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The Collaborative has recently launched its Advisor’s Sales Academy (www.advisorssalesacademy.com)
In my presentations to financial advisors, I find the word “sales” is negatively received. If I ask the audience, “What words come to mind when you think of a salesperson?” the responses will be things like “slimy,” “pushy” or “used-cars.” Most financial advisors have this negative impression of the sales process.
But selling is what you do every single day. You may “sell” someone on an idea; you may “sell” them on becoming an employee (or staying an employee); you may “sell” an existing client on the benefits of increasing their AUM with you. Selling doesn’t mean pushing something that isn’t needed or doing something slimy or wrong. Quite the opposite, sales are part of growth and, when done well, a sale means a positive experience with you.
The best services and products don’t sell themselves and being technically good is not good enough. Being technically great isn’t even going to cut it. You have to know how to show that what you do is needed and will solve someone’s problem. You have to ask for the business.
Selling Comfortably
So you didn’t go into finance and investing to become a professional salesperson. That’s okay. Many of the best and most effective salespeople started as engineers or teachers. Selling is about a willingness to understand people. It’s about asking the right questions, listening to the answers and then creating a connection with someone to show them that you can solve their needs.
Three key areas to focus on if you want to increase your selling acumen but stay comfortable doing it your own way:
Change your mindset. It starts with recognizing that this is an area you want to improve and probably need to improve. You might recognize the need you have to fill by hiring or by getting training for younger staff members. Rejecting sales or believing that your technical skills will save the day is very dangerous. Learn to embrace the sales process and reframe to a more positive mindset. “I want to grow, and I will learn what I need to in order to do so.”
Have an overall written sales plan. Trying to grow the business is like creating a financial plan for a client or diversifying a portfolio. You don’t do these things randomly. You understand the goals as clearly as possible, understand what has worked and what hasn’t, gather the data and then create a plan to get the goal established. Sales works exactly the same way. Decide the specific target, what you need to do to get there and who will do it by when.
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Develop consultative questioning and active listening skills. These are the two key areas that most advisors take for granted. They are powerful when done well. You may do an “intake” and ask questions that are financially related, but what do you know about why the prospect is talking to you now versus six months ago or six months from now? What do you understand about their motives or their buying criteria? Make no assumptions. Get very good at listening and translating.
No one improves on anything overnight but working on some of these areas will increase your acumen slowly. Visit our newest site for more opportunities to improve. www.advisorssalesacademy.com
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995. In 2008, she co-founded Advisors Trusted Advisor to offer dedicated practice management resources to advisors, planners and wealth managers. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University, teaching undergraduate students Leadership & Social Responsibility. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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