Wholesaling is competitive; VERY competitive. But what business is not competitive? Competition is a fact of life. Unfortunately, so is slamming the competition. “Slamming the Competition” questions the integrity and truthfulness of the competitor, and differs from comparing and contrasting products or services in both substance and tone. Being a Master Wholesaler™ means you never slam the competition, and you act as a professional in every respect.

Recently I attended a broker-dealer conference, which as is typical, was attended by a large number of product partners. Unfortunately, one wholesaler made it a point to jump in on conversations when his competitors were speaking with prospects. What made this amusing was he would say, “What are we talking about?”, as if he had been a part of the conversation. In addition, he slammed competitors when speaking to brokers, and the situation escalated to the competing wholesalers taking pot-shots at one another.

SOLUTIONS: When faced with competitors who slam you and/or your product, don’t play their game. Be a pro. When faced with competition, use the following strategy:

1. Acknowledge that your competitor is a fine company with good products.
2. Also state that your product is not right for every situation.
3. Tell them where your product fits as a superior solution.

A shortened version of the conversation may sound something like this:

“Mrs. Prospect I am very familiar with XYZ Inc. and their product.  XYZ is a good company, and they do some things very well, such as [example.]  My company and our products aren’t always the best fit all the time.  In this case, however, I believe your needs can best be met by OUR product / service.  Let me tell you why. ”

FOR ADVISORS: Don’t tolerate wholesaler who act in anything less than a professional manner, and that includes slamming their competitors.  If it happens, ask the wholesaler to stick to their product, specifically:

• How it benefits the client
• How it works
• Where it fits
• How to sell it

When YOU are meeting with clients, don’t fall into the trap of slamming your competition. Be a pro, and expect others to do the same.

Good selling!

We are a society of gift givers. “Never arrive empty handed,” applies to business as much as it applies to social settings. Recently I dropped off some dry cleaning, and asked the impossible: Could I get it in an hour? Usually – in fact, almost ALWAYS – the answer would be “NO!” One-hour dry cleaning has gone the way of the full-service gas station. However, this time the answer was YES, because the owner is a customer service fanatic. In addition, I drop off cookies once a month. Gifts make a difference.

However, a gift protocol exists in business that says gifts should not be bribes. In addition, many industries have limits – or outright bans – on gifts to prospects and clients. Always be aware of firm and industry rules concerning gifts. Make gifts appropriate and compliant. Nothing is more embarrassing than having to unwind a gift that exceeds gift limits.

SOLUTIONS: First of all, know the rules. Second, know your client. A gift doesn’t have to be huge or expensive. A well thought out gift for a client based upon their interests or passions makes for a better relationship than something that you give to everybody.

FOR ADVISORS: Don’t do business with a vendor strictly because they always arrive with gifts in hand. Select products and services based upon their benefits to your clients and your business. Beware the product-pusher who wants you to business strictly on the basis of gifts or entertainment, especially when no previous relationship exists. In addition, make YOUR gifts to clients appropriate and compliant as well. An advisor I know makes it a point to select PERSONAL gifts for clients. One of his assistants does the shopping once he builds the list.

Gifts are a sign of friendship and relationship. Use them, and use them well.

Good Selling!

This is a series of ten major faux pas’ made by wholesalers, ideas on how to correct them, and suggestions for advisors on how to deal with wholesalers who make these mistakes.

Wholesalers are driven, competitive, outcome focused and BUSY. They focus on the next call; the next appointment. They follow up on calls. Wholesalers order kits and illustrations. They book travel and events. They entertain. Wholesalers watch sales figures, sales penetration reports, and market statistics. They SELL!

However, sometimes they walk right by the biggest asset they could have in getting advisors to sell their product; they snub the Sales Assistant.

Advisors rely upon their sales assistants (SA’s) to do many things, from administration to service to marketing. In addition, the SA helps the advisor focus on priorities, avoid distractions, and in many cases, wholesaler meetings are distractions. With the wide variety of products available, number of money managers, never ending product changes, and wholesaler turnover, an advisor could see one wholesaler every day of the month –or more! The SA often acts as a gatekeeper.

In addition, the SA is the person who will have to deal with a change in paperwork, processes, features, and home office contacts. The SA does not WANT the FA to change vendors, as this creates more complexity in an already challenging position.

If you treat SA’s with anything less than courtesy and respect, you impinge your opportunity to grow your business. Besides, you are never too busy to be nice to people – especially when that person can affect your ability to grow your business and your income.

SOLUTIONS: Recognize Sales Asisstants as people and the professionals who are, bring promotional items* and “goodies,” and be courteous and polite. Acknowledge the SA’s role within the business, and treat them as you would any professional. It’s good business, and the right thing to do.

FOR ADVISORS: Keep your team happy by refusing to do business with firms that disrespect your team. Make certain to introduce wholesalers to you SA(s). Communicate the SA’s role in your business to the wholesaler, and should you choose to add a product to your lineup, insist that the wholesaler spend time with your staff to facilitate smooth processing and good order transactions. Have the wholesaler introduce the SA to the wholesaler’s internal associate, as well as home office key contacts. Don’t forget to treat the wholesaler with respect as well. You get what you give.

Good selling!

* Always be aware of firm and industry rules concerning gifts.

This is the second post in a series of ten discussing major faux pas’ made by wholesalers, ideas on how to correct them, and suggestions for advisors on how to deal with wholesalers who make these mistakes.

Mistake #2: Telling, Not Selling

Presenting is an essential skill for wholesalers. You demonstrate your product in such a way so the advisor knows what it does, how it works, where it fits, and how to sell it. And to say nothing about group presentations! Master wholesalers dominate when it comes to individual and group presentations.

However, hear the words of Jaime Calva, a selling sage with 60 years under his still productive belt:

“Telling is not selling.”

Dialogue happens when two or more people converse. Like the Tango, it takes two to dialogue, and in order for a sale to be made, both parties must communicate. While this involves feedback, it means more than the typical sales feedback loops. Selling involves interviewing your prospect. Selling means knowing your prospect, and in order to know someone you must ask questions. Asking questions does NOT mean interrogation with “Fact-Finding” questions, but professional rapport building with “Foundation Building” Questions, such as:

• “Tell me about your family.”
• “How did you get into the business?”
• “If you were to bring me on as new vendor relationship, what has to happen in the next twelve months in order for you to consider your decision a success?”“
• In looking at your practice / business today, what do you consider your biggest challenges?”
• “What is the biggest factor in your success?

SOLUTIONS: Develop a standard interview structure, and be flexible. Build a list of 20 Foundational Questions as a goal for each advisor relationship. Ask these questions over a couple of meetings to find the advisors passions, drivers, and motivations. Don’t forget to build effective feedback loops into your presentations, as well.

FOR ADVISORS: You should do the same with your clients. Ask better questions. And, beware the wholesaler who leads with, “What part of your sales is made up of [PRODUCT]?” Chances are he/she is looking out for himself/herself alone. For your part, get to know your wholesalers better with every meeting. Learn about their internal drivers, and what they need and want in a professional relationship. Expect wholesalers to truly be your partners, and be a partner with them as well.

Good selling!

Today’s kids just aren’t motivated. We have spoiled and coddled them. They don’t have drive, and can’t deal with competition.

Yeah, right.

Yesterday Missy Franklin put an exclamation point on her first world swimming championships in Shanghai.  She won five medals in all — two golds and a silver in relays as well as a gold medal in the 200 back, and a bronze in the 50-meter backstroke. Her performance put Michael Phelps meet – which was outstanding – into the second paragraph of news articles. Phelps was quoted as saying, “She does it all… she’ll remember this for a long time.”

Did I mention Missy Franklin is only 16?

Missy teaches us some wonderful lessons. You are never too young (or too old) to realize big dreams, but those dreams come with a price! During the broadcast, the commentators from NBC mused about the influence of Franklin’s coach, Todd Schmitz. Schmitz taught his young swimmer that when you practice, it is similar to making deposits in the bank. You keep making deposits whenever you practice, and you equate the amount of the deposit to the quality of the practice. When you compete, you get to withdraw everything you have deposited!

Apply this to your business. How can you make “deposits” into your business? What can you “practice” that will result in significant withdrawals in the future? Consider practicing:

• Exceptional Service
• Keeping Promises
• Presentation & Delivery
• Staff Empowerment & Development
• A Never-Ending Commitment to Improvement & Excellence

Congratulations, Missy Franklin. Thank you for your inspiration, and best wishes for continued success, and a long and happy life.

And to you…

Good Selling!

Wholesaler utilization continues to be a never-ending topic of discussion. Professional advisors seek new ways to partner with quality wholesalers and wholesaling companies, and the wholesalers also look for ways to differentiate themselves. There are a number of successful strategies for wholesaler utilization, including “5/60 Events (TM).”

A wholesaler comes to you with an idea you feel merits attention by a number of your clients. You have decisions to make. Do you:

• Present the idea to one client at a time at reviews?
• Conduct a large seminar?
• Do a mailing?

Consider a “5/60 Event.” Contacting clients one by one is a long process, and labor intensive. Seminars can be expensive and are also labor intensive. All of us know the challenges with large mailings, and quality advisors often prefer a more personal approach. A 5/60 Event involves inviting five, (yes, only five) clients/prospects to a luncheon, breakfast, or coffee to hear an idea of interest. The time commitment is 60 minutes, and the small number of attendees allows for prompt, professional follow up. A 5/60 Event is economical, efficient, and effective. You and your staff avoid the challenges of complex meeting planning, and the small number of invitees provides a wonderful forum for idea sharing and relationship development. The wholesaler presents and participates in the cost of the event. Simple!

How many wholesalers call upon you with quality ideas? What if you did monthly 5/60 Events? What if you opened accounts with just a third of those who attend? What would that do for your business? Consider building 5/60 Events into your Q4 Marketing Plan.

Good selling!

Today I received an email from a financial advisor who is a coaching client. A portion of the email read as follows:

“Mike; I am working on a schedule for my assistant for blocking time and activities.  What are your thoughts on the subject…?  Thanks.”

This was my reply:

For a start, book appointments – as many as possible – on Tuesday through Thursday. Mondays would be for staff review, planning, and case preparation. Fridays would be for finishing the week, planning the coming week, and cleanup of messes.

Does this mean you wouldn’t see a client on Monday or Friday, or for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or possibly an evening or Saturday appointment? OF COURSE NOT! However, MOST clients can be guided to one of these time slots. Furthermore, I suggest that unless you plan to work Saturday, don’t schedule an appointment after 11:00 AM on Friday. This allows you to finish early – and let your staff catch up – from the busy and productive week.
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Please feel free to send me your thoughts on time blocking and scheduling appointments.

Good selling!

“National Sales Meeting Season” is upon us! Do you get the maximum benefit from national and regional sales meetings? Follow these five simple steps to get the most value from the time you invest attending sales conferences.

1. Set Objectives. What do you need to grow your business this year? How can you deliver even better client service? What efficiencies can you put in place to allow you and your team to work smarter? Asking these questions and setting objectives for sales meetings provides the framework for making these meetings profitable.
2. Review The Agenda. What sessions promise the most for you? What speakers do you want to make certain to hear? Research the speakers to find out about their experience and areas of expertise. Look at the list of sponsors to identify product partners and vendors with whom you would like to visit. Make the best use of the exhibit hall for new learning and service opportunities.
3. Network. Meet people that can help you achieve your business objectives. Look for new attendees, and welcome them. Who knows; they might be able to help you as well! Connect with home office leadership and support staff to build relationships, create liaisons, and advocates for opportunity development and problem solving.
4. Plan Individual Meetings. Schedule breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and coffees in advance with individuals that can assist you as you work toward building your business.
5. Have Fun. Sales meetings often include entertainment, excursion, and adventure opportunities. Take advantage of these, for you can mix business with pleasure!

Good selling!

LinkedIn® provides professional services marketing and sales people with a wonderful tool for building and expanding relationships and growing business. Consider the following tips for maximizing the use – and profitability – of one the top business building tools on the Internet.

This daily game plan has 8 steps and takes 15 – 20 minutes.

1. Comment on Comments – Show your connections you are paying attention.
2. Make recommendations – If you have not made a recommendation for a connection, DO SO if at all possible. Please make sincere recommendations; remember, your name is on the line. If you cannot recommend someone in good faith, don’t do it.
3. Make your profile publicly available – While you can set the information which is publicly available to non-members/contacts, be careful with blocking too much information as this will also be unavailable to the search engines. As a minimum, consider providing enough information for the search engines to index your profile and cache the external links you have listed! In terms of optimizing your profile, the main goals are normally to rank for your own name, company name and possibly industry keywords related to this.
4. Comment on Profile Updates – Congratulate others on promotions and awards, inquire about other changes, and always offer assistance.
5. Check your Inbox – Respond to requests and messages in a timely manner.
6. Look in the “People You May Know Section” – Find new connections and leads.
7. Check Your Groups – Look for new discussions, answer questions, and look for other items of interest. Ask questions to gather information and open new relationships.
8. Use LinkedIn® Answers – This can help to build up your reputation within a field. For SEO it also builds the number of internal links pointing to your profile from within LinkedIn, therefore helping to strengthen your profile in the search engines!

A word of warning: LinkedIn® is a tool, not a religion. Relationships are still made person-to-person, not digitally. You can receive an introduction or introduce yourself on the web, but true relationship building comes from personal interaction. LinkedIn® and other social media sites help maintain and grow relationships. In a busy world, that is truly priceless!

One of the factors that differentiate things that we succeed at, and things that we fail at, is focus. In the workplace, if you manage or even work with others, you know how critical an ability it is for a team to focus.
Focus is critical for client meetings as well. Ever come out of a client meeting and say, I forgot to…!” Consider using a Client Meeting Agenda. Nothing formal is required, but a little additional planning prior to your meeting makes certain you don’t forget anything. Take a look at the following question headings and items that you might include on such an agenda:

• Items to cover today
• Areas of Need
• Additional Products/Services To Recommend
• Introductions Requested
• To-Do Items As A Result Of This Meeting

Using a short form – even if you write in the details – makes certain nothing is left to chance and nothing is forgotten.

Good selling!