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How to Add Value to Clients’ Lives

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

Prospects often struggle to find the right financial advisor – in their eyes all advisors tend to look the same, sound the same and sell the same products.

Make it easy for prospects to choose you by communicating your value to them in your first meeting. And if they decide to work with you, make sure you continue to communicate your value to them as clients. If you bring the value you promised, there’s a high chance they’ll remain loyal and refer you to others.

Here are some ways to bring value to prospects and clients.

5 Dos of Developing Good Storytelling Skills

/ by Don Connelly / Storytelling, analogies and power phrases / 2 comments

The ability to tell interesting stories is an essential skill for all advisors. Stories are an effective way of letting people get to know the real you, and they’re also useful when it comes to educating clients.

Few of us are born natural raconteurs – but if you commit to developing your skills and practising them regularly, over time you can become a great storyteller.

Here are 5 best practices when it comes to developing good storytelling skills.

You Don’t Need to Be Better – You Need to Be Different

/ by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments

As Steve Jobs said, ‘Don’t do something better, do it different’. Facebook wasn’t necessarily ‘better’ than Myspace, it was different. Netflix wasn’t ‘better’ than any other movie-rental system – it was different. Make yourself authentic and you will succeed. Find out what it is that differentiates you from the competition and communicate it to prospects and clients.

Concentrate on developing superb soft skills and you will stand out in a crowded marketplace without trying to be ‘better’ than anyone else.

5 Reasons Why Prospects Will Hire You Over The Competition

/ by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 1 comment

People won’t decide to do business with you because of your products, expertise, experience or reputation. These attributes (whilst important) will not ultimately convert prospects into loyal clients. Your hard skills won’t provide them with a compelling enough reason to hire you over the competition. If you want to impress prospects, you need to demonstrate that you are not only smart, but that you are likeable and trustworthy.

Here are five reasons why a prospect will hire you over the competition.

5 Stories to Develop Strong Relationships with Clients Based on Trust and Likeability

/ by Don Connelly / Storytelling, analogies and power phrases / 0 comments

The best way to initiate a strong relationship with clients is to tell them stories. People don’t need to have a ton of data thrown at them in the first meeting. They will be more interested in whether they like and trust you. Forget the numbers and pie charts, and use your personal stories and experiences to help you establish trust and likeability in the minds of your prospects. Here are five such stories to get you started.

Help Clients Get to Know the ‘Real’ You

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 2 comments

Before a client makes the decision to do business with you he or she has to feel you are the ‘right fit’ for them. They’re about to embark on a journey into what’s often unknown territory for them – so they need to feel a real connection with their selected advisor.

Build rapport by letting prospective clients see the kind of person you really are. Let your personality shine through.

How Do Clients Choose a Financial Advisor?

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

If you don’t know what’s going on in a client’s mind when they’re choosing a financial advisor, you won’t be able to present yourself in a way that meets their needs. And you won’t get selected.

So let’s take a look at some of the things likely to be on a client’s mind when they’re looking for an advisor…

5 Tactics to Get Prospects off The Fence

/ by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 0 comments

Breaking a prospect’s apathy is difficult.

Telling someone to invest or think long term is like telling someone to be patient. And telling someone to be patient simply doesn’t work. Instead you need to ‘teach’ prospects what long term investing really means. Use stories and analogies to stir emotions, curb their impatience and give them reasons to invest. Here are five ways you can do that and help prospects get off the fence.

What Not to Do in The First Client Meeting

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

It takes hard work and perseverance to set up a first appointment with a potential client. Don’t waste this precious opportunity by approaching the meeting in the wrong way – because it’s unlikely you’ll get a second chance.

There’s no ‘first meeting rule book’, however there are some things to avoid if you want to move things forward. Here are a few.

What Makes a Story Good?

/ by Don Connelly / Storytelling, analogies and power phrases / 0 comments

“Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever”. This ancient Native American proverb still resonates today.

Everyone loves a good story. Good stories can captivate, teach, and persuade people to act, making them an excellent way to communicate with prospects and clients.

In this post we’ll look at how to create great stories and inspire listeners to take action.

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