Career-changing ideas

During your career, you encounter a few ideas that change your perspective on your career and push you to the next level. Two longtime MDRT members talked about some of the ideas that changed their careers.

Tony Gordon (on right) talks with Alessandro Forte.

Handling objections

“People naturally want to object,” said Alessandro Forte, Dip PFS. If you push back on the client, though you’ll create client conflict, which you don’t want to do. Instead, welcome the objection. You don’t necessarily need to agree with it, he said. Nonetheless, embrace it by saying, “I’m so pleased you mentioned that,” or “Thank you for being so honest.”

“We need the opportunity to explore this roadblock,” Forte said. “The answer will always be yes from the client if you ask a logical question.”

Setting the tone for first meetings

Another idea that was a game-changer for Forte was making the first meeting one of equals, in which both the advisor and prospect determine if they like and trust each other.

Forte also lets the client know that quality of his advice is based entirely on the information the client provides. This helps him work with clients who may be reluctant to share information. This shifts responsibility to the client.

Building trust

Establishing trust with clients is crucial. Finding clients through referrals is one of the best ways to quickly build trust, said 40-year MDRT member Tony Gordon. The hardest decision a person makes in their life is to trust someone. “When a client says, ‘I want to think about it,’ that’s not what they mean. They trying to decide if they can trust you,” he said.

Gordon takes the stall as a challenge and as an indication the client is interested. It also tells him he may not have talked to the client enough and given them enough reasons to do business with him. He offers that advisors should spend more time getting to know their client. “Learn about them and they’ll buy into the solutions you offer,” he said.

Sometimes clients don’t understand how life insurance works. When that happens, Gordon explains it by saying, “Life insurance is risk management. It transfers the risk to the insurance company, who can afford to manage the risk.”

Gordon, of Bristol, England, and Forte, of London, England, are longtime friends and Top of the Table members. Between the two of them, they have nearly  60 years of Top of the Table qualifications. They reflected on what made them stand out in the financial service profession in the 2017 Annual Meeting presentation, “A conversation: A journey to success.” 

Written by Antoinette Tuscano, Content Specialist