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For many advisors, selling has turned into a performance where you try to impress your potential client, rather than connect with them at a deep level about their specific issues, that made them seek you out in the first place.
The typical advisor process consists of breaking the ice, building rapport, then building momentum towards the sale by educating them about potential solutions.
Even though they appear to be interested, they often times remain indecisive about hiring you, a disappointing but not surprising outcome.
You’re probably used to rationalizing the non-decision by telling yourself: “Selling is a numbers game... I just need to get more leads and have more meetings”.
But it may never have occurred to you that the real reason you're not converting new clients at the rate that you want, is because of your sales approach itself, and nothing else.
Unless you build very deep trust in the first meeting, your prospects will continue to be indecisive and say things like: “I need to think about it”, “I need to talk it over with my wife”, “I'll get back to you”, etc.
The only way to elevate your sales game is to shift your perspective from seeing the sale as being about you and your expertise, to being about your prospect and their issues.
They've come to you because there’s some financial issues that’s beyond their ability to handle on their own.
You’re the expert in this situation and they wouldn't be talking to you if they didn't already think that.
So the initial sales meeting is not the time to perform and to prove you’re an expert.
It's the time to confirm the authority status you’re already perceived as having, by diagnosing their issues and then telling them, respectfully but firmly, the truth of the seriousness of their situation.
That’s how an authority operates and it’s what your prospect’s subconsciously are looking for – someone who will tell them the truth they need to hear.
Hiring you is an emotional decision, not a rational decision.
Your prospect’s hiring process is determined by your ability to clarify and simplify the complexity of their issues.
Basing the sale on your ability to provide information allows a disconnect to grow between you and your prospect, because while you're trying to impress them with what you know, it's going in one ear and out the other.
When they’ve gone away to “think about it”, they’ll feel like you didn't really get to the heart of their issue and want to still “shop around”.
Of course, the gurus would say you can prevent this by “following-up”.
But the truth, once they’re off your calendar, their in a black hole.
Chasing them (which is what “following up” is) will only lower their perception of your value and convince them you’re not the one to go with.
The standard advisor sales process is a performance that your average prospect has seen before -- it doesn’t differentiate you and doesn’t help them see why they should go with you instead of somebody else.
Building deep trust, where they decide on the spot that you're the one for them, is a different skill set to what traditional selling teaches.
Traditional selling positions you alongside others in your market who are using the same sales process, allowing your prospect to compare you with the competition and “shop” you as one of many.
To convert more prospects to clients from the same amount of leads you’re getting now, you need to ditch the performance–based sales approach and adopt a trust-based approach.
You need to become problem-centric rather than solution–driven, placing the onus on your prospect to trust you to solve their problem for them.
To learn more about trust–based selling, order your complimentary books and consultation below.
Related: It’s Not About the Sale, It’s About the Truth
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.