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Are you noticing a drop in new client acquisition?
It might be that your sales process is based on a fundamental misconception.
And it could be that correcting this idea is the breakthrough you’ve been searching for.
The traditional advisor sales model centers around building a relationship with your prospect before you even make the sale.
Here’s the common thinking:
For your prospect to hire you, they first need to like you.
Before they can like you, they need to get to know you, and you need to get to know them.
It’s common to shoot for instant “chemistry” in the first meeting.
Then, you need several more interactions to nurture the relationship until they’re ready to hire you.
On paper, this makes sense, and it used to work well.
But here’s the flaw when you apply it in real life:
Your prospect doesn’t need to like you to trust you.
The idea that a pre-relationship with you is required to hire you, is outdated.
Sure, relationships matter, but they take too long to develop pre-sale.
You need to stop trying to build relationships before the sale, instead you build them after the sale.
There just isn’t enough time for it before.
How can you build a “business relationship” with someone if you haven’t done any business with them yet?
Here’s a more effective approach:
For your prospect to hire you, they need to have a problem that you can solve.
Before they can think about hiring you to solve it, they first need to understand the consequences of not solving the problem.
Instead of focusing on building rapport, focus on identifying and thoroughly diagnosing their problem.
When you do this, they can trust you without needing to like you or even understand how you’ll solve their problem (just like a doctor).
With this problem-focused approach, you can build trust and gain a new prospect in a single meeting.
The trust you need is very different from the “know and like” trust that most people build in social situations (which tends to be surface-level).
The reason most advisors struggle with conversions is because they believe selling works the same way as forming a personal relationship.
But it doesn’t.
Selling isn’t about being friendly and hoping that a relationship will lead to a sale.
It’s about being trusted to solve a problem and reaching an agreement to do business immediately, which can lead to an ongoing relationship after the sale.
You can’t do this unless you’re perceived as a trusted authority.
Trusted authorities build business relationships, but they do it after the sale (when it becomes effortless), not before.
To learn more about how to think like a trusted, order your complimentary books and consultation below.
Related: How to Eliminate 'Maybe' and Close More Deals in Sales Meetings
Get Ari’s 6 best-selling books for FREE here and you’ll also receive a Complimentary Sales and Lead Generation Consultation (value $995.00). Ari Galper is the world’s number one authority on trust-based selling and is the most sought-after high-net-worth new client acquisition expert for financial advisors. His latest books "Are You Chasing Ghosts", "Trusted Authority" and "Trust In A Split Second" have become instant best-sellers among financial advisors worldwide, get your free books here.