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HOW TO BE THE MOST FASCINATING PERSON IN THE ROOM with a secondary Power trigger. But maybe with their kids they would have a different way of interacting. They might be the Subtle Touch, which is Mystique plus Passion. If they were in a situation where they were unsure of what was going on, they might be the Wise Owl, which is Mystique plus Trust, and they would hold themselves back a little bit more. They wouldn’t exert your opinions. People move horizontally across the primary trigger bar.
Sally Hogshead turned her “interesting” name into a mark of distinction.
scale, they begin to think of your relationship together not as being simply a month or a year or 10 years, they begin to think in terms of loyalty. FELDMAN: Isn’t there also the danger of trust becoming boring and you lose fascination? HOGSHEAD: Yes. Trust can become repetitive and boring. When people become too focused on being trusted, then they start to become irrelevant, because they just do the same things over and over again. They get stuck in ruts, and this can really be the downfall for a lot of advisors that I’ve worked with. Yes, they’re trusted, but they are so predictable that they have trouble attracting new clients. In order to stand out in any kind of a crowded and competitive marketplace, you have to actually do just that, you have to stand out. If you’re not willing to stand out, then you need to be ready to start spending a lot more money on marketing. You will have to buy yourself new customers because you’re not naturally attracting them based on your personality. FELDMAN: What are the most powerful triggers for consumers? 18
FELDMAN: Do people use different secondary triggers at different stages of their lives?
HOGSHEAD: In bringing new customers through the door, to prospect effectively, there are three triggers: Power, Prestige and Passion. Power and Prestige, we saw with both of the groups that we talked about. The Passion trigger helps people immediately connect with somebody through their eye contact, voice and body language. People immediately feel close and participatory with somebody with the Passion trigger, so those are great for bringing new customers in. But keeping people over time is very different. Keeping people over time has more to do with trust, which we just talked about. So, for financial advisors, the key is to understand how they can leverage their two triggers to not only attract new customers, either through community outreach, referrals, meeting people at events, but also to keep those clients over time and have them consistently bring new business. FELDMAN: Can a person’s triggers change over time? HOGSHEAD: Your personality has core competencies that are almost like your north star. So for example, the Veiled Strength is primary Mystique trigger
InsuranceNewsNet Magazine » February 2013
HOGSHEAD: Yes. You’re most likely to use different facets of your personality over time by staying with the same primary trigger, but going across that bar. People under 30 tend to use the Passion trigger. People between 30 and 50 in their prime earning years, and are in an aggressive mode in their career, tend to use the Power trigger. People 50 and above tend to use the Trust trigger. What’s really important to understand is that your personality has these key advantages, and when you’re using them, that’s when you’re performing at your best. It’s when you’re most likely to have a breakthrough or when you’re most likely to be in peak performance. It feels effortless. It feels like you don’t have to put a lot of energy into the awkward and energy-draining process of being somebody that you’re not. Once you apply this core strength and build your business around it, then it’s self-generative, because it brings you energy. Whereas being put in a position where you’re being evaluated based on triggers that are not the way that you’re built to succeed, it’s almost like if you were right-handed, and I gave you a pencil and told you had to write with your left hand. You could write with your left hand if you needed to, but it’s not comfortable, and it’s not the best use of your talents. And you’re not going to reach your potential.
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