Focus On Selling What The Client Actually Wants To Buy: Werth
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If you want to have greater sales success in selling financial products and services, "dont keep trying to sell people something they dont want to buy," advises Jacques Werth.
"Also, dont keep talking about the technicalities of your financial products. And dont try to cloak your presentation in the veil of the helping arts–that is, dont offer to be interested or helpful to your clients."
Instead, says Werth, "concentrate on using words that lead the client to make a commitment about doing what the client already wants to do."
As president of High Probability Selling in Dresher, Pa., Werth regularly works with registered representatives and planners, trying to help them grow their practices. Too often, he says, they are focusing on the wrong thing and not having success with getting people to invest or buy.
"Thats a big reason why the turnover rate in financial services is so high," he contends. Even those who survive and stay in the business often do not do that well, he says, explaining that "a lot of them make what a good truck driver makes."
To do better, he says, producers should target "probable buyers"–customers who actually want the products and services the producer has to sell. "It comes down to this: Be up front with the person. Say, Were selling this. Do you want to buy it?"–not "We want to help you."
If the person does not want to buy now, check whether he or she plans or hopes to buy it in a few weeks or months or even next year.
Be sure to follow up, he adds. "Call back and see if they now want your product or service. Make short calls. Be clear and concise. Talk about what they want. Dont try to ingratiate yourself or to be the persons next best friend."
This works for selling all kinds of financial products, Werth contends. By all kinds, he says he means insurance, mutual funds, variable annuities, variable life insurance, and so on. It even applies, he says, to loans (though he says most reps and insurance agents dont know enough about loans, and so should plan to bring a specialist in on those cases and split the commission).
