Recently, I advised Cheryl, an advisor looking to expand her client base, to use most of the time she spends with prospects asking questions rather than explaining her knowledge and abilities.
"In the past," she said, "I spent as much time as I could telling them why I'd be a great fit for their needs." Like many salespeople, Cheryl assumed that she already had adequate information to allow her to match what she was offering to what she believed her prospects wanted.
But your prospects are looking for something specific that doesn't always come up in their requests for service. For that reason, leaping into the discussion of the benefits you offer — simply dumping it all out there without knowing what their specific needs are — is a huge mistake.
Ask more questions first. Find out what they're already doing, who they're doing it with, what's working for them and what isn't. Find out why they've booked the appointment. Then talk about what you can bring to them, directing what you say to the explicit needs you've uncovered.
