presentation Archives - Don Connelly & Associates

What Is an Initial Benefit Statement and How to Use It

March 25, 2024 / by Don Connelly / Presentation Skills / 0 comments

As I have mentioned already on the Don Connelly 24/7 learning center, I was taught a method of selling called Professional Selling Skills (PSS) many years ago. It was and still is the bestselling course in the world. Let’s talk about the first step in giving a Professional Selling Skills presentation. That step is called the Initial Benefit Statement.

Watch this video episode or read the transcript below to hear Don explaining what it is and how to use it.

How to Motivate Your Prospects to Take Action Now

January 2, 2023 / by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

No doubt you remember the last car you purchased. If you’re like most people, you spent hours, days, maybe months researching, comparing prices, features and specs. You knew what you wanted but were hesitant to pull the trigger. Ultimately, it wasn’t the gas mileage, sporty interior, or five-year bumper-to-bumper manufacturer’s warranty that moved you to action.

While those are nice features and may be important to you, they’re not the reason you bought the car. The reason you acted was how those features made you feel. They made you feel smart, secure, and proud. You may even feel like a million bucks. The smile on your face as you drove your new car home was not from having made a good decision based on the car’s features; it was from how your decision made you feel.

Presenting the Strategy Paper to Turn Prospects into Clients

November 28, 2022 / by Russell Collins / Connelly Corner, Prospecting / 0 comments

In my previous guest blog post, I explained how I dissected the confirmed file note by dividing it into four separate quadrants in order to create a strategy to take to my next meeting – the Strategy Paper Meeting (SPM), It should lead to a “yes”, the prospect agreeing to do business with me.

In summary, the primary purpose of the SPM is to highlight a problem; get their agreement to the problem; that they want to solve it; and then involve them in the decision-making process. That way the decision becomes theirs and all I had to do was the numbers based on their ability to pay. In relation to the latter, I found the best time to do that was after I had proceeded through the strategy paper up to the point of discussing the shortfall with them. More on that later. Now let’s focus on the strategy paper itself.

Agenda for the Strategy Paper Meeting (SPM): What Is It and How to Prepare It

October 3, 2022 / by Russell Collins / Connelly Corner, Prospecting / 0 comments

By now you should be familiar with the concept of the File Note and how it helped me increase my closing rate to 9 out of 10 in life insurance sales. I found that the reaction to my file notes was one of people looking forward to our next meeting and how I was planning to deal with their particular situation. I called that meeting my Strategy Paper Meeting (SPM.)

Within the file note that they had previously confirmed, were a number of answers to my questions that highlighted problems to which they were not even aware existed at that time. My dissection process was to draw attention to those questions and their answers in such a simple format that would allow for frank discussion.

So, generally, the format for the SPM would look like this:

How to Make Your Presentations More Convincing and Inspiring

August 22, 2022 / by Don Connelly / Presentation Skills / 0 comments

Any chance you have to make a presentation is a golden opportunity to engage with people and demonstrate your worth. Financial advisors who can deliver exceptional presentations can differentiate themselves while connecting with potential clients in a memorable way. However, it’s challenging to recover from presentations that fall flat, leaving audience members wishing they could have their precious time back.

While some advisors are natural orators with the ability to sail effortlessly through a presentation, anyone can and should develop the skill of delivering compelling and inspiring words that can move an audience. It takes some skill, lots and lots of practice, and a clear understanding of how to frame a presentation. But the results can be well worth the effort.

Here are five critical elements of a successful presentation.

The File Note: How to Increase Your Closing Rates to 9 out of 10 in Life Insurance Sales

May 2, 2022 / by Russell Collins / Connelly Corner, Presentation Skills / 0 comments

At the conclusion of my previous guest post – “Making Every Initial Meeting with a Prospect Successful” – I mentioned that if I could point to one thing that increased my closing rate to 9 out of 10, it was the file note. This in effect acted as a pre-presentation vehicle and I believe it motivated people to really look forward to our next meeting and my eventual recommendations.

Here’s how to start using the file note to increase your life insurance sales.

When Asking for a Commitment, Make Up Your Mind in Advance

January 9, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Presentation Skills / 0 comments

Of all the presentations given by Financial Advisors to prospective clients on any given day, how many end up with no commitment being made? We’ll never know. Of all the presentations which end up with no commitment being made, how many end up that way because the Advisor didn’t ask for the commitment? We’ll never know that either. But we can take a pretty good guess and we can also guess why.

See Your Presentation Through

September 30, 2013 / by Don Connelly / Presentation Skills / 0 comments

You’ve worked hard to develop and tweak your presentation. You’ve given it and heard it countless times. But your prospective client hasn’t. It’s his or her first time through. Don’t get bored with your good stories and don’t get lazy.