Stop Getting the Silent Treatment You’ve done an amazing job locating and attracting quality prospects. You’re getting in front of more people than ever before. The business should be rolling in by now… but it’s not. Your marketing and prospecting plans appear to be working. So, why aren’t more of your prospects engaging with you, so you can start serving them as clients? Maybe it’s because… You haven’t given them a good enough reason to work with you. Maybe you haven’t done enough to differentiate yourself from other advisors in town. The message you’re delivering is the same they have heard from a dozen others just like you… or worse… the internet! You’ve made your message all about you, not them. As harsh as it sounds, your prospects don’t care about you. They only care about what you can do for them. They want to know you understand their issues and have the right solutions. They don’t trust you yet. There are two kinds of trust you must establish when engaging with clients: integrity and competence. They need to trust that you put their best interests before your own, and they need to trust that you know what you are doing. You’re making it too hard to do business with you. It could be that you allow too much time to pass before you call back. Maybe you prefer to meet in your office, but they would rather to meet in their home. All things considered equal, people like easy. We’ve come to expect it in this day and age. You’re confusing your prospects. You may be giving them too many options, so they experience paralysis by analysis. You need to be crystal clear with your message and recommendations. Eighty percent of responsibility in any communication falls on the sender, not the receiver. You don’t instill confidence. Your prospects want to deal with someone that is confident. Not arrogant, but confident. Former “Wolf of Wall Street” Page 10
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” — Proverb and current sales trainer Jordan Belfort says, “Prospects want to buy from someone who is sharp as a tack, enthusiastic as hell, and a force to be reckoned with.” Say what you want about Belfort, but I think he’s right about this one. You haven’t taught them something they didn’t already know. Whenever I meet with a prospect, I go in with a primary and secondary goal. Quite often, my secondary goal is to teach them at least one thing they didn’t already know. When I see the light bulb turn on, I take it to the house with… “You mean your current agent hasn’t shared that with you?” Take some time to reflect on all of these potential reasons for weak prospect engagement. If any of them hit a little close to home, face the music, make the necessary changes to your sales process and watch what happens. The good news is small changes can make a very big difference.
Paul Mallett, RFC® Paul Mallett, RFC®, is Senior Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Postema Marketing Group, a nationally-recognized independent marketing organization providing product support and business consulting services for independent advisors. Paul is a regular blogger and contributor to a variety of industry publications and social media platforms. Contact: 419.852.8817 pmallet1980@gmail.com The Register | January-February 2017