In most cases the correct thing to do is give up. What, you gasp, “but my mentor told me that persistence is everything and to get six no’s before I give up and to…” This type of persistence is needed by poor advisors with lousy marketing plans chasing poor prospects. Wealthy successful advisors do not chase prospects. Their time is too valuable (as your time should be).
Why doesn’t the prospect want your product? Odds are, they were unqualified or uninterested from the beginning. Did they express initial interest? In other words, did they under their own power come to a seminar, respond to a direct mail offer, or call from an ad, television or radio commercial? If they did not make the first move and “raise their hand” indicating interest, then why are you bothering them in the first place? Wealthy producers only talk to people who have expressed interest.
Why doesn’t the prospect want your product? Because it’s not suitable for them. You ascertain this in the first five minutes of conversation, usually on the phone before you meet them. Wealthy producers always qualify people on the phone as to interest and suitability before meeting. The wealthy producer’s time is so valuable, he does not have time to meet with unsuitable prospects. When a wealthy producer ascertains that the prospect is unsuitable/uninterested for his product, he thanks the prospect for their time and withdraws because he can use that time to meet with a prospect that is suitable.
Why doesn’t the prospect want your product? Because you have poor sales skills. I don’t mean you are not good at explaining your product’s features and benefits. I don’t mean that you are not good at convincing people and pushing them to action. I mean you are not good at asking questions. Selling, when done by a master, is about asking questions. In fact, a master can sell his product to anyone by doing very little speaking and simply asking appropriate questions. Selling, when mastered, is the asking of appropriate questions so that the prospect sees the correct solution for himself. If you spend most prospect meetings doing the talking, that’s not selling, that’s talking at the prospect.
Why doesn’t your prospect want your product? Because you are focused on your agenda, not their agenda. They sense immediately that your goal is to sell your stuff, not to help them. Sure, you tell yourself that if they buy your stuff, that’s helping them. That may be, but you have taken this for granted for so long, you forget that some people may not benefit by your stuff. But you keep pushing away and the prospect is turned off by the sales person.
Why doesn’t your prospect want your product? Because they have no reason to trust you. They already have distrust in the financial services industry due to major brokerage houses selling stocks with no future, insurance companies churning policies, mutual fund companies giving preference to large customers and CEOs of major corporations confusing the shareholders money with their own. Since you are part of the financial services industry, they don’t trust you either. What could you do to gain trust?
- Have you done anything to show that you’re a professional and not another huckster wanting to get into their pocket?
- Have you set up a website with information about you, your background, your licensing and unbiased information about insurance and investments?
- Have you obtained credentials that prove your expertise in your field?
- Have you educated yourself in your competitor’s products and the entire product category so that you are able to help the prospect with pros and cons rather than just pushing your product?
Professional sales people hear a lot of “yes',” Here’s why
- They only talk to prospect who have expressed interest
- They qualify the prospect as suitable in a few minutes
- They realize that people don’t trust the industry so they have obtained credentials, set up a website, developed a nice brochure to prove their credibility and stability
- They are focused on the prospect’s agenda and not the sale of their stuff
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