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No More Think About Its
No More Think About Its
by Steve Lewit 02/02/12
Perhaps the biggest hurdle or Landmine in the selling process is the stall that is a think about it in disguise or an outright think about it itself. There’s no worse feeling than spending three or four meetings with a client, putting together a terrific plan on their behalf, having them tell you how much they like it, and then hearing them say something like:
“Steve, this is a truly great plan. All we need is a little time to mull it over and
then we’ll be ready to go. How about we give you a call in a couple of weeks?”
Customers keep the think about it stall in their hip pockets, their ace in the hole. They play this card when they feel uncertain and under pressure (usually from you). It is the ‘touchdown’ of the client’s basic strategy with you (and all other sales professionals) to get information from you without making any commitment on their part. In other words, the client’s plan is to get you all excited about getting them as a client.
Like peacocks, clients strut their feathers (their pain, losses, concerns, stresses, etc.) in front of you. As they do, you become increasingly more excited that you will make a sale, so much so that you go back to your office, loaded with their data, and spend hours putting together a plan. When you present their plan they nod in agreement right up until you go for the ‘close.’ When they feel the close, they back away and ultimately hide behind their ace in the hole stall, “Thanks, but no thanks, we need to think it over!”
Think about its darn near got me out of this business. I remember so many sales calls where everything was going great, so great that I thought there was no way I couldn’t make the sale, and then, with the uttering of just a few words, my selling world would collapse with yet another sale biting the think about it dust. And, along with my selling world collapsing, so would my self-esteem. I knew that I now would have to move from selling mode into chase mode. And, if you are in sales, which all of you reading this Letter are, you know that chasing customers is time consuming, inefficient, and degrading. No one wants to have to chase people to earn a living.
If I didn’t eliminate think about its from my selling, I wouldn’t be here today. Here’s how I did just that.
Steve Lewit’s Selling World
Three things need to happen to make certain that clients will make clear yes or no decisions at the appropriate time during a sales call:
1. First and foremost, you yourself must be making clear yes or no decisions
during the sales call regarding your client.
Think of it this way. Your clients will reflect back to you your very own attitude.
This might sound subtle but it’s very real and very powerful. During your sales
call, if your clients don’t feel your willingness to walk away from them and your
sale, if they don’t feel your independence and confidence, if they see you
wavering and unable to make a clear ‘no’ decision about them, they will give
you clear decisions in return.
Let’s say your client has a lot of money but is a very difficult person to work
with. If that client feels you chasing him, that he can do or say almost anything
and that you will be okay with whatever it is, he will ultimately decide that he is
in control of the process and if wants to give you a stall, he will.
On the other hand, clients who see you as discriminating; a person who makes
decisions, especially decisions about who you want to work with and who you
don’t want to work with; a financial professional who is sending a clear message
that says:
“If you are not willing to meet me and work with me in a mutually agreeable way, I don’t care how much money you have, we aren’t together.”
They will follow your lead and give you what you need while getting what they need. Your meeting becomes one of mutual respect rather than salesperson and prospect. Decisions get made, which is both good for you and good for your client.
2. You must lay out your sales process
Clients typically don’t like the unknown; it makes them feel unsafe, uncomfortable
and they don’t know when they are supposed to do things. When clients feel
fear, discomfort or confusion, their first reaction will be to bail out from the
meeting. That bail always comes in the form of some type of think about it stall.
It’s a gut reaction which they have used to protect themselves successfully over
and over again in the past. So, they will use it on you too.
Lay out your sales process clearly, and let your client know what you expect at each point. Mine looks like this:
“John, let me explain to you how I work, okay? After all, if you don’t like how I work, our meetings won’t go very well will they?
John, I have a three meeting process – Discuss, Design, Decide. The first meeting, the Discuss meeting, the one we are having today is just to talk with each other and see if we are a good fit…. if you like me and, candidly, if I like you. If this meeting goes well then we move to the next meeting.
The Design meeting is where we put our heads together and design strategies to help you meet your goals. I don’t gather all your information, go back to the office and prepare a plan and present it to you. After all, the plan I might design may not be the plan you want. So we do it together, collaboratively, and most of the second meeting focuses on us building your plan.
Now, along the way, I will be giving you the pros and cons of everything we talk about. That’s my job. Your job, you have a job too, is to give me the yesses and nos to what we discuss. Now, if that meeting goes well we’ll move on to the third meeting.
The Third meeting is the Decide meeting. In this meeting I’m going to have your strategies laid out in detail. Again, I’ll give you the pros and the cons, that’s my job, and your job, again, is to give me a yes or no.
If you say no, that’s okay. I’ll still be your friend and you don’t have to run away from me if you see me in the street.
If you say yes, then we’ll implement your program.
John, do you see any reason that we can’t work that way together?”
Conclusion
By laying out your process and getting a buy in from your client, you level the playing field between you and your clients and, at the same time, you earn respect. Clients want leadership and direction. At the same time they want collaboration and respect. By putting out on the table exactly what you want and expect, you will be amazed at clients’ willingness to give it to you. Getting a clear yes or a clear no, eliminating think about its, is easier than you think. All you need to do is ask!
Until next time,
Steve Lewit
CEO & Founder
Wealth Financial Group
Liberating Your Client from Their Advisor
Liberating Your Client from Their Advisor
by Steve Lewit 01/27/12
First, let’s understand that every client has an advisor – either a formal relationship with a financial professional, or an informal relationship with someone else. These informal arrangements can range from being their own advisor, depending on the advice of a TV celebrity, newsletter, radio host, or perhaps relying on a friend, relative, their accountant, attorney etc. The point is this, there is always an advisor in the picture and if you don’t deal with that advisor early on in the meeting process (usually the first 20 minutes) you could waste a lot of time and energy and watch your frustration levels climb through the roof.
Steve Lewit’s Selling World
My selling system is built on eliminating Landmines (Objections) before they come up and before any Presentation is given. One of the major Landmines that creates stalls and ‘think about its,’ is the client’s current advisor. The worst thing I could hear at the end of three meetings is,
“Thanks Steve. Just let my run this by ______ and see what he thinks of
it. It’s looking pretty good to me but give me a couple of weeks and I’ll be
back to you!”
Let’s take a look at how to proceed and take the advisor out of the decision process.
1. Identify who the advisor is and how long that relationship has been going on for.
Within the first 15 minutes ask this simple question,
“By the way Jim, who’s helping you manage your money now?
How long have you been using this advisor (managing the money
on your own)?
2. Test your client’s relationship with the advisor.
“Oh, that’s interesting. ______ years is a pretty long time in our
business. You must feel pretty comfortable with him (doing it
yourself)?”
This question expresses your appreciation of relationship to your client. It also
gives your client a chance to come back at you and say that he or she is not so
comfortable. Whatever your client answers you ask follow up questions – Can you
tell me more about that; can you be a little more specific?
3. Try to rebuild or solidify your client’s relationship with the advisor.
Most agents try to undermine the relationship with their client’s advisor. We are
going to take a totally different tact. We are going to help make that relationship
better, even if your client says negative things about their advisor. It might sound
something like this,
“Jim, sounds like your advisor has done pretty good by you overall,
but has made a few mistakes here and there. That could
happen to anybody, even the best of advisors. Are you being
too tough on him?”
4. Try and send your client back to the advisor
Now, here’s how you liberate your client from their advisor. Just send them back
by saying,
“Jim, I really appreciate you telling me about the issues you’d
like to solve. I’ve been thinking here, since you already have
a trusting relationship with an advisor (with yourself as your
own advisor, etc) that perhaps you should be really sitting in
front of that person instead of with me? He may be able to
help you and you already know him well. Does that make
sense to you?”
Now, one of two things will happen. Your client will say you are right and leave.
While this rarely happens, if it does, great. Otherwise you would have spent a
lot of time and gotten a ‘think about it’ at the end.
More often, your client will begin tell you all the reasons why he feels his current
advisor can’t help him and how much he wants to work with you. All you do here
is nod your head in appreciation, ask your client to tell you more and to be more
specific.
5. Create more problems for your client to consider
Most financial professionals try and make separating from an old advisor an easy
process. The fact is that it’s not. Always keep in mind that your client has built a
relationship (for better or worse) with this advisor. Relationships, even poor ones,
are hard to break. So, don’t try and soften the blow.
“Jim, leaving your current advisor is never easy, because you
have a relationship with him. It’s going to be even harder
than you think. I don’t know if I can help you, but if I can,
you are going to have to move funds from your advisor to me.
When he gets wind of this he’s going to come down hard on
you, telling you to come in and review what you are doing
and that he could do that too. How do you plan on handling
that if we get that far?”
Now your client has to rehearse with you just what he is going to say to his
advisor. If he balks here and you get the feeling that he will collapse under the
pressure, than you need to end the sales process. Otherwise, you are going
to get a think about it stall at the end. When you ask Question #4 and #5 you
reverse the selling roles – instead of you selling your client on leaving his
advisor, your client now has to sell you that he or she is willing to leave the
advisor and can handle the pressure the advisor will place on him. Now you
are the client and your client is the salesperson. Done correctly, my whole
system is designed, in each phase, to reverse the sales roles.
6. Follow through and repeat this process at every sales call
Liberating your client from their advisor is not a one shot process. Every time
you meet, you need to begin the meeting by addressing the current advisor,
your thinking that that advisor could possibly handle your client’s problem, and
making sure that your client can handle the pressure that the advisor will place
upon them when the advisor learns that funds are leaving.
Conclusion
Most financial professionals recognize that a client may have an advisor. But, the advisor they are looking for is a professional advisor. Understanding that clients have many kinds of advisors and that these relationships are difficult to break will help you diffuse this critical Landmine, save time, and have more successful results.
Until next time,
Steve Lewit
CEO & Founder
Wealth Financial Group
In the Beginning was the First Five Minutes
In the Beginning was the First Five Minutes
by Steve Lewit 01/04/12
Everything has a beginning. And many believe, as I do, that how you begin something will determine how it ends. Unfortunately, in traditional selling, we have been taught that the end, the close, is the most important part of the selling process. Let’s take a closer look.
Many of you know that I was a professional opera singer. My voice coach was like a drill master. It was his way or the highway. When I first started coaching with him, every time I started to sing an aria he would stop me after a couple of phrases and tell me to start again. This went on and on until I got so frustrated I said,
“This is ridiculous. I have a whole aria to sing and I can’t even get a few
notes out with you. What is that all about?”
My coach looked me in the eyes and said,
“Steve, do you want to be a good singer or a great singer? If you want
to be good we can keep going. However, if you want to be great you
have to begin great, then all the rest will follow. Just listen to all the
great singers… they are great right from the very first sound they utter.
We can’t go on until your first note is great.”
So, that’s what we did. And, he was right. Although I ultimately gave up the music world (I did not like the lifestyle of being away from family weeks on end) everywhere I auditioned I received compliments about how I approached my music and the quality of my singing from beginning to end.
Well, in sales, it’s the same way. Instead of focusing on closing and all the objections that brings with it, if you focus on the opening, the first five minutes, everything else will fall into place and you will receive high grades (closed sales) wherever and with whomever you meet.
Steve Lewit’s Selling World
I hope you’ve read my last series on Taking the Objection Out of Objections. Remember, our goal is to bring up objections, or what I call Landmines, first and diffuse all the Landmines before we give any information, solution or Presentation. In that way the sale is actually closed before you give away your candy. If you haven’t seen my list of Landmines, you can download it by clicking here.
Okay, so let’s start our first meeting with a client. Remember, minimal amount of small talk or warm up. It’s old and clients would rather just get down to business.
Your first key question: Thanks for coming in. In thinking about your
finance, what would make this a good meeting for you? In other
words, when you folks are driving home in your car and talking to each
other, you say that this was one of the best meetings you’ve ever been
to. What would that take?
Never start by talking about yourself or your company. Even if people don’t know you, start by talking about them. Your goal is to see the world through their eyes; their wants, needs, preferences, likes, dislikes, inclinations and emotions. Don’t take the position that you are an expert (even though you are); take the position that you can help your clients get where they want to go better than they can themselves. But, they need to tell you rather than you tell them what their problems are.
Your client’s first answer is never the real reason they came to see you. Many say that they are getting low returns; getting killed in the market, want a secure income. It doesn’t matter, none of these are the real issue and your sales will be limited if you address these right off. You need to dig below these surface issues and find out if there are emotional drives attached to their reason for coming e.g. I’m losing money in the market and it causes me stress and fighting with my spouse. If there is no emotion attached to the issue, there will be no sale.
Let your clients answer this question, then dig deeper until you can ask the most key emotion getting question, “How is all this effecting you personally?” Their negative emotion will drive them to change, to replace it with a better, more positive emotion. That’s how sales get made.
Key Question #2: On a scale of 0 – 10, where zero means that your
financial condition couldn’t be worse, and ten means that it is perfect,
couldn’t be better, how would you rank yourself?
Now you give your clients a chance to reveal a little more of themselves. Where do they think they stand? WHY do they think that? Do their answers dovetail with your first question about what would make this a good meeting?
Key Question #3: Suppose you could wave a magic wand and get
yourself from a 6 to a 9 (use your client’s numbers, of course), what
would have to happen?
Now your clients will reveal themselves even more. You will find out what they are thinking; what products they like or dislike; what they’ve heard; what they think possible or impossible.
Many of my clients say,
“Well, I’d like to win the lottery.”
I always send these clients a lottery ticket in the mail after the appointment with a handwritten note to have some fun with them.
Notice now, in this process, who is doing all the work – it’s your client. You are just asking questions that help you determine if there are Landmines that can’t be diffused.
Conclusion
If you are running into trouble at the end of your sales calls, I can assure you it’s not because you are a poor closer, it’s because you are a poor opener. Open your meetings with these three Key Questions and you will diffuse key Landmines that otherwise will hurt you at the end of your sales meeting process.
In these examples we will uncover whether or not the client has an emotional drive to change; a like or dislike of any specific strategy and product; their view of their financial life and what it would take to make it better; and whether a couple are on the same page with each other so that you don’t have to go into ‘marriage counseling’ mode before you can help them along.
In your coming sales meetings focus on this one small step of asking these three Key Questions. Then, let me know how it works out. I will be surprised if it doesn’t change your selling for the better instantly.
Until next time,
Steve Lewit
CEO & Founder
Wealth Financial Group
www.wfgnetwork.com
Taking the Objection Out of Objections (Part V of V)
by Steve Lewit 12/22/11
Note: My apologies up front in that this is a rather long Lewit Letter – I wanted to complete this series today.
Old school selling is a setup for failure. Perhaps a bold statement, but true; especially when it comes to handling objections. It teaches us to gather data, prepare a Presentation, trial close, and then handle objections. It even teaches us that the real sale starts when the customer gives us objections.
The problem is this, handling objections after you have given all your information (candy) to your clients puts them in immediate control of the meeting process. They have what they want (information) and you don’t have anything (commitment). Now you must chase as they create barriers and stalls to the sale.
In my selling world, as we have been looking at in the past four Lewit Letters, we reverse the process and handle all objections (I call them Landmines) at the beginning of the sale before we have given any information and before we make a formal Presentation or a plan or recommendation. In other words, the client gets no information (what they want) until we know that the Landmines have all been diffused and that there is a clear road to a clear conclusion of the meeting process, either a clear ‘yes’ to move forward or a clear ‘no’ that they don’t like what you are offering.
Have you downloaded my Landmine List yet? If not, please click here.
Steve Lewit’s Selling World
So far we have brought up and resolved Landmines 1 -11, all prior to giving any Presentation. Now let’s look at Landmines that deal with the product that you are offering.
Product Landmines are tricky in that you don’t want to give away product details until you know that the client is interested in the product idea itself. So, any product information must be framed in terms of the product concept. That means that you are not talking about any specific product, just the idea of using the product.
Here’s an example to clarify what I mean.
You are working with John and have diffused all other Landmines and now you need to know if he is interested in the product or products you are planning to use to solve his problem. Let’s say you are planning to use a Fixed Index Annuity. The question is, how do you get John’s buy-in for this product, resolve all the Landmines regarding this product, without giving him so much information (his goal) that he begins to get control of the meeting.
I would say,
“John, in thinking about your situation, there is a product that I think would be
suitable for you, however before I present any details, how about I run it by you to
see if we should keep it on the table or go in another direction. Fair enough?”
John will always say it is fair enough because you have given him the option of going in another direction.
“The product that I’m thinking of using is called a Fixed Index Annuity. You may
have heard about this product and some of the things you may have heard could
be positive and others could be negative. I’d like to educate you on how a FIA
works, the pros and the cons, and then have you tell me, as I said, to potentially
use it as a solution or take it off the table. Okay?”
John will usually tell you what he’s heard and will say okay.
Now, present the product and how it works in general. Do not get very specific (crediting methods or any other details which are confusing and outside the concept level of discussion), and along the way, raise each Landmine 12 – 15.
If you were discussing Assets Under Management then you would make the discussion about high level philosophy of management; if about Life Insurance, than a high level conceptual discussion of how it fits in.
Landmine #12: Fees are too high – money under management fees, surrender fees, rider fees.
I always raise the concept of fees early in the discussion of a product.
I typically preface this by saying,
“John, I’m sure you’ve heard that there are fees associated with annuities
(assets under management). Let’s get that out of the way before we even really
get started. First of all, the annuities I am recommending either have no out of
pocket fees or, if we want certain features, the out of pocket fee may be as high
as 1%. By the way, this is far less than the fees associated with Variable
Annuities which run as high as 3% – 3.5%. Is a fee range of nothing to 1%
tolerable for you or is that a deal killer before we even start?”
Use the same approach for Assets Under Management.
“John, before we even begin I want you to know that my fee is a little higher than
most and runs 1.75%. Now, I haven’t told you what you get for that but for some
people that’s a deal killer in itself. So, should I stop here or keep going?”
I have never had an instance where my client didn’t want to hear more.
Landmine #13: Don’t want to lose Liquidity
If you are recommending an annuity, liquidity is always on your client’s mind. So bring it right up early in your overview.
“John, let me position annuities for you. In my planning I always set up short
term money that you use for daily living; midterm money that is still liquid that
you can use for emergencies; and long term money, which is partially liquid and
creates the foundation of your asset allocation. For this foundation we often use
annuities. Now, we haven’t talked yet about the specific amount of your assets
we would deposit in this product because I don’t even know if you will like it.
But, does that sound reasonable that we build your assets into those three -
immediate, liquid term and long term semi-liquid buckets?”
I have never had another liquidity discussion after my client agrees to this on the concept level.
Landmine #14: Insurance companies might go out of business
In these volatile times this is on everyone’s mind. So better address it up front or otherwise it will lurk in your client’s mind and cloud the discussion.
“By the way, John, I was just thinking that in these volatile times that you might
be wondering what happens if the insurance company goes out of business.
Have you had that thought?”
John will say yes or will actually answer his own objection where you need say nothing else. If he doesn’t, then I say,
“John, annuities have been around for over 150 years and are guaranteed by the
claims paying ability of the insurance company. And certainly, over that time,
some insurance companies have come and gone. If you look back in history, when
it comes to the type of annuity I am teaching you about, a fixed annuity, there
have never been any recorded losses of principal that we can identify. In other
words, when the insurance company has gone out of business, another insurance
company takes over and continues to honor the contract. Now, I can’t look you in
the eye and tell you that you are 100% guaranteed that you won’t be the first
case because there is nothing that is 100% guaranteed. But is a no loss record
over 150 years enough for you? If it isn’t, then we might as well stop here.”
Again, I have never had a client bail at this point.
Landmines #15: Don’t’ like caps
Okay, you are presenting the FIA and you show how when the market goes down there are no losses and when the market rises interest is credited to the account. If you are using a chart that includes the movement of the S&P historically (American Equity has a good one), you can say,
“See, in a bull market the market outperformed the FIA, so many of my clients
were unhappy with me because they didn’t make as much as they could have
made in the market as their gains, in a FIA, are capped. But then the market
collapsed and they lost nothing. Suddenly I became their hero. So, the people
who use FIA’s in their allocations are willing to trade gain for the guarantee of no
losses. Does that make sense for you too?”
When you have segregated your client’s monies into short, medium and longer term money, most all will accept this tradeoff in order to build a sound financial foundation to their plan.
Conclusion
Well, this has been a five week journey on handling Landmines at the beginning of your sales calls, before you spend a lot of time and energy only to get blindsided after you have given away all your information.
I suggest you review your Landmine list and get to know each Landmine intimately. Then, have the courage to bring the Landmines up before your client does. If that Landmine becomes a deal killer, at least it will do so before you waste a lot of time.
Master your Landmines and your sales and your enjoyment of this business will go through the roof.
Until next time,
Steve Lewit
CEO & Founder
Wealth Financial Group
Taking the Objection Out of Objections (Part IV of V)
by Steve Lewit 12/14/11
Note: I originally thought I could give you the strategies to diffuse all of the objections in three Lewit Letters. Now I am finding that it will take a total of five. So this is Part IV of V.
In old school selling, objections are handled when they are brought up by the client after a Presentation. When objections are raised after the Presentation however, the client, having accomplished his mission of getting information from you without making any commitment in return, takes control of the meeting process.
In my selling world, you, the financial professional, raises all the Landmines (objections) before the Presentation and, of course, before the client does. In this way you keep control of the meeting. The Presentation is only given after all Landmines have been diffused and the sale is essentially closed.
Steve Lewit’s Selling World
If you’ve been following my Landmine List (download by clicking here), you know how to diffuse many of the key Landmines already. Now let’s turn to the final groups.
Landmine #9: Irrational thinking and will not align choices with Core Priorities
In my process I have to know what my client’s believe are their Core Priorities. I suggest you ask your clients to rank the following priorities in importance, where 1 is their highest priority and 4 is their lowest priority, near the very beginning of your first meeting. Typically, Preservation and Income come in ranked as #1 or #2, as in this example:
| Core Priority | Rank |
| Income | 2 |
| Preservation | 1 |
| Growth | 3 |
| Liquidity | 4 |
Once your client ranks their priorities you can test the rationality of their investment decisions. Many clients who put Preservation on top of their chart have an overwhelming majority of their assets invested in market based product (Red Money) which are at risk of loss. Preservation and risk are like oil and water. You can then ask how they arrived at this decision and lead them into a more rational thinking – one that aligns with their Core Priorities. It is on this basis that they will (or won’t) reposition assets into safer allocations (Green Money) where principle is protected, e.g. FIA’s or Market Linked CD’s.
Landmine #10: Irrational thinking leading to unrealistic expectations and outcomes
Once I know how much Red Money and Green Money my client has, along with his or her Core Priorities, I can then inquire into their Red Money thinking. Here you can ask two simple questions:
“When you sat down with your advisor (or yourself if they manage their own
money) and you agreed to what growth goal you want to aim for in your Red
Money e.g. 6%, 8%, 10%, what number did you agree on?”
Typically they have never had this conversation with their advisor. You can then ask how investment decisions get made. Your client will see the irrationality of what he or his advisor is doing.
The next question is a home run. Ask your client if they got their ‘number’ from their advisor. Their ‘number’ is the amount of assets they could possibly lose based on the growth they are aiming for. For example, your client is aiming for 8%. The question is,
“When you discussed the upside with your advisor, you then had a downside
discussion, how much money you could lose based on the upside you are
aiming for. How much potential loss did he tell you you had in your portfolio?”
Again, 99% of my clients have never had that discussion with their advisor.
These two questions will help you get your client out of irrational dreams or hopes and into reality about the type of portfolio he has, the potential risks in that portfolio (how did it do in 2008?), and the service he is getting from his advisor (or himself).
Landmine #11: Irrational thinking based on hope and misinformation
This Landmine is a corollary to Landmine #10 and much of your client’s unrealistic expectation will be diffused by using the above strategy. Now, if your client has done some research, especially on the internet, he or she will have gotten incorrect or exaggerated information, especially about products. I suggest you approach this type of misinformation with this question,
“John, are there any asset or product categories (I use the list from our Wealth
Experience Workbook) that you have a dislike for and that you absolutely don’t
want me to consider using in solving the problems we have been talking about?”
If your client brings up something like,
“I’ve heard bad things about Fixed Index Annuities,” your follow up is,
“Well, does that mean you’re are 100% against them or are you open minded
enough for me to teach you how they work, give you the pros and cons, and then
make a decision if we should use them or not?”
99% of your clients will say they are open-minded and then you can give them accurate information about the product or service you are talking about.
Conclusion
The process of diffusing Landmines first, before your client brings them up and before you do a whole lot of work, will pay off in spades, both for you and your client. Keep this in mind for your very next client call and let yourself begin to use at least one of these strategies so you can see how well they work.
In my next Lewit Letter we will complete the process and you will be a master of taking the objection out of objections.
Until next time,
Steve Lewit
CEO & Founder
Wealth Financial Group
The Lewit Letter – Taking the Objection Out of Objections (Part III of IV)
Taking the Objection Out of Objections (Part III of IV)
by Steve Lewit 12/01/11
Old school selling teaches us to handle objections when they come up. In my last Lewit Letters I’ve been pounding on this idea and demonstrated to you just how wrong old school selling is. There is nothing good that happens when your client brings up objections first; it takes control of the meetings away from you; puts you on the defensive – in that you are handling the objection when your client wants you to rather than when you want to; creates diversions that weaken your process and your results; and has you doing a lot of work for you client without knowing if he or she will buy.
On the other hand, recognizing that the road to a sale is always fraught with Landmines (objections) that can disrupt your sales, why not dig them up ahead of time; before you have done lots of work for your client, when you want to bring them up, eliminate them, and then go to work for your client since you know, once the Landmines are unearthed and diffused, it is highly likely the sale is going to close.
If you haven’t done so already, I suggest you download the 15 Core Landmines that I have identified in my selling. These are the Landmines I bring up and diffuse in the beginning of the sales process, before I give any Presentation whatsoever, not at the end, after the Presentation, as old school selling suggests. Click here to download my list now.
Steve Lewit’s Selling World
Let’s turn to the Landmines and continue to diffuse them:
Landmine #4: Fear of making yet another mistake or being burned again
Always remember that your clients have had bad experiences with financial professionals in the past. I have yet to meet a client who hasn’t, in some way, felt that he or she has been burned in the past by someone in our business. So, the very first step is to stop selling – no old school selling stuff at all!
Now, remember the Rule – if you know a Landmine you must bring it up first. So you could say something like,
‘John, I know that you have probably had a bad experience or two in the past in
working with someone like me. In fact, data shows that 92% of the people out
there don’t trust financial professionals. That’s not a very good record. Now, you
don’t really know me from Adam so right now there’s no reason that you should
trust me. But, the way I work is very simple; I give you all the pros and cons of
everything we talk about. That’s my job. Now, you have a job too. Your job is to
give me yeses and no’s. So, if you don’t like what I present or you somehow feel
uncomfortable with it, I want you just say ‘no’ that it is not for you. You don’t have
to worry about insulting me or running in another direction if you see me on the
street. I want you to know that a ‘no’ is perfectly okay with me. Fair enough?’
By giving clients permission to say ‘no’ they will relax. And, combined with the fact that they will feel no ‘sell’ from you, trust will build very quickly.
Landmine #5: The need to consult with someone else before making a decision
The last thing you want to hear after spending three or four meeting with a client is that they need to run your ideas by someone else. If that happens, in most cases, the sale is doomed. To be sure that doesn’t happen I say,
‘John, when you work with me you actually get me and a team of other
professionals that assist me in designing your plan – I use an attorney, estate
planner, tax professional and money managers where needed. Is there anyone
else on your team that you consult with before you make any decisions, or do you
handle all the decisions by yourself?’
If the appointment is a one legged appointment you could add,
‘John, I appreciate the fact that your wife is not interested in these kinds of things
and that you make all the decisions. Does that mean that you could write a check
if we got that far and you wouldn’t have to consult with her to do that?’
If your client says that that is not a problem then you are probably okay. If he says that he would have to run it by her, then I would suggest you get her to the next meeting. Unfortunately, it’s a gut call. I’ve done a lot of business where the husband said he just needs to run it by his wife but she will do whatever he decides.
This concludes the section on Landmines that prohibit the business transaction itself. Now let’s turn to the next set of Landmines, those that may come up regarding how you transact your business.
Landmine #6: Getting asked lots of questions, some of which may be personal
The Rule in my system is that if you are going to do something to someone, make sure to tell them first and get permission to do it. In my system we ask lots and lots of questions. To be sure that the client doesn’t feel like he or she is being grilled, ask permission first.
‘John, I tend to ask a lot of questions, some of which may be personal about your
finances. Will that be okay with you? I don’t want you to feel like you are being
grilled.’
John will always say okay. With permission you can get right to it without worrying about offending your client or making him feel uncomfortable.
Landmine #7: Making a clear ‘no’or a clear ‘yes’decision at the end of three meetings
I introduced the idea of getting to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ at the end of each meeting above as a way of giving your client permission to bail out at any time without having to worry about hurting your feelings. When I review how I work with a client I bring it up again because I also want to make sure that I eliminate any Landmine that translates into a stall tactic. So it would sound like this,
‘John, as I mentioned before, I like to work in a way that we get to clear yeses and
no’s and that a ‘no’ is perfectly okay with me. But, I want you to know ahead of
time that I don’t work with procrastinators. In other words, if we get to the end of
our process and you tell me that you have to think about it, I’m going to take that
as a ‘no’ and move on. In my experience when a person says they need to think
about it after two or three meetings then whatever I proposed is just not for them.
Will you be okay just giving me a yes or no so we each can be clear with the
other?’
By using this technique, I haven’t gotten a ‘think about it’ type stall in over 15 years of selling.
Landmine #8: Unwillingness to meet on a weekly basis
Have you ever had a client come in for the first meeting and then schedule their second meeting about a month later? It simply doesn’t work because it’s like starting all over again. To avoid that, as I am describing how I work I tell my clients that if we go forward I am going to be meeting with them on a weekly basis so that we don’t lose continuity and get to a clear decision. If they tell me they are going out of town in a week, I reschedule. I have found that clients who are willing to meet on a weekly basis almost always result in a sale.
Conclusion
Old school selling teaches us a manipulative process to get to the close. When the close comes up, old school selling then teaches us to handle all the objections and close again. Then, if the sale doesn’t close, the client gives some kind of a stall which then causes you to chase them because you haven’t gotten a clear ‘no’.
By bringing up Landmines first and then diffusing them with your client, your entire sales world will change. You will make more sales and you will never chase a prospect again. How about that for a change?
Until next time,
Steve Lewit
CEO & Founder
Wealth Financial Group
www.wfgnetwork.com
Lewit Letter – Taking the Objection Out of Objections (Part II of IV)
Taking the Objection Out of Objections (Part II of IV)
by Steve Lewit 11/03/11In my last Lewit Letter we began the process of releasing ourselves from the habits of traditional selling that work against us and actually cause us to lose more sales than we make.
In that light, last week I gave you a rule – to never make a Presentation unless you know that the sale is already complete – in other words, you have diffused all the objections (Landmines) that could possibly derail the sale prior to making the presentation.
We saw last week that old school selling, which teaches us to make a Presentation, handle all the objections, and then go for the close, is 180 degrees different from my approach. Making a Presentation prior to handling all the stalls and objections puts your client in control of the meeting and you in a corner. Clients get the information they want and then can use all their stall techniques to give you nothing in return. Old school selling is just too difficult, unpredictable and inefficient.
To change this dynamic, I suggested you make a list of all the Landmines that you could think of about your services, plans or products. My list, as you saw last week, contains fifteen Landmines in four different categories. If you would like to download a copy for yourself just click here.
Now that I know all the possible objections, I can design a game plan whereby I diffuse these objections prior to making any Presentation or giving away important information.
In other words, you will not give a Presentation without confirmation that sale will be going to a close (you have diffused all the Landmines prior to the Presentation).
So, let’s take each objection and see when and how we want to bring it up during our sales calls and just how to manage them.
Steve Lewit’s Selling World
Landmine #1: Insufficient emotional drive to make a change from their current situation
When I sit down with a customer the first thing I am looking for is why they came in and if they are emotionally motivated to making a change. Remember, all change comes from some type of emotional drive, not an intellectual understanding (although that is necessary, it is not sufficient to move a person to change). No emotion = no sale.
Always keep that in mind.
Here are my opening moves for all my sales calls:
1. ‘John, thanks for coming in. My goal today is just to talk with you for the next
hour and see if we are a good fit. Could you give me an idea of what brought
you in today and what would make this a great meeting for you?’
2. Once my client tells me why they came in I ask them the follow questions,
‘Could you tell me more about that; could you be more specific; how long has
that been going on for; and how is all that affecting you personally?’
This last question pierces through the client’s intellectuality and requires some
kind of an emotional response. That tells me a lot about how deep their
problem is and if they are emotionally affected by their problem.
3. To test the strength of their emotion I then ask my clients to rank their
financial condition from 1 – 10 where one means that their condition couldn’t
be worse and ten means it couldn’t be better. Let’s say that they say that
their rank is 6, I then ask them what it would take, if they could wave a magic
wand, to get them higher, let’s say to a 9. Once they tell me what that is I
can move to the final emotional test step.
4. Finally, to determine whether or not my client is emotionally motivated to
change I then ask, ‘John, I don’t know if I can help you or not, but suppose I
can’t, is the status quo an option for you?’
If they say that they can live with their pain then I know their emotion is not deep enough to cause a change; they will fall back into their comfort zone of staying where they are, even if what I present is better for them. So I disqualify these clients and move on. Afterwards, I never second guess myself as that is a sure road to spending a lot of time with poor prospects.
Landmine #2: Unwilling to leave their current advisor or let go of control if managing assets themselves
To diffuse this Landmine you will need a little courage. Most financial professionals try to separate their prospect from their current advisor by professing how poorly their advisor has performed and how much better the client would have been had they been working with them. This puts clients in a defensive or demeaning mode and they will naturally try and rationalize and defend their decision.
So, let’s employ a strategy that is 180 degrees different. Here’s the approach:
‘John, I see here that you’ve been with your advisor for quite a long time. That
tells me that you have probably developed a lot of trust in this person. Based on
that, I’m sitting here saying to myself that you should really be sitting with your
advisor and discussing these issues instead of me. Based on your history I’m fairly
certain that he may have a solution for you and you won’t then have to think about
starting a whole new relationship. Does that make sense?’
Now your clients will either give you all the reasons why they don’t want to go back to their current advisor or they will leave and do as you suggest. Interestingly enough, very few clients leave. After all, if they liked their advisor that much why would they come to see me in the first place? Either way, if they leave or stay, you win – your client tells you all their problems with their advisor instead of you trying to poke holes in their relationship; or your client leaves saving you a bundle of time.
Landmine #3: Unwilling to sell securities because market is down or up
Now, if my client decides to stay and not return to his current advisor, I can move on to this third Landmine.
‘John, once again I don’t know if I can help you or not, but if I can you may have to
sell some of your holdings. Sometimes when the market is as low (high) as it is
now people are just unwilling to do that, thinking that they need to wait to recoup
their losses or maximize their gains. So we could spend a lot of time together and
then nothing happens. Do I need to worry about that with you?’
In this Landmine you are discovering once again how motivated your clients are. If they won’t sell or want to ride out an up market (either way, willing to take a risk), there may be a lot of effort on your part only to get a stall at decision time. Better to find out now then three or four meetings later.
Conclusion
So far we have managed the first three key Landmines which all deal with the motivation to change. In all likelihood, this has taken perhaps the first 15 minutes of your meeting. If you have gotten green lights for each of these Landmines, you are off to a great start. In my next Lewit Letter, we will continue to take the objection out of objections by diffusing each Landmine before making any kind of a Presentation or sharing critical information.
Please be sure to check out Steve’s additional comments on the Wealth Financial Group blog at www.wfgnetwork.com/blog
Until next time,
Steve Lewit
CEO & Founder
Wealth Financial Group
www.wfgnetwork.com
Lewit Letter – Taking the Objection Out of Objections (Part I of IV)
Taking the Objection Out of Objections (Part I of III)
by Steve Lewit 11/03/11How will you answer the exercise questions at the end of this Lewit Letter? See my answers on the Wealth Financial Group Blog at www.wfgnetwork.com/blog
Old school selling teaches us the following steps:
1. Warm Up
2. Data Gathering and Probing
3. Presentation
4. Handling Objections
5. Closing
The old school rule is that the sale starts when you get your first objection. While this system works, it is inefficient, energy draining, and puts the client in control.
Modern Day Selling, the selling I coach, is 180 degrees different than traditional selling. One of the main differences is that I believe in raising the objections before my client does and eliminating them before I give the Presentation (give away information – which I call spilling my candy). In other words, I will only give the Presentation when all the objections are handled and I know I have the sale.
So, my system looks like this:
1. Rapport Building (no Warm Up – get right to business and build rapport while
we do that).
2. Questioning to find emotional motivations to change (no probing to find hot
buttons).
3. Raising Objections (which I call Landmines) and diffusing each one.
4. Presentation
5. Closing (no formal closing technique … just a simple question … “What do you
see happening next.”)
6. Post Sell (to assure no cancellations).
If objections are not diffused there can be no Presentation. If you violate this rule, then your client will get a bunch of information from your Presentation, sit back, take control of the meeting by raising objections which you then have to jump through hoops to overcome, and fall back on ‘think about it’ stall options to bypass any commitment to you. Once you lose control, as you always will in old school selling, sales become tough, tiring and self defeating.
Steve Lewit’s Selling World
Let’s start with the end in mind. We know that we need to handle the objections. We don’t want to wait until after we have given all our information to the client. So, what do we do?
Rule #1 of Taking the Objection Out of Objections:
Identify all the objections (landmines) that I might get in each Objection Category.
I. Objections about our method of doing business
II. Objections that prohibit the business transaction itself
III. Objections about proposed strategies
IV. Objections about product itself
Now, here are the details of my list. Of course, you can add or change them for yourself as needed.
I. Objections about my method of doing business
a. Getting asked lots of questions, some of which may be personal
b. Making a clear ‘no’ or a clear ‘yes’ decision at the end of three meetings
c. Unwillingness to meet on a weekly basis
II. Objections that prohibit the business transaction itself
a. Insufficient emotional drive to make a change from current situation
b. Needing to consult with someone else who is not present
c. Unwilling to leave their current advisor or let go of control if manage
assets themselves
d. Unwilling to sell securities because market is down or up
e. Fear of making yet another mistake or being burned again
III. Objections about proposed strategies
a. Irrational thinking and will not align asset choices with Core Priorities
b. Irrational thinking leading to unrealistic expectations and outcomes
c. Irrational thinking based on hope or misinformation
IV. Objections about product itself
a. Fees are too high – money under management fees, surrender fees, rider
fees
b. Don’t want to lose liquidity
c. Insurance companies might go out of business
d. Don’t like caps
Rule #2 of Taking the Objection Out of Objections:
I raise all landmines before my client does and before I give any information or Presentation.
Remember, if your clients bring up the objection first they begin to take control of the meeting and put you on the defensive. So, you bring the objections up before they do. If objections are raised in the course of normal conversation you will find that your clients will give you one of three responses:
I. They will tell you they are not concerned with the objection your raised
II. They will tell you that it is a concern and open the door to discussing whether
this objection is, ultimately, a deal killer or not
III. They will quickly gain trust in you as they see you are raising issues that they
have already thought about. Raising objections first makes your clients feel
you are on their side and thinking on their behalf.
Conclusion
In this Lewit Letter we’ve set a new paradigm for managing selling objections (landmines).
In my next two Lewit Letters, I am going to share with you the specifics of how to diffuse each landmine listed above; all prior to making any kind of a Presentation or spending hours of work on a client who may not buy.
Exercises for This Week’s Lewit Letter
Check out my answers and make your comments in the Wealth Financial Group blog at www.wfgnetwork.com/blog
Question #1: The danger of letting your client bring up objections first is ___________?
Question #2: Giving a Presentation prior to having all landmines diffused gives your
client ___________ without giving you ___________?
Question #3: Handling objections the old school way is ___________ and
___________ for the sales professional?
Question #4: Clients will naturally fall back on their ___________ which they use with
other sales professionals to get ___________ without making any
___________?
Until next time,
Steve Lewit
CEO & Founder
Wealth Financial Group
www.wfgnetwork.com
Thinking in Reverse
Thinking in Reverse
by Steve Lewit 10/26/11
To move into a more modern and effective selling method there are three requirements:
1. Recognize the need to change – then act on it
2. Stop – immediately – using any previously learned traditional selling techniques
3. Commit – totally – to change and the new selling system you want to embrace
The recognition to change is, perhaps, the simplest step. Typically, you recognize the need to change when your frustration levels reach new heights and you recognize that you are not getting the results you want; that anything you try doesn’t move you ahead; and that if you keep doing what you are doing you will ultimately fail to reach your goals. So you decide to change.
So far, pretty simple!
Now, the challenge.
Once you’ve decided to change, giving up years of well greased old selling habits is not so easy. Old habits are just that, old and habitual. That means they are well ingrained in you, many becoming so second nature that you don’t even consciously know you are doing them. They become automatic and subconscious. That’s what a habit is.
For the most part, these habits are comfortable to us, even though they may be working against our best interests. That’s what makes them difficult to change. Human nature, being what it is, lures us to always take the path that is most comfortable; in this case, the way we’ve being selling for years. Most sales professionals who endeavor to change their selling soon abandon their quest, falling back to their comfort zone, and thus lose the battle to change and move forward. Hands down, this will be, if you haven’t recognized it already, your biggest challenge.
To become more effective, to grow, to find greater fulfillment on your selling you must learn to bypass all your old selling habits. To learn how to do that, just step into my world.
Steve Lewit’s Selling World
Bypassing old selling habits requires you to take a different view of your selling world; a view that sets a barrier between you and your old habits that can’t be bypassed to broken. That view is 180 degrees opposite to your current view and it is built on thinking that is totally the reverse of how you think now. I call this thinking in reverse.
To think in reverse you first adopt an attitude that what you believe and intuitively feel is ‘right’, is actually ‘wrong’. For example, you believe you have to convince people to buy. This is wrong thinking from your old habitual way of selling. So, you adopt reverse thinking; you sit back and wait for people to convince you that you should spend time with them because they want to buy.
Here’s another example.
Your instinct is to create a rift between your client and his advisor. Intuitively it feels like the right move that you need in order to make the sale. In reality, however, it isn’t; it will only make your client defensive. So, you go into reverse. You try and tell your client how great his advisor is and that you think he should be working with him instead of you. Your client will then separate himself from his advisor when he tells you all the reasons why he won’t go back.
Here’s one more example to consider.
Traditional thinking suggests that you should always go for the ‘yes’, to get your client to say ‘yes’ often enough, he will say ‘yes’ when you go for the close. Feels right, but is entirely wrong. If you go for ‘yes’ your client will go for ‘no’; but if you go for ‘no’, your client will go for ‘yes’. So, instead of trying to make a sale, you employ reverse thinking and try not to make a sale.
Conclusion
To change your selling, you must stop selling and employ a new non selling strategy. To stop selling you must create a barrier between your new strategy and your old selling habits. To create the barrier you must change your thinking and begin thinking in reverse.
Any time you find yourself going for the old comfortable selling habits you’ve learned in the past, stop, and put your thinking in reverse – then do just the opposite of what you would be comfortable doing. With that you will change, your selling will change, and so will your life.
Exercises for This Week’s Lewit Letter
Check out my answers and make your comments in the Wealth Financial Group blog at www.wfgnetwork.com/blog
1. Old selling habits are __________ and that makes it hard to stop using them.
2. The easiest thing to recognize is that you are __________ and need to
__________.
3. To bypass old selling habits, you must create a __________ between you and the
old habits.
4. When you think in __________ it’s impossible to go back to your old selling habits.
5. To really change and grow as a person and in your selling you must __________.
Until next time,
Steve Lewit
CEO & Founder
Wealth Financial Group
www.wfgmarketing.com