Ten Marketing and Sales Mistakes That Can Cost You an Early Retirement
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Why Much of Your Direct Mail Gets Tossed Out, Unopened What do you think a person who receives an envelope with the following return address believes is inside the envelope? Berrill Fynch Securities 1333 Main Street Anytown, USA 99999 They know that Berrill Fynch Securities are in the business of selling financial products and services. Right or wrong, the recipient believes that there is a sales solicitation inside the envelope. If they have no need for investing ideas at that time, do you think they will open the envelope? Do you think they like seeing more advertisements in a day? We estimate that 40% of such envelopes get thrown out, unopened. You do not even have a chance to have your message read. You have made a bad first impression. And you make a bad first impression whenever you use:
labels third-class postage bar codes or carrier route sort codes messages on the outside of your envelope
If you want to get 100% of your direct mail opened: use a non-commercial return address (e.g., your name and address) laser-print the name onto the envelope or have the name show through a window use a first-class stamp John Doe 1515 Smith Drive Smithtown, CA 99999
2. Painting Yourself As A Salesperson On A Seminar Invitation Or Other Cold Solicitations No one is interested in talking to salespeople. So big firms have attempted to make their salespeople seem like something else, with titles like "financial consultant" or "account executive." Of course, the public has figured this out. So if you send a seminar ©2014 All Rights Reserved Brokerville www.brokerville.com 888-893-2990 -2-
invitation, brochure, or other piece that describes yourself, make sure you do not paint yourself as a salesperson, because it will cost you response.
Here are examples of two ways you might describe yourself. The first example is poorly worded, while the second example uses powerful wording. Bob Smith is a financial advisor at Jones and Peck. He helps people secure their futures with conservative investments and asset protection strategies. Constructing diversified portfolios of mutual funds, annuities and insurance, Bob helps his clients plan their financial future. He is a registered representative and holds an insurance license in Utah. He is a graduate of East Bum University with a degree in economics. The above biography screams “SALESPERSON.” Now here’s the biography of someone who understands that people want to work with experts and consultants: Bob Jones is a well-known financial authority among affluent seniors. He has developed unique strategies to increase the income of people with $1 million-plus portfolios by more than 20% in a majority of cases. You may have seen his article in the Robb Report, “Even the Rich Like to Get Richer,” or you may have seen him as a guest or “Senior Money Matters” on KTDF-TV. Senior executives have used Bob’s advice to cut their six-digit income tax bills in half, pass on their estate completely tax-free and enjoy more spendable income. Bob is best known for his book “Even the Affluent Deserve to Pay Less Tax.” As it so happens, Bob Jones had both the article and book ghostwritten for him because he’s not a good writer. And he also did not graduate from college. But when you read his biography, he’s the one you want to deal with. Bob Jones knows how to market himself and describe himself as a resource that delivers benefits to investors. He does not sound like a salesperson.
3. You Lose Business With Intimidating Offers I have seen dozens of letters sent by financial advisors that make an offer at the end of the letter to “call me” or “call to set an appointment.” How many calls do you think they actually get? The number averages zero. Strangers will not take an intimidating offer. You are a stranger. They think, from your sales pitch, that you will probably trap them on the phone or lock them in an office and force them to buy something. So they won’t respond. To have people respond, make non-intimidating offers. Instead, offer the following: a free analysis (by mail) ©2014 All Rights Reserved Brokerville www.brokerville.com 888-893-2990 -3-
a free booklet (by mail) an invitation to a seminar (where they know they can leave at any time) In other words, make it easy for people to say yes by not scaring them.
4. No Headlines In Letters You were taught in school how to write a business letter. You were taught that business letters do not have titles. Someone who earned a meager salary--someone who had no other employment possibilities taught you this. If you want people to read letters that you send, always have a compelling, emotionally grabbing headline. For example, use titles such as: “Losing Money in the Stock Market?” “Is Your Annuity Safe?” “Mrs. Johnson Just Spent Her Last Dime. Can This Happen To You?” By appealing to curiosity and emotional concerns, people will read your materials.
5. Selling Financial Plans No one wants a financial plan; they only want the benefits of a plan. They want to send their kids to the best schools, they want to retire early and take lots of vacations, they want to be able to support their aging parents in comfort, and they want to have a large portfolio and financial security. So how come you keep offering people a financial plan? You end your meetings with this offer: “Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I would like to do a financial plan for you that will show where you are now and what steps you can take to get where you want to go. Here’s what the plan looks like (as you reach for some leather binder chock-full of pages).” Do you think you may obtain more clients if you end your meeting with this approach instead: “Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I would like to work with you. I will help you, to the best of my ability, send your kids to the best schools, and enable you to retire early and take ©2014 All Rights Reserved Brokerville www.brokerville.com 888-893-2990 -4-
lots of vacations, and allow you to support your aging parents in comfort and have a large portfolio and financial security. Would those be of interest to you?" Stop offering people “financial plans” and big leather books. You can prepare these if you desire, but people buy the benefits, not the plan.
6. Not Having One Objective For Everything You Do To be effective, everything you do must have one appropriate objective. Planners lose effectiveness by attempting to accomplish more than one objective at a time. For example, you call a referral because you think you want to get an appointment, yet you start asking them questions on the phone about their situation. What’s your objective? If you are clear, your call sounds like this: “Bob, this is Stu Johnson. I am your brother’s financial advisor, and he said you could use some help. Let’s get together. What day is best for you?” I see advisors waste so much effort, talk and money by not being clear and laser in every activity. Another example is the planner who sends a seminar invitation. The invitation has only one objective: to get the person to attend the seminar. Yet at the bottom, they will state something like “If you cannot attend, you may call for a personalized consultation.” Now everyone realizes that the sender just wants to get him or her into a “personalized consultation.” So they don’t come to the seminar. The planner has attempted to achieve two objectives at the same time: get seminar attendance and generate appointments. Every time you try to attack two objectives simultaneously, within one activity, you will lose. Be like a laser, not a shotgun.
7. Using Jargon Some planners may as well speak Greek to their prospects. I have encountered dozens of investors throughout my career who have told me about their advisor, “I ask him a question and I never understand what he tells me.” What happened to the fine art of speaking English? Please use plain English instead of your financial-planner-speak when dealing with prospects and clients. They will not be impressed by your big words. ©2014 All Rights Reserved Brokerville www.brokerville.com 888-893-2990 -5-
When you speak, never use jargon. I define jargon as anything that is not within everyday speaking language. For example, I never use the phrase “variable annuity” because it’s jargon. Instead, I say “an annuity whose value that goes up and down with the financial markets.” I never say “S&P 500,” I say “an index of the 500 largest companies in America.” You will need to police yourself rigorously, because there are phrases you use every day that you do not think is jargon, but they are to your prospect. And each time you use a term that your prospect does not understand, your chances of doing business decrease. Let me further show you how insidious this problem really is. Do you have a credential after your name, such as CFP, CLU, ChFC, RIA or any other alphabetical combination? For some reason, you assume prospects know what that credential means. They do not. They have no clue what a CFP (or Certified Financial Planner) is. I know that the CFP Board would not be happy with my assertion, but next time you’re in a group of people, ask them. See how accurate they are. Therefore, at every opportunity (in your promotional materials, your seminar handouts, your biographical page) you must take away the jargon and explain it like this: Joe Johnson is a Certified Financial Planner (that required Joe to complete two years of courses covering major aspects of financial planning, pass six tests and then a two-day, ten-hour exam proving his knowledge in the areas of taxes, investments and estate planning). Once you start communicating clearly by ceasing all jargon or explaining it when you must use it, you will gain trust from your prospects because they will now understand you. There will be no gaps between your speaking and your prospect’s understanding. The job of being 100% clear is yours—you cannot expect your prospect to ever tell you, “I do not understand you.” Rather than tell you this, he just leaves and never becomes a client. Jargon underwriting volatility turnover 12b-1 allocation adjusted gross income elimination period annuitization death benefit
English health review choppiness amount of buying and selling annual sales fee diversification the total of all your income deductible period monthly payments amount of life insurance
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8. Using Food To Get People To Seminars Who do you want to attend your seminars, people with money or people who like to eat? When you attract people using food as an incentive, you get people who like free food. Not only is this expensive, but it reduces your appointment ratio because half of the people have attended for the wrong reason. The reason you feed people is because you are so desperate to fill the room you will do anything. But people with money are motivated to know about ways to cut taxes, increase their investment return, protect against losses, and a host of other financial objectives. If you send an invitation that says they will learn these things in an exciting and innovative way (not the way most planners communicate), you will fill the room. I have done so for 17 years and have never served a meal. To begin to learn how to communicate in a powerful way, I recommend you read “The Ultimate Sales Letter” by Dan Kennedy.
9. Believing that More Technical Knowledge Will Get You More Business There’s a huge lie in our culture that knowledge is power. Only applied knowledge is power. Let me provide an example. Barry Kaye is a multi-million-dollar insurance producer. He has written (had ghostwritten) some books about insurance. He knows the same things about insurance as any agent participating in “advanced markets.” But he makes far more because he takes out full-page ads to advertise his seminars and gets incredible press, positioning him as an expert to the wealthy. He has built a network of insurance salespeople to make sales for him under his publicity banner. The difference between Barry Kaye and other advisors is that he applied his knowledge. So please don’t think that becoming a CFP, CFA or achieving any other alphabetical advantage will make you more money. By itself, it will not. People do not pay you for what you know. They pay you for what you market. (Note—I DO think that technical competence and education is important. But do not confuse it with the variables that generate revenue.) ©2014 All Rights Reserved Brokerville www.brokerville.com 888-893-2990 -7-
10. You Do Not Unsell Your Prospects' Current Investments You meet a new prospect and you are eager to sell him your product. In many cases, the money will be coming from his existing investments. You make the sale more difficult (or not at all) by failing to "unsell" his current investment. Remember, he has some commitment to what he already owns. You not only need to show him why your wares are good, you need to show him why his current holdings are not so good. With mutual funds, you can show him a Morningstar report. The rating, the fees, and the turnover can all be problems with his existing funds. Use this information to show him what’s not so good. With stocks, you can use Morningstar or Value Line reports in a similar fashion to show performance relative to the market or industry. Before you go after the prospect’s money, you must loosen his grip.
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