MANY YEARS AGO, AS A MEMBER OF the training department for a major financial services institution, I spent much of my time creating scripts for financial advisors to use in their prospecting or sales activities. Most scripts were designed, in the first case, to ask for referrals or, in the second case, to help close the sale.
Over time, these “canned pitches” not only lost their appeal but became the subject of disdain as the industry progressed from “selling” to a more consultative approach. “Seventeen ways to close a sale” no longer seemed appropriate or necessary.
Recently, however, a number of advisors have asked me to role-play in conversations they’d like to have with clients and centres of influence (COIs) when seeking introductions and referrals. In almost every instance, I get comments such as “That was really smooth” or “You are very good at this.” As nice as those compliments are for my ego, I have realized that all I was really doing was falling back on those early scripts I’d written and the hundreds of times I’d practised them.
That reinforces a belief I have that many of today’s advisors would benefit from a little old-fashioned sales training.
Although not a substitute for actual training, Winning More Business in Financial Services: How to Score Big With referrals and Networking by Michael Salmon is a worthwhile read for advisors seeking to develop language they can use and the confidence they need in asking for introductions to potential clients. Salmon is CEO of a prominent sales consulting firm that has delivered his “super-networking” concept to dozens of financial services firms and their top-performing advisors. And while many of the scripts suggested in the book take me back 30 years, it is clear they have stood the test of time; today, advisors could easily adapt these scripts to fit their own personality and comfort.
I like that this book does more than simply offer words to use in various situations. Salmon insists on a methodical approach to client-acquisition activities, in which you first setting clear objectives of what you want to accomplish, and when and how. For example: “Bring in $15 million of new assets over the next 12 months by leveraging our personal and professional network of contacts to work with more people who are about to sell or have recently sold a business.”
Once your objectives are set, the next step is to think about how they can be accomplished. For example, you might ask lawyers and accountants you know for introductions to their clients who are about to sell a business or have done so recently. Or you might hold a “selling your business” seminar for existing business-owner clients and have them invite other business owners they know.
With a strategy in place, you identify your “network of essential partners,” including current clients, COIs, professional contacts, suppliers, family, close friends and casual acquaintances. You then categorize your network into As (advocates), Bs (buddies), Cs (casual contacts) and Ds (diamonds in the rough). You create a checklist of who you are going to contact and what you are going to ask for.
At this point, the book begins to introduce specific language for each situation. As important as what to say, the book also provides several examples of what not to say, such as: “Do you know of anyone who may have a need for my services?”
Instead, Salmon suggests being very specific about the type of person you are seeking and to ask in a way that makes the potential referrer comfortable by saying something like this:
“I’d like to meet a couple of business-owners who are at that stage in their lives at which they might need help in thinking about how and when they are going to sell their business or pass it on to someone else. The best way for me to do that is through a warm introduction. And I thought of you because you run in those circles. Are there two or three business owners you know that you’d feel comfortable introducing me to, just so they are aware of me as a resource if they need one?”
The book contains a number of vignettes of specific situations in which advisors have been able to achieve significant results simply by changing the wording of their referral requests. There also is a great chapter on dealing with the “what ifs,” such as: “What if I know someone socially and want them as a client?” and “What if I have to get past an assistant to reach a referral?”
I still don’t believe in canned pitches, but I do believe in organized presentations. The appeal of this book for me is its ability to help you make that transition by changing your approach so that “prospecting” is replaced by “networking.”
Winning More Business in Financial Services
by Michael Salmon, McGraw Hill;
220 pages, US$40
© 2012 Investment Executive. All rights reserved.