CHRISISM #11 - The Importance of Visualisation

01 March 2016

Whether it be a personal protection package or investment strategies, financial planning is common sense not rocket science, right? So when your clients buy into your recommendations, are they doing so because they have been carried away on a tide of logic and reason or because they can clearly visualise the benefits of their actions?

As financial advisers it is absolutely essential that we are getting our clients to do the two "V"s as often as possible, namely verbalise and visualise. The way we get clients to verbalise is to ask questions and the way we get clients to visualise is to paint pictures.

The subject of verbalisation will be the subject of another "Chrisism", but today we are focusing on the importance of visualisation. Painting pictures can be done literally on a piece of paper or a whiteboard, but fortunately (since I have a problem even with drawing a house with square windows!) it can also be done verbally, thereby enabling the client to create their own pictures in their head. Either way, the important concept to grasp is that, as Napoleon Hill once said, "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve". This quote captures the importance of our clients being able to visualise the benefits of what they have done or possibly the 'what if' scenario if they were not to do it.

To really appreciate the importance of painting pictures for your clients, I want you to consider the following:-

When you take a new client on board, whether it be just for a personal protection package or for investment strategies as well - and let's say that the client has 'parted with' (because this is the way they will view it) $4,000, what does your client leave your office with in the form of physical, tangible product to show for their $4,000? As you well know, the answer is absolutely nothing. Sure, they have a bunch of 3 letter acronyms such as an FSG, an SOA, a PDS (or maybe two if they're lucky!), but these are not documents that they would be quite happy to buy in their local book store for $4,000! And this makes them highly vulnerable to another 3 letter acronym called PPR - post purchase remorse, and if they can't clearly visualise the benefits of what they have done or the downside of not doing it, they could easily hit the panic button.

So please understand that, in the same way that words of logic and reason go in one ear and out the other, a picture once lodged in the brain stays there and can be easily recalled just with the use of a word or phrase to jog the memory.

This is just one of the building blocks of closing business which forms one of 7 sessions in my upcoming Client Acquisition & Engagement Skills workshop being run in all 5 major capitals in March/April. Just click on the link below for the details of this workshop in your city and register now to guarantee your spot.  

CLIENT ACQUISITION & ENGAGEMENT SKILLS WORKSHOP DATES & TIMES

SYDNEY TUESDAY 22 MARCH

LEVEL 3, 1 JAMES PLACE, NORTH SYDNEY

9.00am to 4.30pm

SYDNEY WORKSHOP REGISTER HERE for this workshop NOW TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT  

MELBOURNE THURSDAY 14 APRIL

LEVEL 23, 500 COLLINS ST

9.00am to 4.30pm

MELBOURNE REGISTER HERE for this workshop NOW TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT  

ADELAIDE TUESDAY 5 APRIL

LEVEL 18, 45 GRENFELL ST

9.00am to 4.30pm

ADELAIDE REGISTER HERE for this workshop NOW TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT  

PERTH WEDNESDAY 6 APRIL

LEVEL 12, 58 MOUNTS BAY ROAD

9.00am to 4.30pm

PERTH REGISTER HERE for this workshop NOW TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT  

BRISBANE TUESDAY 12 APRIL

MEZZANINE LEVEL, 88 CREEK ST

9.00am to 4.30pm

BRISBANE REGISTER HERE for this workshop NOW TO GET YOUR EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT  

The Risk Workshop by Chris Unwin

Are you a financial adviser who would like all of your clients to have appropriate types and levels of personal protection? But perhaps you feel you need a more structured and client friendly engagement process?