You've been repelling prospects since you got into the business. If you need proof, compare the number of prospects that have become clients to the number of prospects that have not become clients. I suspect it's at least 10 to 1, which means that you repel 10 times as many people as you attract.
You have not been doing so on purpose; it's been unconscious. In fact, you've been doing much of what product-centered companies have taught you to do. You've espoused the virtues of the products and services you provide. Unfortunately, the wealthier the prospect, the less they want to engage in that conversation. Let's take a closer look at how you repel prospects.
Like most advisors, you probably send out literature. But that literature is in a particular category called "sales literature." Now here's what sales literature communicates to the prospect: "This is the item I want to sell you. That's my agenda. I really don't know your agenda all that well, and frankly, I don't care because I am a representative of the company that markets this product, and I am interested in selling it to you."
So, from the get-go, you do not position yourself as the prospect's advocate. In fact, you position yourself as their opponent. You are the seller, they are the buyer, and your respective agendas may not overlap. The prospect is immediately on guard. To prove this is the case, how many calls do you receive after sending product literature? About zero? In fact, you send the literature and you place a follow-up call, and from that moment on, the unspoken conversation is as follows:
You: You should buy this insurance from me. It's really good, and the commission is good.
Them: I don't know if this is right for me. I have no way to tell because insurance is not my business. This person on the phone has given me no indication they can help me and seems to just want me to buy this, this ... whatever it is.
You: Why is this person so resistant? Let's see if I can talk them into this better....
And then you proceed to take a one-day course in objection handling in order to be more successful in these conversations. In fact, objections don't occur when you position yourself as the prospect's advocate and not their opponent. So, how do you become the advocate and attract many more prospects?
Take a new view
1. Stop viewing yourself as a seller of stuff. I always viewed myself as a protector of the client, because companies will market anything that sells. The insurance marketer's job is to sell financial products, just like the cigarette manufacturer's job is to sell cigarettes. It is not legally their job to manufacture something that's good for people. Your job, as an insurance agent, is to keep your clients from the garbage that gets manufactured.
2. You need to be able to tell the garbage (items loaded with fees, poorly structured for the client's economic interest, or that take away client flexibility and lock them in) from the non-garbage. You cannot protect prospects if you don't know the difference. The marketers will tell you that every product is great, so if you don't have the financial or analytical skills to pick apart a product, you need to find a third party who can.
3. You want to position yourself as an educator, not a seller. For example, don't send out the sales literature on your favorite annuity. Rather, send out the brochure that explains annuities in general with your cover letter that says, "I'm not sure if this is right for you, but look this over, then let's meet and put our heads together." That educational annuity brochure shouldn't just state the great features of annuities. It must include the pros and cons, who it's good for, and who it's inappropriate for. Until you readily admit that every financial opportunity has pluses and minuses, you're just a huckster, not an advisor.
4. Learn how to sell. Here's how to tell if you can sell: Audio-record your next two sales conversations. Using your watch, add up how much time you talk versus the amount of time the prospect talks. If you talk more than 30 percent of the time, you don't know how to sell. Selling is about asking questions, not about talking.
When you implement these four steps to become the prospect's advocate, your prospect database will shrink, and your client database will grow.
Larry Klein, CPA/PFS, CFP(R), Certified Retirement Financial Advisortm, Harvard MBA is president of NF Communications, Inc. Over 14,000 financial professionals use his marketing system to obtain more and better clients, increase money under management, increase commissions and earn more while working less. Details on his marketing systems and his book "Marketing Financial Services to Seniors" are available at www.nfcom.com.
