Selling financial services as a financial advisor, stock broker, insurance agent, or banker involves six critical factors to be successful – long term. Short term success is possible without attention to these “Critical Success Factors,” (CSF’s) but long term success requires proficiency on a regular basis in each area. The CSF’s include:

1. Prospecting
2. Sales Approach
3. Presentation
4. Answering Objections
5. Closing
6. Service

Nothing revolutionary here; these topics have been taught since the earliest days of sales training. However, today many firms neglect basic sales training, and we always benefit from a reminder to step outside ourselves and objectively examine our business. Let me ask you a few questions:

• Are you weak in one or more CSF’s?
• Do you pay attention to and seek to improve each factor?
• Do you continually evaluate yourself and your business?

If you are new to financial product sales, or if you are experienced, consider reading my book, The Ultimate Small Cap Business; Building A Financial Advisory Practice. This concise book provides a comprehensive overview of financial service selling and practice management. Look for future posts to provide tips for each of the Critical Success Factors of Sales.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: financial advisor, stock broker, insurance agent, banker

Yesterday I was speaking to a sales coaching client who works as a financial advisor in a bank in New York. She asked me how to answer an objection that she had received on a recent sales call. After suggesting a response, she asked me about another objection – and then another and another. We spent the rest of our coaching call discussing how to answer a wide variety of objections, and I shared several “techniques” for dealing with objections.

This conversation reminded me that the long lost art of sales training has been, to some extent, marginalized and in some cases forsaken. “Sales trainers” – and I use the term loosely – suggest that selling has evolved. Salespeople should sell in their “own style” they say. Salespeople should listen, ask open ended questions, offer solutions, and then…

What happens is the prospect inevitably says, “I want to think it over,” and today’s salespeople lose the sale, at least temporarily, because they cannot deal with objections and close the sale. Let there be no doubt that selling has evolved and for the better. Professional salespeople do develop their own style, and always have. However, salespeople need a foundation of skills to help them survive – and actually sell something – until they have the experience and wisdom to sell within their style.
My suggestion for this sales coaching client was to make a list of every product and service she presents on a regular basis, and then list the four most common objections she hears to the offering. Then I suggested she consider how to answer these objections. Being prepared in this fashion will make her more confident – and successful – as she grows in her sales skills.

Sales training still provides a foundation for all new financial advisors. With a multitude of resources available there is no shortage of opportunities to learn the ways of the masters.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: sales coaching, financial advisor, sales call, Sales trainers, selling, Salespeople

All of us learn from our experiences. The problem with learning from personal experience is that you have to take the test before you learn the lesson, and that can be painful to you and your clients. One solution is to learn from the experiences of others. By learning from others you compress time and omit unnecessary mistakes. To benefit the most from this strategy, choose to listen exclusively to the masters.

No greater master exists in the investment business than Don Connelly. Don has long been acknowledged as America’s leading advisor to financial advisors. With forty years of unparalleled experience and success, he provides common sense ideas that benefit advisors regardless of their distribution channel or level of achievement. Today Don shares his expertise through “Camp Connelly.” Don possesses a wealth of information gathered from the best of the best in the investment industry. This is a can’t-miss resource for financial advisors.

Still have more to learn about the investment industry? Check out “Camp Connelly.”

Good selling!

Yesterday, along with millions of other families, we opened Christmas presents. My grandson Cameron, (aka Camper), was right in the middle of it all. Camper was that star of the show! He is a wonderful little boy. Bright, cute, loving, and while I am partial to him, all of that is the truth. As are many kids, he is a model of persistence – something that, as a sales trainer and sales coach, I love! In the midst of opening presents, he reminded me (aka “Pam Paw”) of an old sales principle – “Don’t Confuse Your Prospect!

Camper gets more toys that most children - a lot more toys! He would rip open one package, get real excited – and then push it aside for the next gift. Before long he was through opening packages and playing - in a box! Many of you will identify with this story. However, I hope it doesn’t remind you of your sales presentations.

Sometimes sales people give the prospect too many choices. A great way to close a sale is the “Choice Close,” where the salesperson offers the prospect two solutions, either of which will solve the prospects problem. No matter what choice the prospect selects, everyone wins. The Choice Close works, but the problem with this close is salespeople sometimes offer more than two choices. I know a salesperson in the 401k market that prepares spreadsheets of five to ten, (yes, TEN), products from which the prospect is expected to select one solution! Two problems exist with this approach.

First, just as my grandson has so many toys that he can’t decide which to select, and ends up selecting a non-solution solution (the box), our prospects can’t decide upon the best solution from those offered. A confused mind never buys! Second, if you are truly a professional salesperson, your opinion is of tremendous value to the prospect. They expect you to have an opinion, and you better have one!

So, how can multiple options help you close more sales? First, if you use the Choice Close, limit your choices to two solutions or, in any case, never more than three. However, always have an opinion of the option that best serves your customer, and the reasons for your choice. Second, if you did a spreadsheet analysis for the prospect - keep it in your file. Tell the prospect, “I reviewed X number of options, and I feel the one I am presenting to you today best meets your needs.” Another tactic is to use the same approach, but tell them you reviewed multiple options, and boiled them down to two, and then point out the advantages and disadvantages of each offering. Once again, have an opinion about the better choice for the prospect.

Don’t let your prospects play in a box – a competitor’s product. They deserve the benefit of your expertise, so make your recommendations with conviction based upon your experience, research, and facts. The client will be well served and your sales will go up!

Happy Holidays – and Good Selling!

Technorati Tags: persistence, sales trainer, sales coach, sales principle, professional salesperson

Business strategist and professional speaker Michael Roby addressed a group of leading financial institution sales managers at a management conference in St. Helena, CA on December 3, 2007. Bank Insurance Securities Association (BISA) hosted their “Sales Management Fall Workshop,” which was open to institutions in the United States and Canada. Roby conducted his “Managing Excellence” seminar, which teaches sales management strategies and skills.

BISA, based in Wayne, PA, fosters the full integration of securities and insurance businesses with depository institutions’ traditional banking businesses. BISA reaches out to and offers services to executives throughout its member firms. BISA participants include executives from the securities, insurance, investment advisory, trust, private banking, retail, capital markets, and commercial divisions of depository institutions. The BISA provides a single forum for these executives and their product and service partners to work together to find solutions to help grow their businesses.

Michael Roby is a nationally known speaker that helps his audiences get improved sales results that are quantifiable and lasting. While corporations and audiences know Michael as an authority on sales, marketing, and the distribution of financial services, he is also known as one of America’s best motivational speakers. Roby delivers thought-provoking keynotes that leave a lasting, positive impression on his audience. His website, www.michaelroby.com is also home to a leading sales and marketing blog.

Technorati Tags: Business strategist, professional speaker, Bank Insurance Securities Association, sales management

This weekend I was looking over some notes from an old sales meeting, and I found the following statistics. People comprehend and remember:

• 11% of what they hear
• 32% of what they see
• 73% of what they see & hear
• 90% of what they see, hear & discuss

My personal experience has shown this to be true. Whenever you use different presentation modalities so that your prospects hear, see, and discuss what you are presenting, the more effective the presentation will be. In short, YOU WILL CLOSE MORE SALES! Selling is not telling! You must engage your prospects on multiple levels once you enter the presentation mode of the sale process.

I did not have a source for these statistics so I googled them, and found the exact statistics in several articles, all without attribution. Hence, they may be antidotal, but the percentages don’t really matter; the fact remains that closing rates go up with a combination of sales techniques, especially when you match the techniques to your client’s preferred mode of learning, AND the prospect is involved and engaged with your presentation. An excellent way to MAKE CERTAIN they are involved and engaged is to ask questions throughout the presentation, such as:

• Which benefit can you SEE as being most important to you?
• Why do you FEEL that way?
• Is there anything that you have seen or heard that causes you concern?

Once again, make certain that even as you enter the presentation phase of the sales call that the presentation is a dialog that helps your prospect understand why your offering will solve their problem, and provide worthwhile benefits. Engage them in every sensory manner to improve your success rate.

Good selling!

Investment Centers of America (ICA) is a broker/dealer based in Bismarck, ND. This weekend they hosted their annual Sales Assistant Conference in Minneapolis. Assistants from their branches across the country participated in workshops, heard professional speakers[/tag/, and networked with their peers to improve their skill sets. Allianz Life sponsored me as a [tag]facilitator and keynote speaker for two days of the three day conference.

This type of sales training pays off for ICA. These assistants come away with new skills and procedures to improve the marketing, client service, and administration in their branches. In addition, they have VERY low turnover. What type of training do YOU provide for those who help you sell and service your customers? I suggest a two tier system that supplements your standard training program. The second tier is a “Continuing Education Account” where you help sales assistants by paying 50% of the expenses of outside training (subject to approval; the training must help them within your business.) This system gives the sales assistant a say in selecting training, but it also require that they have some skin in the game. If an assistant does not take advantage of this opportunity to broaden their knowledge and skills…well, you need to know that as well.

Attracting and retaining talent is a perpetual challenge. By providing additional training and treating your staff as the professionals they are is a great investment in your business.

Technorati Tags: professional speakers[/tag/, and networked with their peers to improve their skill sets. Allianz Life sponsored me as a [tag]facilitator, keynote speaker, sales training, marketing, client service

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN - “Own What You Sell” Podcast
“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do you own what you sell? Click above to listen to this message on sales commitment and conviction. If you are is sales or sales management, feel free to forward the ling to your sales associates.

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!

A friend of mine, who is a master salesperson, recently went shopping for a new car. He owns a sales training company serving the hospitality industry, as well as being a gifted professional speaker. Last night he faxed me a sales letter he received from a auto dealership he visited that might be the WORST sales letter I have ever read. The names have been changed to protect the innocent victim; I’m not sure why I shouldn’t mention the dealership, but I won’t.

“Dear (Customer):

As the General Manager of (Dealership) of (City), I wanted to thank you for recently visiting our dealership. However, I was concerned that we have still not been able to get you into your next vehicle. I need to know if I can personally be of assistance in this matter.

I would also like to reiterate some key points about this dealership that hopefully were explained to you by the sales and/or management staff:

• All new or used cars will be sold at a fair and and honest price.
• All service work will be done quickly, efficiently, economically and intelligently. We will do everything possible to fix it right the first time.
• Free shuttle service will always be available to you while your car is being serviced.
• I will personally be available and accessible to you for any questions or problems you may have with your car.

Again, the goal of this dealership is to earn your business by satisfying all of your automotive needs. If I can be of any help personally, please give me a call.

Sincerely,

General Manager”

What apparent problems do you see with this letter? Let me suggest a few, some of which are obvious, but some are not:

• The mail merge was entered wrong. The greeting only contains the customer’s last name (i.e.: Dear Smith)
• The “I Factor.” The GM uses the word “I” seven times.
• I cringe at the phraseology of “I was concerned that we have still not been able to get you into your next vehicle,” as opposed to wondering WHY he hadn’t bought.
• His bullet points talk down to the customer, as if he is saying, “In case you didn’t get this the first time…”
• The letter is totally focused on the needs of the dealership, not the customer.
• The letter contains several typos.

Let me make three simple points.

1. Your primary focus should always be about the customer. This dealership appears to be totally focused on just selling cars, not taking care of their customers.
2. What you distribute in the form of sales literature and customer correspondence speaks volumes about your commitment to sales and service excellence. If you can’t proof a letter, how can you possibly know the features of something as big and complicated as a car, much less know how to fix one!
3. If this guy is the GM, were I the owner I would be more than a little concerned about how he trains his people, since he is willing to sign a letter like this.

Everything is important. Keep your customer’s needs in mind at all times, and let everything you say, do, or send out reflect your commitment to excellence in serving your clientele.

Good selling!

Technorati Tags: sales training, professional speaker, sales letter, auto dealership, sales, customer correspondence, sales and service