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How do you sound authoritative when you’re young, inexperienced, or both?
It’s the elephant in the room: you have no grey hairs, you’re recently licensed, and you look younger than you actually are.
This was the challenge that an advisor mentioned to me last week. He said, “I’ve just started in the industry, I look way younger than I am and, understandably, I’m concerned this is a question on people’s minds. Or, sometimes, they actually mention that I seem like I haven’t been around for too long.”
To which I responded, “Firstly, you’re going to love this when you’re 65 because you’ll only look like you’re 40!”
But yes, understandably, it is a potential problem for you as an advisor and something that many advisors are concerned about, unless they have a great response to bring into that conversation. You want to be able to mention succinctly and confidently,
“I may be young and not so seasoned in the industry, but principles never change. Principles never change, and I’ve known I’ve wanted to be in this industry, helping people with their longer-term financial objectives for a while now.
Finally, I’ve gotten licensed, I’ve joined a great firm, and together we’re providing great resources and information and helping clients get through and navigate those financial concerns that are on their minds.
I don’t just follow stocks. Markets go up and down by the second, and that’s not so much what I get involved in. I talk about and we help people with questions and concerns that matter most.”
When you bring out that language, you’re clarifying for people, regardless of how old you are, you get the issues (whether they do or not). You’re telling them, “Here are the issues,” and that’s fantastic because it lets them know, regardless of what they think, you know what’s most important. You know what they need to be addressing most.
So if you’re feeling a little bit concerned or self-conscious about these issues because you’re relatively new in the industry or young and new in the industry,
- Anticipate the question and be ready to respond. You know it’s going to come, and even if it doesn’t, get comfortable and confident to address the concern yourself.
- Have the words ready. To be able to address that confidently yourself, you need to know exactly what you’re going to say. Practice the words. You want this question to come out because it may be something they don’t verbalize but are thinking.
- Don’t be discouraged. You’re not going to land every prospect to talk to, and you simply can’t add 10 years onto your life. It just takes time. Set a disciplined process to learn this language, get super comfortable with it, and look for the opportunities to deliver it. Sure, out of the gate, you might not land every new prospect. For the ones who don’t come on board with you, it’s their loss.
Eventually, you’ll get so comfortable delivering these words, no matter who you talk with, you’re going to leave a compelling mark in their minds.
Related: Why Advisors Should Be Careful Saying These Nice Words