Top 10 Most-read Posts on Our Blog in 2019
Another year is about to end tomorrow – we hope it was as great for you as it was for us at Don Connelly & Associates. We’d like to close our blogging year with a recap of the most-read posts on the blog by tens of thousands of Financial Advisors and Wholesalers in 2019.
They are mostly on using stories and analogies, getting referrals and becoming brilliant at the basics. But there were also a couple of posts on preparing yourself for market corrections, overcoming your fears and building strong relationships with prospects and clients. Enjoy and thanks for reading!
#1. Using Analogies in These 3 Situations Can Help Turn Prospects into Clients
It’s your job to get prospects off the fence. You need to persuade them that hiring you to manage their investments is the right thing to do. Before they make that decision, however, they need to understand what it is they are buying, and why they need to buy it. Because “people don’t buy what they don’t understand.”
This is where analogies can help push the balance in your favor. They make the unfamiliar familiar.
An analogy is “a comparison between one thing and another, typically for the purposes of explanation or clarification”.
Analogies can help you put forward an argument so that prospects see things in a new light – and conclude, of their own accord – that it makes sense to do business with you.
Here are three situations that warrant the use of analogies.
#2. Storytelling for Financial Advisors – Acquiring High Net Worth Clients through “Storyselling”
Nowadays “storyselling for financial advisors” is a big search trend. I found a book with that title but I doubt that’s what people in the industry are looking for. My guess would be that they are after high net worth clients with yet another “modern technique”. Truth be told, storyselling is just a catchy name for good old storytelling that Financial Advisors so rarely master completely.
As defined in an article on Entrepreneur magazine some time ago, “The concept of StorySelling™ boils down to this: People love a great story. And when you tell the right story about yourself and your business, you create the foundation for a marketing powerhouse or, in story terms, a blockbuster that’s vitally important when it comes to marketing to the affluent.”
Sounds about right, doesn’t it?
Here are a few ways how to improve your storytelling skills before joining the storyselling madness.
#3. A Story to Use When Discussing Your Fees & Commissions
There are times when prospective clients are going to focus on your fees or your commissions. I want to talk about that, because it’s no one’s goal to offer the cheapest possible financial advice. That’s just not the way it goes.
So when someone talks to you about commissions or fees, I want you to tell them the Springfield story.
Watch the video or read the transcript to hear the full story.
#4. Don’t Sell Investments – Focus on The Relationship
I believe in my heart someone should transfer their entire account to you without any investment recommendations. We’re not in the investment business, investments are our products. We’re in the business of getting kids through school, minimizing taxes, and getting people retired. We have to focus on the relationship, not the money. If you sell investments, sooner or later your clients will be angry. All investments have their bad days as well as their good days. So don’t discuss investments, it’s not necessary.
#5. What Happens If You’re Not Brilliant at The Basics?
Only a tiny percentage of financial advisors get to the top and there’s no mystery about how they got there. It’s because they did what unsuccessful advisors didn’t: they became brilliant at the basics.
Unless you nail the basics there’s no way you can become an elite advisor. If you don’t set goals, work hard, organize your time efficiently and practice your soft skills to perfection you won’t have the underlying tools to take your business to the next level.
There are no shortcuts to getting the basics right. It will take time, years in fact. But if you don’t put in the effort, you won’t reap the rewards. If you don’t get brilliant at the basics your career will fizzle out long before you achieve success.
Here’s a look at some of the basics and what happens when you don’t get them right.
#6. Why You Need a Referral Strategy and How to Develop One
Many advisors are uncomfortable asking clients outright for referrals, finding it hard to strike a balance between being aboveboard about wanting to acquire new business and being pushy or needy.
If that sounds like you, then you need to change your mindset because there are only three ways to gather new clients: From existing clients, people you know who are not yet clients, and people you don’t know yet. The best way by far to find new clients is via referrals.
According to 2018 Affluent Research findings, the majority of wealthy clients initially become aware of their advisors via word of mouth. They’re unlikely to respond to ads or be receptive to advances from unknown advisors. That’s why if you don’t put referrals at the heart of your business, you might be missing out on attracting higher net worth clients.
Here are a few things to remember when putting together a referral strategy.
#7. 5 Reasons Why Clients Might Not Want to Refer You
The best way to gather new clients is via referral, especially since many wealthier investors find their financial advisors this way. If you are failing to acquire referrals, you need to address this issue as a matter of importance. Lack of success invariably boils down to a number of reasons – in particular an inability to get along with people.
Here are 5 reasons that could explain why clients aren’t lining up to refer you.
#8. How to Prepare Yourself for Market Corrections
Stocks will edge higher, sometimes for prolonged periods of time, but this should never give rise to complacency. Because there’s always a ‘bear market’ waiting just around the corner.
Don’t get caught out when the markets start to fall. Prepare yourself in advance, both for your own peace of mind – and so you’re ready to reassure clients that there’s no reason to panic.
Here are some things you can do to make sure you’re in command when market corrections take place.
#9. Three Things Elite Advisors Love That Average Advisors Fear
Average Advisors get held back by letting their fear of performing certain essential tasks take control. Elite Advisors on the other hand have learned that with practice and perseverance it’s possible to actively embrace previously daunting tasks.
#10. 5 Creative Ways to Follow-up with a Prospect
In an ideal world every prospect would sign up with you at the first meeting, immediately recognizing they are in need of what you are offering. In the real world however, prospects may not yet realize your value or understand that they can trust you.
Don’t leave things to chance on the basis they may get back to you. Always follow-up. Make sure to call prospects and speak to them directly. You don’t have to feel that you’re trying to push products onto people who are not in the market for your services. Remember, they have indicated that they’re actively looking for a financial advisor.
People tend to get distracted easily however, so here are some creative ways to follow-up and remind prospects of your worth.
We hope this recap post will help you find new ways to improve your practice in 2020. Happy Holidays from all of us at Don Connelly & Associates.
Use the remainder of the year to reflect on what went right and what went wrong in 2019; what you can do differently next year to avoid mistakes and grow your business in a steady and predictable way. And come January, let’s be stronger, inspired and more motivated to achieve even greater success in 2020!
And if you already know you could use some help educating, inspiring and influencing prospects and clients into action, watch this 3-minute video and find out why you should definitely join Don Connelly live, onsite or virtually, for a power-packed workshop.
See details and reserve your seat today!
Call 941.346.1166 for discount pricing for multiple Advisors attending from the same branch. Need more info before committing? See event details here.
