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This is part 1 of a two-part series on sales and the referral process. Next week will be on the opposite side of the ledger, so to speak.
When looking to sell to business owners, it pays to be specific and strategic. One of my favorite sales books is by Keenan, titled “Gap Selling.” He shares a brilliant and approachable way to figure out what needs to happen to have a good sales meeting between you and the prospect.
Today, however, we are talking about getting appointments by referral with business owners.
When selling to business owners, larger organizations have advantages in servicing those clients. Specifically, in the world of financial services, we are talking about in-house talent and specialty products. These products, less available and often more expensive outside of the larger institutions, are a big part of the sales strategy of those companies and rightly so.
The challenge is in the ‘getting the meeting’ part of the picture and the ‘getting the prospect to be a client' side. I think we would all agree that referrals are solid gold when it comes to getting meetings with business owners who are actually looking forward to meeting us.
How do you make that meeting better before you show up? Be human.
As a financial advisor at a large firm like Wells Fargo or Morgan Stanley, you are going to have the credibility of the institution behind you…and your prospect is going to be thinking of the institution more than of you initially. This is true even if you are being referred through a personal connection.
How to be human?
This is where the compliance departments and the individual advisors' comfort zones need to expand. You need to be human when they find you…before the meeting. Where and how?
Social media represents a massive opportunity for you and your institution. Instead of focusing on products and services (you know, all that regulated stuff) for sharing on social, focus on you. Remember, the only truly unique thing in selling by referral is you.
Your competition on the independent and smaller side is going to leverage their easier compliance environments and their more agile team size to play up that they are more human and more caring. You need to counter that in advance by making sure that when they look you up online (and prospects are doing it more and more), they find out who you are when you aren’t selling stuff.
I want to know about you, your family, your hobbies, and your thoughts on life. Too much of what gets posted on social media is ‘safe’ and, as a direct result, not valuable. If you are working with high-value clients, they are going to figure out who you are and what you believe. It is actually better — if they are going to hate you after they get to know you — that they figure this out before they invest millions with you. Remember, the only person that loves an idealogue is another one.
I get a lot of business from sharing about my family and my fly fishing addiction (I mean hobby). It allows prospects to get to know me before they meet with me and I am told it is one of the factors in deciding to work with me.
All the advantages you have from being a part of a big institution are present and ready to help you acquire and service business owners. They are a vital part of how you compete and win. Don’t forget to counter the disadvantage of huge size by being more human online.