The following two questions identify a unique distinction between clients and financial advisors: What do you first look at when you open your bank statement? Why is that item you look at important? Think about these two questions and ask others this week to gather their response. We will discuss the differences next week.
After talking with hundreds of advisors following the first half of 2009, several lessons were clear: maintaining households and assets does not maintain revenue, unless you are 100% fee-based. pipeline must include more potential revenue that you can loose through attrition or market loss. introductions only come from advocacy, which is started with a conversation.
Less than 5% of clients give referrals on a consistent basis. Why is this number so low despite our efforts to deliver great service to our clients? I believe it is because of the inherent risk of referrals. When your client endorses you to somebody else, they put themselves at risk to loose two relationships. […]
Have you ever wondered why the client is so concerned with understanding what you do? It is as if the client wants to peek behind the curtain, to see what is going on behind the scenes. The problem stems from the fact that we have spent most of our time in the client relationship focusing […]
For years, experts have maintained that, before you can build trust, you need to build rapport. But these days, everyone knows the basics of marketing and selling—a strong handshake and straightforward eye contact, for example. These techniques are now so overused that the stronger the handshake and the longer the eye contact, the more uncomfortable […]
Winning prospects’ trust doesn’t begin with building rapport—despite years of expert testimony to the contrary. To kick off solid relationships with prospective customers, you’ll need to focus on one thing: positioning yourself as trustworthy. Suppose a couple, after spending an hour in your office, leaves thinking exactly the same way they did when they arrived. […]
Clients learn about us by what we do and not what we say. Our actions reflect what is most important to us. If our customer contact time is spent talking about our products, our services, and ourselves, the customer soon understands what is truly important to us and it is not the customer. As Peter […]
Though we would like to build deep relationships, mass marketing methods eliminate this possibility. The nature of mass marketing is pushing a product or service into the marketplace. In mass marketing we try to push ourselves into the life of our client. Resistance is created at the start. We are successful, only because our sales […]
Since 2000, the customer has changed and no one has informed Corporate America. Clients do not act as quickly on recommendations and many in the sales professions complained that clients are harder to close. What was once easy was now becoming difficult. Top producers in every industry are finding business complicated and less enjoyable. The […]
For the twenty-five year period, beginning in the mid 1970’s and ending in 1999, the financial markets basked in the sunshine of client trust. An entire generation lived constantly in a buy mode, dealing with whoever had the best story or the most exciting advertising. Solicitation was the game of the day. Sale techniques improved […]
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