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10 Tips to Speed Up Your Prospect-to-Client Sales Cycle In a decidedly unscientific study, I interviewed 37 financial professionals of different tenures and success levels to see if I could come up with some useful tips to help you speed up your sales cycle. By Bill Cates Here then, is what I gleaned from these conversations: 1.
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Make referrals and introductions your primary source of prospects. Keep moving away from leads, online seminars to cold prospects, and other methods of meeting prospects that are known to have a lower and slower conversation rate. The borrowed trust that comes from referrals and personal introductions will both speed up and increase your conversation rate. Add a referral component to your seminars. If you feel you must continue to fill your pipeline with colder prospects,
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don’t forget to use referrals as part of the process. You can ask clients to invite people to your educational events, you can promote referrals at one event for your next event, and you can ask these prospects for referrals to appointments or future events. 3.
Make sure you get a great introduction from your referral source. Stop settling for weak or no introductions. Collaborate with your referral source for a meaningful connection. An effective introduction all but guarantees you’ll at least gain the prospect’s attention. Here’s a recent blog on the topic: https://referralcoach.com/emailintroductions-2/ CalBrokerMag.com
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Be transparent with your process. Neuroscience talks about “cognitive fluency: the ease with which people understand and process information.” When your prospects and clients are super clear about how to start and continue working with you – they are more likely to continue on that path and work with you. How many steps are in your process of getting to know your prospects, making recommendations, onboarding them, and continuing to serve them? Share this process early in your new relationships and continue to let your prospects and clients know what step in the process they are on. You will win more new clients more quickly by employing the principle of Cognitive Fluency. JANUARY 2024
