guest post Archives - Don Connelly & Associates

Get Comfortable with the Notion that You Need to Sell in order to Grow Your Business

January 15, 2015 / by Don Connelly / Don Guest Authoring at..., Marketing Yourself / 0 comments

Advisors approach me about coaching. Rarely are the requests about improving their selling skills. Being better organized, being more efficient and going to the next level are popular goals. But I cannot recall one instance where an Advisor said to me, “I want to be better at selling.”

I don’t think that the reason for not asking me is that every Advisor thinks he or she is a great salesperson. Rather, I think that ‘salesperson’ is an image to be avoided at all costs. To many Advisors, selling is a dirty word.

4 Things Elite Advisors Do that Average Advisors Don’t Do

November 13, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices, Don Guest Authoring at... / 4 comments

This is a guest post by Don Connelly published on the website of FA Magazine earlier this week.

Elite Advisors are not born elite. They ply their craft for years, making mistakes and learning from them.

Once such mistake is to assume that numbers matter. Newer Advisors talk about the numbers because that’s the focus of our training. We have to learn our products and processes and we have to pass the tests. When we get in the field, we naturally lead with what we know.

Objection Handling – Is It Possible to Forestall Objections?

September 18, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Don Guest Authoring at..., Prospecting / 0 comments

This is a guest post by Don Connelly, originally published on FA Magazine website.

The late Zig Ziglar observed that every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, or no trust. Which of these obstacles is a Financial Advisor likely to experience and can they be forestalled?

We can eliminate three of those obstacles as unlikely.

What Does ‘Think on Your Feet’ Mean for a Financial Advisor?

September 4, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices, Don Guest Authoring at... / 0 comments

An idiom is a phrase that cannot be taken literally. For anyone learning English, it must be disconcerting to hear that it’s raining cats and dogs outside. You and I know it’ll rain cats and dogs when pigs fly.

Think on your feet is just such an idiom.

Every Financial Advisor knows what it means to think and speak without special preparation. Being forced to think this way is neither fun nor comfortable. And it can lead to an awkward moment. We all wait for the train wreck when a speaker who is dependent on a teleprompter wanders off course. We all wander off course at one time or another.

Why Some People Choose Not to Do Business with You

August 18, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Don Guest Authoring at..., Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

Why Choose Not to Do Business with Some Financial Advisors

This is a guest post by Don Connelly for FA Magazine. He shares his insights about the three reasons why some people choose not to do business with certain Financial Advisors. Here’s how the post goes.

I’m sure you rarely, if ever, get the chance to ask someone why he or she chose a competitor over you. If you were able to ask, you probably wouldn’t get a straight answer, anyway. People would rather lie to your face than hurt your feelings.

Building Your Business with These 12 Tips for Financial Advisors

August 7, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices, Don Guest Authoring at... / 0 comments

This is one of Don Connelly’s guest posts over at FA Magazine, giving you 12 tips how to build a better and more enjoyable business.

1) Get really good at what you do. Do the ordinary things extraordinarily well.

The Only Thing People Are Buying Is You

June 12, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices, Don Guest Authoring at... / 4 comments

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.

Why Some Clients Love Their Advisor

May 22, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices, Don Guest Authoring at... / 0 comments

The latest guest post by Don Connelly for FA Magazine is about what makes some Financial Advisor so special; why some clients love their Advisor. Here is how to blog post goes.

When I speak at client events, I arrive early and stay late. I have fun chatting with clients. I like to know what’s on their minds. Their concerns are varied yet predictable. There are rarely any surprises…