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Dear ~Contact.FirstName~,
Here is an important article that explains and reinforces that
learning to ask the right
questions at the right time, is what makes is possible
for you to instantly become your
client's trusted financial advisor and
to consistently close more and larger sales. Enjoy...
How To Instantly Become Your Client's Trusted
Financial Advisor!
By
Chris Conklin, Principal and Actuary
Insurance Insight Group
As insurance agents and financial advisors, we work in a great
industry where we get the opportunity to make a difference in our clients'
lives. But one of our biggest challenges is getting prospective clients to trust
us and become interested in our recommendations.
How many times have you made what you thought was a dazzling sales presentation,
only to find that the client wasn't impressed?
The silver bullet
We all want the "silver bullet" that will enable us to connect with clients,
have them hang on our every word, and have them follow most of our
recommendations. What is that magic bullet? It is simply this:
Be the one
advisor who finds out what your clients really care about! The nagging
financial worry that they have! And answer that concern!
You are going to find that their nagging financial worry, expressed in a generic
way, is nearly always some variation of "How can I attain and maintain long-term
financial security?" Some younger clients will express this as "How can I afford
to send my kids to college?", and some older clients will express this as
"How
much can I withdraw from my assets each year without worrying about running
out?"
Every client has a question like this, and the advisor who uncovers the question
and then answers it will become the client's primary financial advisor.
They said they wouldn't buy from me
Let me give you an example. I once had prospective clients, a married couple in
their upper fifties, referred to me. They told me that they had about $500,000
in assets, and that they had just inherited an additional $500,000. They were
looking for advice as to what to do with the inheritance. Should they, for
example, pay off their mortgage? By the way, they wanted me to know that they
had previously talked to about a half dozen advisors, and they had absolutely no
intention of buying any financial product through me. They had all of their
money with Vanguard, they trusted Vanguard, and the new money is going to
Vanguard.
I then asked them something that is second nature to me, but that apparently the
six prior advisors had never asked them: "What are you trying to achieve, and
what financial concerns do you have?" After a brief discussion, we came upon
their nagging financial worry: "Can we retire in five years and maintain our
current lifestyle?" This was their personal version of the generic question
"How
can I attain and maintain long-term financial security?"
To answer a question like this, I needed to gather information on their entire
financial situation: their current income, what income they expected after
retirement, their current spending, and any future plans, as well as an
inventory of all their assets and liabilities. I then plugged all the
information into some financial projection software and created a variety of
scenarios to present to them.
The good news is that if everything went well... if their assets held their
value and earned a respectable return, and if they both lived long, healthy
lives in their existing home... they would be able to retire in five years and
maintain their current lifestyle.
But, I was also able to identify the biggest
threat to that rosy picture... the possibility that either one of them could
decline in health and require assistance on a daily basis for a lengthy period
of time. In such a scenario, their expenses would increase sharply, and they
would start to burn through their assets too quickly. I let them know that the
only government program that would help pay for that sort of assistance is
Medicaid, and that they would need to burn through almost all of their assets
before Medicaid would start to pay.
They immediately were very motivated to know how to mitigate this risk. The
answer, as you probably know, is long term care insurance (LTCI). I recommended
insurance on both of them, with a $150 daily benefit to cover the current
average cost of assistance, with a 5 percent cost of living adjustment to keep
pace with inflation, with an eight-year benefit period, since their major risk
was a lengthy need for assistance, with a shared care rider to further extend
the insurance benefit if needed.
As you can imagine, the premium wasn't a
trivial number... about $3,500 annually on their limited budget. But, I noted
that the purpose of the insurance was to preserve their assets, and the $3,500
premium was less than one-half of 1 percent of their assets annually... a drop
in the bucket compared to the unpleasantness of the risk.
They wholeheartedly agreed, and they asked me to obtain that insurance for
them.
Interestingly, they then mentioned to me that one of the prior advisors had
mentioned LTCI to them, and the prices he quoted were lower because of a shorter
benefit period. But, they never bought because it seemed too expensive and they
figured they probably wouldn't need it.
Find that nagging financial concern
In hindsight, how did I earn my clients' trust and make a bigger sale than they
ever would have expected? I became the one advisor who found out what they
really cared about... the nagging financial worry that they had...and answered
that concern. I then pointed out the major threat to their long-term financial
security, and showed them how to address the issue.
You may think, well, isn't that obvious? On the contrary, my experience is that
almost every prospective client has a nagging financial worry, that none of their
existing financial professionals have uncovered and answered. I suspect that is
because most financial professionals are, perhaps subconsciously, more concerned
about selling their favorite solution, than about finding what truly motivates
the client.
My challenge simply is to unearth my clients' deep-rooted financial concerns.
Whether that will lead to an annuity sale, a life insurance sale, a long-term
insurance care sale, or anything else, I will not know in advance. But once I
have unearth my clients' deep-rooted financial concerns, I am well on my way to
becoming their trusted financial advisor.
___________________________
Do You Want To Instantly Become Your Client's Trusted
Financial Advisor?
In every one of our specialized life
insurance systems, our live
training events, our private ‘Members Only’ web site and our one-on-one
coaching, we focus a lot of time and effort on helping you to get better at
asking questions... the right questions... to uncover the prospect's nagging
financial concern! Then how to
conduct a good, thorough fact-finding interview. And, finally how to help your
prospects to find the money... to take immediate action.
It’s why the new insurance agents we train
are able to consistently earn $15,000 or more per month, within just a few
months of investing in our
Fast Start
Mortgage Insurance Tool Kit™, with our
How To Close ‘9 Out Of
10’™ Insurance Sales DVDs.
It’s the reason why established financial
advisors are able to generate $30,000 or more of life insurance premiums per month,
within a few months of investing in our
Found Money Management™ Tool Kit, with our
How To Close ‘9 Out Of
10’™ Insurance Sales DVDs.
It’s why ‘MDRT’ Top of the Table Producers
and the Financial Advisors, who are serious about this business, are doubling and tripling their production, after attending our
Trusted Advisor Success
Training 2 day, live event!
Jeremy & Alex
'The 9 Out Of 10 Guys'
Marketing and Sales Coaches
_____________________
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