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You are currently browsing the Selling Financial Products by Michael Roby weblog archives for July, 2007.
Fact Finding Tips - Five Questions To Ask a Prospect About Their Business
Tired of indifferent prospects? It may be because you interrogate instead of fact-find. Want your prospects to open up? This podcast will give five questions that I guarantee will keep your prospect engaged, and help you close more sales. Click the link above to listen!
When we interview prospects (and for that matter clients) sometimes we go into “Interrogation Mode.” Gathering information dominates our mind and becomes our sole objective. In a staccato-line manner we reel off a barrage of closed-end questions like:
One of my mentors, Jack Perry, taught me a brilliant way to really dig deep when having a conversation with a business owner or executive. He asked this question of a bank CEO that had been my client for several years. The question is:
“What made you successful?”
We sat back and listed to the CEO reminisce for fifteen minutes about the people and events that had brought him to this place in his professional life. In spite of my long relationship with the CEO, I learned things I had never heard before! As a result of Jack asking him that question, (and his truly being interested in the answer) the CEO was totally receptive to our conversation. They were like old friends.
Getting the information is so important; finding the feelings behind the information is golden!
Good selling!
It happens all the time…a company spends more time selling than servicing after the sale. Customers begin to expect vendors to over-promise and under-perform. However, there are firms that still believe that to grow a business, you service at least as passionately as you sell.
A company called eSpeakers offers a business management program for the professional speaker called EventPro. When I saw their presentation I was “wowed.” The salesperson, Debbie, promised me that eSpeaker would follow up with exceptional training. I thought, “Sure, we will see…”
Within 48 hours we received an email and follow up phone call from Kathy to schedule the training that was to be delivered over the phone, along with a computer link so we could SEE the training. Not only were the software and business system robust, but the phone and online training the absolute best I have ever experienced! The frosting on the cake is they are rolling out a new CRM system that is fully integrated with EventPro!
In my business I have used the same CRM software for about ten years (I won’t name them, but their name includes two of the first three letters of the alphabet.) Their service has deteriorated to some of the worst imaginable, and each new version seems to hatch more bugs than it fixes. I had to spend TWICE the cost of the upgrade to get one of their “Certified Consultants” to install it! To say I am excited about EventPro and my customer experience would be the understatement of the year!
What is the point? To create rabid customers that refer you to others, you must 1) be technically competent, 2) keep your promises, and 3) service what you sell. If this happens, your customers and clients will give you referrals, and tell everyone they know how good you are. After all…what do you think I am doing now?!
Good selling!
Technorati Tags: professional speaker
Does your business depend on repeat sales? Listen to this podcast for a tip on how to grow your business! Running time - 2:10.
“Repeat Sales From My Dentist Office” - Click here to listen!!!
Recently I was in south Florida seeing a one of my mentors. Jack Walsh, founder of Money Concepts International, is a pioneer in the financial planning business. Jack gve me some of my first opportunities as a speaker and he and his colleague Keith Dayley were masters of sales training. He did a lot in the 80’s and 90’s to help me (and many others) grow my business, and I flew down and spent the better part of a wonderful day with him. But a trip to south Florida demands you also head to the beach!
As I enjoyed the late afternoon sea breezes, I watched a seeming endless parade of airplanes towing advertising banners. Most involved local bars and restaurants. All of a sudden, a little girl who could not have been more than SIX YEARS OLD looked up and yelled, “Look Mom…It’s GEICO!” Sure enough, there was the GEICO gecko! What does a little girl know about insurance? Nothing… but she knows GEICO. There may be a slight possibility that she calls GEICO some day. The bigger possibility is that her mom, who has seen the same commercials all over the media, might just remember GEICO the next time she gets a premium increase. This is a company that has mastered marketing.
What do YOU do to make sure your customers never forget you; that they think about you often, especially when making a buying decision? I suggest a system that helps you manage the activity of staying in touch and building relationships. For example, my best customers and prospects usually get one phone call, one email, and one envelope from me every month. The call is usually business AND personal. The email might have a helpful tip or website link, and the envelope will contain articles or resources selected just for them. In addition, many of them bookmark or get an RSS feed for my blog on their web browser dashboard (if you haven’t, please do so!). I reach out with appropriate gifts and expressions of appreciation, usually when least expected.
What do YOU do make certain you have top-of-mind presence with YOUR best customers? Are your competitors one step below or one step above you in the hierarchy of customer buying decisions? Let me know if I can help.
Good selling!
Technorati Tags: financial planning, speaker, sales training
Michael Roby, a sales and marketing strategist and professional speaker based in Minnesota, is now writing a regular marketing column for Bank Advisor Magazine. The first issue was released in July, with two more issues planned for this year, with monthly publication planned for 2008. Roby has over 30 years of experience in sales, sales management, sales training, and business coaching. He also is an award winning speaker, having been named “Member of the Year” by National Speakers Association – Minnesota. In addition to being a motivational speaker and writer, Roby provides sales training and product launch facilitation for companies focused on building brand and deepening customer relationships. Roby’s website is www.michaelroby.com .
Bank Advisor magazine is a tactical sales and marketing resource that bank advisors read in order to help them reach their goals and do more business. Banks continue to sell more life insurance, annuities and security products directly to consumers which results in a huge opportunity for companies looking to provide products and solutions to the bank channel. Banks need to be quicker and more customer centric than ever before, and Bank Advisor Magazine helps create a dialogue amongst the sales reps and managers to help them achieve new levels of success. Their website is www.bankadvisormagazine.com.
Wiesner Media Financial Group is the leading, independent source for information on sales, marketing and best practice techniques for insurance, financial, banking and benefits brokers and advisors. Wiesner Media Financial Group publishes four magazines: Bank Advisor Magazine, Benefits Selling, Boomer Market Advisor and Senior Market Advisor. ProducersWEB.com, the leading industry web portal, and Advisors Data Source, a data-services division, are also included in the division. In addition, Wiesner Media Financial Group annually produces two leading industry events: Benefits Selling Expo and Senior Market Advisor Expo.
Technorati Tags: sales and marketing strategist, professional speaker, sales training, business coaching, speaker, National Speakers Association – Minnesota, motivational speaker, product launch facilitation