise here – it costs too much. This is the domain of order-takers and self-serve options.

Clients are rare and worth their weight in gold. Customers are good, but take a lot of work to maintain. Consumers are plentiful, but you will need to be a discounter who is not much more than a prospecting machine to grow your income at all.

Who do you want to do business with, and what are you doing to attract them?

Sour Grapes

We all know the fable from Aesop. Crow has grapes. Fox wants grapes. Crow won’t give them over, no matter how fox uses his guile to get them. Fox declares the grapes are sour and leaves (probably muttering things under his breath).

I remember this as a cautionary tale from the crow’s perspective – that people tend to diminish the value of something you have that they can’t (this interpretation has been supported by every elementary school teacher I had).

I’ve realised this is too simple. We need to see it from the perspective of the fox, and become better by doing so.

The fox felt he wanted the grapes, and that entitled him to them. When he didn’t get them, he diminished their value in his mind, and tried to do so in the mind of the crow as well. He settled on cynicism. What if he thought of it in a different way?

What if the fox asked the crow how he might find grapes like those that he could reach? What if he tried to figure out some type of trade with the crow for something the bird would value? what if he simply accepted that the grapes were not his to have, and he focussed his attention and energy pursuing something that he was more likely the obtain?

As an advisor, what do you do when a sale does not happen, or a very valuable prospect does not want to do business with you? Do you essentially call ‘sour grapes’?

Referable, introduce-able, remarkable

As advisors, you likely seek to add new clients to your practice.

It is great to get referrals. Clients who are willing to share the names of friends and colleagues who may find value in what you do is great. But it still results in making a contact that is only one step above a cold call. (‘Bob speaks highly of you, and thought we should chat’ – some call this a ‘warm call’. I consider it ‘tepid’ at best.)

Better is the introduction, where a client is physically there when you meet the potential client. This is great when it happens spontaneously at a party or event, but many times it still requires you to prompt the introduction.

Best is when a client talks about you to other people in a way that makes potential clients want to contact you. How do you get to this point? If you want people to remark about you and what you do, you need to be remarkable.

Do things for your clients that go above and beyond, that show you are someone who cares about clients beyond the premiums they pay or the contributions they make to their accounts. Give your clients a compelling story to tell others, and they will.

Belief

You are an expert and designing and implementing financial plans. You use the best products to make the plans work for your clients.

And they still don’t buy. Why?

It is likely a question of belief – a question of the underlying ‘why’. And I am not talking about, “This policy provides tax-effective growth with unparalleled protection.” That is a ‘what’.

I am also not talking about, “We use a comprehensive process to design a unique financial plan.” That is a ‘how’.

People do things that ‘fit’ with their beliefs. What they believe dictates how they think, which in turn dictates how they act. It is not about you trying to figure out every client’s unique ‘why’. You have your own ‘why’, what you fundamentally believe to be true and important. Be true to your own why, start out by letting everyone you meet know about it, and you will begin to attract clients who share your why, clients who believe what your believe. After that, the how (the process you use to move from belief to logical thought), and the what (the tools you use to turn thought into reality) are easy.