For more business, refocus from ‘get’ to ‘give’

Most financial advisors and insurance professionals are taught to prospect by marketing themselves to prospective clients. They put in long hours and spend good money on lead lists, social media and other marketing activities. Often, they notice that despite their best efforts, not much is happening. They aren’t growing and getting great clients.

If this is where you are, try this for the next month:

Slow down your conversations, and be there to give and not get.

Everyone you talk with needs you to listen and to serve. Create relationships based on service, and you’ll find plenty of business.

Clients and prospects can sense whether you are there to sell to them, or get, which feels like it’s about you serving yourself instead of serving them.

Advisors who are struggling to grow their business are focused all day on what they can get. As a result, they’re not getting much of anything. Those focused on what they can give are getting a lot. So, are you giving or getting?

The get scenario works like this:

The financial advisor meets with a prospect and begins the sale, ending the conversation with an awkward request or question. The prospect almost replies with something like, “Let me think about it.”

In most cases, the primary reason for this reaction is the prospect doesn’t see how your offer is of value to them. You didn’t listen deeply, and so you didn’t ask questions that were meaningful to them. You gave very little, and now you want a contract to keep on doing the same. I would need some time to think about that too!

That’s the world of get. But getting doesn’t lead to business. “I want” and “I need” push people away.

Another reason the get approach isn’t working is that it’s uncomfortable for the advisors. If an advisor is telling herself, “I really must sell today. I want money. I need a client,” her subconscious doesn’t like hearing this much more than the client does. So, her subconscious says, “I understand, but let’s procrastinate on this one. You can sell tomorrow when you feel better and can better withstand the pain of it.”

The give scenario works like this:

The world of give is very different. Prospects feel that you’re serving them from the moment your conversation begins, and when it’s time for you to leave, the urge to continue what you started with them is strong. In the give world, when you eventually talk about your planning, management fees or premiums, they already have a sense that you and your products and services are worth the money. They want to continue working with you.

If you were taught to live in the get world and find that it’s not working — or you’re avoiding the activities that keep your business growing — move to the give world and see what happens.

Sandy Schussel is a performance acceleration coach who has been working with financial advisors for more than 20 years, helping them break through to higher production levels. Contact him to learn how he can help you make selling the least of your concerns.

For additional ideas to successfully attract more clients, read

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