The best salesman I ever met worked at the local appliance store…let me explain. A few years ago, we were redoing our kitchen (a great way to test the strength of your marriage, by the way) and we went into the local appliance store to pick out the fridge, stove, microwave, etc. Anyone that has gone through this process knows that you should probably have a set budget before entering the showroom. I thought we did, but then we met Eddie – the greatest salesman alive.
Eddie asked my wife one simple question. Tell me about the last Holiday that you hosted? My wife, Rebecca, proceeded to vault into a lengthy discussion about when we last hosted Thanksgiving. We had over 20 people in the house and she described all of the frustrations on trying to coordinate the dinner. Turkey in the oven, mashed potatoes in a crock pot, stuffing on a countertop hot-plate, gravy in the microwave, etc. Eddie sat back and politely listened and nodded his head. He then leaned forward and said, “I think I can solve your problem.” Problem? Who said we had a problem? We successfully fed 20 people…and avoided talking politics the entire day.
Eddie walked us over to the Wolf Stove section of the store and introduced us to the Duel Fuel Range model 486c. Needless to say, it was a magnificent beast… it was also not in our budget – but at that point it didn’t matter. The budget was going to be recalibrated simply because my wife “needed” this stove…not “wanted”, but “needed”. I have been married for over 25 years and have survived by realizing when to pick my battles. I could simply not compete with the 486c.
So, what does this have to do with selling financial products? Simple. The best, I repeat best, way to get someone to buy your products is to get them to acknowledge that they have a problem and your product is the best way to solve this issue. Did Eddie really care about my wife’s Holiday coordination dilemma? No, but he was smart enough to realize that once he got Rebecca to acknowledge she had a problem it was GAME OVER. Think about how the dynamic of the conversation would have changed if Eddie never asked that question.
I call this methodology, Solution-Based-Selling. Think about how you are positioning your strategies. What problem are you trying to solve? Are you helping FAs better manage their time? Are you helping their clients have a better opportunity to realize their financial goals? More importantly, are you getting the FA to acknowledge that they have a problem? FAs hear multiple wholesalers tell them the same story and this is not how you distinguish yourself. You can’t simply walk into the office, lay down your 5-star fact sheet and talk about why you have the best small cap growth fund in the business. You need to be diagnostic and look for opportunities where you can help.
And how do you get them to acknowledge that they have a problem? You ask very open-ended questions and then you listen. Some great questions to ask:
- What do you think of the markets at these levels?
- Are your clients unhappy with any of their Funds/Managers?
- Are you thinking about doing any reallocations in the next few months?
- Have any of your clients voiced concerns about the market’s recent volatility?
All of these questions force the FA to acknowledge something they are concerned about and should start a healthy conversation on how you can address their concerns. Given the recent market volatility, along with year-end approaching, this is a great opportunity to be engaged and solve some problems.
Best of Luck – Jeff