CHRISISM #26 - Have You Ever Lost Business That Was There For The Taking?

04 October 2016

Over 38 years as an adviser, I would have lost an awful lot of business that probably could and should have been done, so on reflection, I reckon I’m pretty well qualified to suggest what I believe are the most common reasons why business doesn’t happen when it could and should!

So let’s start at the beginning of the sales process and work our way through it, trying to identify the most common pitfalls along the way :-

1) The large majority of sales are lost on the original phone call when you are seeking to make an appointment. Often we forget that the primary purpose of the initial phone call is to motivate our prospect to want to meet with us on a non-committal basis (not to sell them our products or services) and failure to create that motivation will immediately sabotage our purpose.

2)  When we first meet someone in the flesh, it is essential we create a favourable first impression – as we all know “You never get a second chance to create a first impression” and you have got to be right on top of your game in those first 5 or 10 minutes or it will be ‘game over’. Remember:- “people buy people”.

3) Another common reason why business is lost early in the piece is because we let the client take control of the first meeting. Ask yourself “Who is answering whose questions?” and if you are spending most of your time answering your client’s questions, then they have taken control of the meeting.

4) Telling not Selling – you need to make sure that you are using your ears and your mouth in the  proportion they were given to you i.e. 2 to 1. You need to be doing twice as much listening as talking (see Chrisism#22:-“ Hosting a Chat Show ”). Our primary role is to help the client verbalise what they want, not to tell them what they need.

5) Confusing the client with information overload (see Chrisism#24:- “K.I.S.S. ”). Many of us have an overpowering inclination to show off our knowledge and overburden our clients with too much information. Keep things as simple as you can and your client will tell you if they need more information.

6) Not painting enough pictures for your client, so they can’t visualise the benefits of what you are recommending them to do (see Chrisism#11:- “The Importance of Visualisation ”). Words of logic and reason go in one ear and out the other, whereas a picture, once planted in someone’s head, hangs around in the sub-conscious and can be easily recalled.  

7) Stopping at green lights and crashing red lights (see Chrisism#13:- “Red Lights/Green Lights ”).

8) Lack of waterproofing – most commonly found in the form of post purchase remorse (see last fortnight’s Chrisism#25:- “Waterproofing the Business at the Point of Sale ”).

These common reasons for losing business that should have eventuated form just a part of one of 8 sessions at my upcoming “Sales Skills for Financial Planners” workshops around the 5 major capitals, so make the most of the early bird discount by registering now for your location using the link below.

Register using the links below.
Cost: $450 + GST per person
Earlybird: $400 + GST per person
Time: 9.00am – 4.30pm 

Book a ticket in your city below:

Perth - Tuesday 8 November

Adelaide -  Thursday 10 November

Brisbane -  Wednesday 16 November

Melbourne -  Wednesday 23 November

Sydney - Tuesday 29 November

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?