The Only Thing People Are Buying Is You
This is Don Connelly’s latest guest post for FA Magazine.
I was having lunch with a friend recently. My friend ordered a Coke with his food. The waitress told him they didn’t serve Coke. Would a Pepsi do? Without hesitation my friend said yes. He didn’t care if he was drinking Pepsi or Coke. He just wanted something to drink with lunch.
Clients think like my friend thinks. They don’t care if they are drinking Pepsi or Coke. Clients want to hit their goals. Your selection of managed money, mutual funds or annuities is a lot less important to them than it is to you. The products aren’t going to do the job. You are. If all goes well, they aren’t going to thank Black Rock or Franklin. They are going to thank you. If something goes wrong, they’re not going to blame the products or the process. They are not doing business with Black Rock. They are doing business with you.
That is precisely why you needn’t compare yourself to the other Advisors they are considering.
Read the Full Post on FA Magazine website
That hole in the wall restaurant.
Back in the late 1990’s a few friends invited me out to a restaurant. We worked on Wall Street and hosting many client events I became used to the 5 Star restaurants. My friends liked that hole in the wall Italian restaurant. I scoffed at them but they insisted I go.
Its a small Italian restaurant near the NYC financial district but boy was I in for a shock. Zero star location but 5+ stars on food, service and ambiance.
Like Don states: “Prospective clients are looking for someone they can trust. They are going to decide if they like you and trust you. Your job is to let it shine through how likable and trustworthy you are.”
This hole in the wall restaurant beyond exceeded my wildest expectations. A like-able trusting staff who immediately won my life-long patronage.
Financial Advisors, restaurants and any service oriented business need to embrace Don’s insights.
Great work Don!
Marty Morua
That’s a perfect LIVE example to illustrate the importance of establishing “Trust” & being “Likeable”. These two characteristics are actually “valuable assets” for any professional and business. I’ve seen newbies & soft spoken people close deals that highly qualified, experienced professionals could not, just on the grounds of trust, likability and politeness.
Thank you Marty. Would love to hear more often from you at our blog. 🙂
– KAS
Hey there KAS!
You certainly will hear more from little ole’ me on your Blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.
I’m a little different in that I enjoy using real life personal examples that relate to the financial services industry. Like I mentioned, any service industry: Restaurants, financial advisors, the car wash, teachers, etc……….. every industry out there touches service to some degree.
Right? 🙂
Cheers from a rainy dreary New York City
Marty Morua
Absolutely! We love stories & storytelling Marty, especially personal stories & real life examples because of their uniqueness in nature.
So bring them on.. 🙂
Cheers,
KAS