Sell Yourself

If you were a client speaking with your financial advisor, which of the following two remarks sounds better?

1. The more securities I get you to buy and sell, the more I make.

2. The more you make, the more I make.

You know the answer.

How about this? If it were possible to make just one sale and derive many years of income from that one sale, wouldn't you be interested? That is possible: The one sale you must make is you and your company. By demonstrating that you are truly worthy of the client's trust and confidence, you have made the single most important sale--a sale in which even fee-only advisors can rejoice! In the old days, brokers spent most of their time on the phone with clients, trying to convince them of the brilliance of the latest idea du jour. This was simply a waste of time, and time is one of our major assets.

The most important thing for you to know about me right now is that, like you, I'm a producer. We have the same blood running through our veins. We share the same DNA. The reason I tell you this is a practical one: Far too many sales articles are written by people who have never sold anything.

o They only know theory; they never had an actual retail customer.

o They have absolutely no idea how hard our job is.

o They seem to believe that the tooth fairy brings in the revenues.

For your clients and prospects, financial planning cannot be a day-to-day affair. If you ran a tree farm, would you ask for a day-to-day printout on how your forest was growing? Financial planning is a lifelong journey, and as is the case with any long journey, it's a good idea to hire a guide. And you, as the financial guide, should not have to live or die based on any one single recommendation.

People need and want good advice. They don't like the feeling of being on a ship with no captain. In order for you to give each individual the best advice, you must ask the right questions--questions that determine their needs. The essence of advising is understanding your customers' needs and convincing them that you're the best advisor to meet those needs.

Consider some of the questions you ask clients:

"Why are you investing?" more often than not leads to the unsatisfactory answer, "I want to make money." We've all asked, "Is growth or income more important to you?" This is a good start in leading the prospect towards thinking about their goals and expectations. Often they have unrealistic expectations in terms of risk versus reward. The only way for us to draw this out is by asking deeper and smarter questions.

A recent study commissioned by TDAmeritrade shows that many investors do not know the difference between a stockbroker and an investment advisor. If this difference is one of your own selling points, you should ask your prospect the following question: "What are you looking for? Assistance with buying and selling securities or investment advice?"

If your prospect already has a broker or an advisor, here are a few second-tier questions that might give you an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage.

o Do you feel that you are getting the rate of return that you need?

o Do you feel the reward has been worth the risk your current advisor is taking with your money?

o Do you feel that your advisor's ideas have been appropriate for your portfolio?

And then, any time you are able to elicit a response indicating that they are unhappy, a powerful question to ask is: "If this continues for some more years, have you given any thought to what this could mean to the value of your account or how it might affect your retirement?"

Once you have promised to try to help these clients, it is very important that they are willing to make some commitment to you. You might ask: "If I can do this for you, would you be willing to transfer your account to me?" I have always found that it pays to discuss the value you bring before ever mentioning your fee. In this way, you never become a commodity to be compared with others--since no one else does what you do.

Be sure to explain the value and the benefits of everything you do or sell. Top advisors are an extremely valuable commodity because we are in such short supply. We know that our success is not just about performance alone. We understand that the easiest way to lose clients is to ignore them.

Customer service is a potent, competitive weapon in our business. Service leaders almost always dominate their competitors. If you give exceptional service, you can guarantee your success--way into the future. Here's why: When you deliver great service, customers become accustomed to it. Then they expect it. Providing exceptional service is like building a very wide, very deep moat around your business that will be an impenetrable barrier to your competition. Your competitors will have to leapfrog over you in order to win business. Simply being as good as you are won't do. Would you stop doing business with one company just because another company claimed they are just as good?

Successful advisors are smart enough to give exceptional service because we know that it is far more profitable to sustain a good relationship than it is to go out and get a new customer. When you deliver positively outrageous service--service which is out of proportion to the circumstance--it creates compelling word of mouth. It's the service story your clients and prospects can't wait to tell.

What's more--the penalty for poor service is growing. Today's buyers are increasingly busy and increasingly frustrated by poor service. They are more willing than ever to take their business to somebody else. There is really no alternative to being the very best. Anything less will allow competitors to steal your customers. Customer satisfaction is level one. Customer loyalty is level two. Satisfied customers shop anywhere. Loyal customers use you over and over and over again, and recommend you to their friends.

Make a list of five things you could do right now that would benefit your customers; then promise yourself that you will implement that strategy immediately. If it's a good idea and it will make you money by bringing you closer to your customers, why wait?

Our business is relationship-based. We seek continuity and growth in relationships over time. We should constantly be giving our customers reasons to increasingly depend on us. There is tremendous abundance out there. The possibilities are endless. It's all open to you.

You just have to go out there and get it.

Gary Wollin (www.garywollin.com) is a Warren Buffet-style investment advisor with 45-plus years of Wall Street experience. Regularly featured in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and other publications, he writes and speaks on sales, customer loyalty and the stock market.