How to Use Stories and Analogies to Influence and Persuade
During our latest monthly webinar, held July 24, 2104, we discussed the importance of speaking in such a manner that our listener understands everything we say. It is the Advisor’s job to influence and persuade and it all begins with communicating clearly. “We want to go home and think it over” is often code-speak for “We don’t really understand you.”
When you give a good presentation full of sound advice and people choose not to act, what went wrong? Why did they choose not to do business with you? Why did you fail to move them?
There really aren’t that many possible answers to this question.
Perhaps you didn’t dispel the notion of fear that lurks in the minds of every current and potential investor.
Perhaps they didn’t think your recommendations were appropriate.
Perhaps they didn’t like you.
Perhaps they didn’t trust you.
Or, perhaps, they didn’t understand you.
Our focus for this webinar was that last possibility.
Why is understanding us so critical to taking our game to the next level? It’s critical because people don’t buy what they don’t understand.
For an Advisor to join the ranks of the elite, four factors must be in play.
People must like you, people must trust you, people must think that you are smart and you must have a repeatable process for raising assets.
Notice this all begins with people liking you.
One way to be liked is to make someone feel smart. You make someone feel smart when you can make a difficult subject easily understandable. The Advisors who make this business simple fare well.
We spent a lot of time discussing how to become charismatic.
Advisors who are good at establishing credibility, stirring up emotions and using powerful rhetoric are charismatic by definition. All great leaders are charismatic. The good news is that charisma is a learned trait.
Verbal skills are a large component of charisma.
An Advisor must be good at, and know the differences between, analogies, similes, metaphors, stories and anecdotes. He or she needs to be able to make contrasting statements and encourage deeper thinking with rhetorical questions.
An Advisor’s moral conviction must come through when engaging clients and prospects. Charismatic Advisors help clients set high goals and convince those clients that the goals are achievable.
The largest segment of the webinar was dedicated to storytelling, with emphasis on the ‘Who I Am’ story each Advisor must master.
Clients can’t like you or trust you until they know you; and they can’t know you until they hear your story. Prospective investors aren’t looking for more information. They are looking for someone they can trust. When you tell your story, you are no longer a stranger.
I tried to make the point that ours is a soft skill business.
There are more hard skill requirements in the life of an Advisor than soft skill requirements, but soft skills are infinitely more important. You don’t need product knowledge if you can’t get an appointment. You don’t need practice management skills if you can’t grow your business. Revenue is generated by bringing in assets; and bringing in assets meaning influencing and persuading others to do business with you.
The webinar replay is available for purchase in the store
PLATINUM Members of Don Connelly 24/7 have free access to the Webinar Replay.
Visit the Webinars section in your member area for details.
