What I’ve noticed over time is the concept of sales in our industry and the desire not to be “salesy.” There’s a real sense of discomfort that comes with that for many advisors. Recently, I was talking to a very high-end producer, who said those exact words, “I don’t want to be salesy or be perceived as being a salesperson.” He’s a big producer, yet he’s still affected by this idea. It’s a concept I’ve struggled with at times.
This discomfort about being salesy is rooted in the belief that the business is for the advisor rather than rooted in being of service to others. It stems from the problem of being in survival mode or failing to truly understand that what they do is noble and right. So how do you get over “being salesy”?
It goes back to client education and creating a level of trust and likability. You have to connect with people and then you have to “let the rice cook.” Advisors who dive in for the kill too soon, so to speak, are salesy. It’s about relationship building first and getting to know the client and also getting the client to understand the product, which is you. Only when there’s trust will clients open up.
When you feel like you have to close a client right then and there and fear losing opportunity at this very moment, you have become a salesperson rather than a servant, and you will, therefore, be salesy. Very difficult if not impossible to get around that. You cannot close a client before you have a relationship and before there is a level of trust.
Stop and evaluate your sales process or your AEA—awareness, education, action. Let’s look at those one by one. First is awareness. As an example, I make the best doughnuts in the world… in my basement. They’re delicious, but I step outside and wonder why no one is buying them. The reason is simple: no one knows they exist. So I put up a ten-foot flagpole in the yard and raise a flag that reads: Best Doughnuts Ever! My neighbors see it, so they stop by, purchase, and agree they’re the best doughnuts ever. But I’m still not selling enough. So I put up a 200-foot flag pole and fly the largest flag possible, and now people from miles around can see it, and the more people see it, the more they begin to purchase. That’s the start of awareness, and awareness, like any marketing, can have many facets. Maybe it’s an email campaign, LinkedIn posts and ads, media, podcasts, doing presentations, etc. You are raising awareness.
The next part of AEA is education. What does the client need to know that’s going to accelerate the sale? It’s been said, “An educated consumer is the best customer.” Think about what education is: you’re directing awareness. So if a prospect is reading a book on why my doughnuts are the best doughnuts ever, he’s building evidence in his mind and is beginning to make a choice. The more evidence he has and the more evidence that is in alignment with what he wants to create, the easier it is to close. Through education, we’re prepping someone to purchase. We want to make selling as easy as possible because selling gets in the way of serving, which is really what you want to do.
The final A is action. The sales process is defined as getting someone to say yes or not. It’s about commitment. Marketing (the awareness) is about getting the prospect to this space. There’s a balance to strike. You don’t want to have a premature closing conversation, but you also don’t want to be marketing when you should be closing. If you go to a shopping mall in Florida in the summer when it’s steaming outside, the stores have doors wide open. They’re not trying to refrigerate Florida. They know they have zero probability of a sale unless someone crosses the threshold. Maybe they have balloons and a giant gorilla advertising “50% off” to generate awareness, and they’ve educated customers about why they should buy, now they have to take action—cross the threshold and open their wallets.
You have to be clear on where you are in the process with any prospect. At Getting Results, our action before we try to get someone to commit to coaching is to have them complete the personal assessment. Until they complete that, everything to that point is marketing and education.
If you believe what you do is noble and right, and the products and services you offer can literally change someone’s world for the better, why wouldn’t you make the offer? You can’t force anyone to buy, but you can always make the offer, and as long as it’s timed correctly (i.e., trust exists and you have moved through awareness and education and are at the place of action), you have the opportunity to create a space to positively affect someone and their families.
Now, depending on the situation in which you find yourself (e.g., at the club) and someone asks what you do, answer honestly and you won’t come off as salesy: “I help business owners and high net worth people with sophisticated financial issues. And in helping more people, I’m helping to make the community and the world a better place.”
Sound like too much? Stop and look at your clients. How have you helped them and changed their lives? How have you improved their financial status? When you begin to review that and add it up, you’ll be reminded that what you do is noble and right and that you do have a part in improving your community and the world.
That said, you are who you are—a noble advisor—and it’s not something you can turn off, nor should you, no matter where you are. When I asked a client if he met anyone interesting while on vacation, his answer was negative to which he added, “I was on vacation.” My response: “Jesus never took vacation… at least he never went on vacation from being Jesus and serving others.” Similarly, we all have a role to help people and be of service, and if what we do is noble and right, should we ever turn that off? Pay attention and tune in. When an opportunity arises, offer to your help or at least to be a resource. That’s never salesy.
There’s a good analogy between tugboats and lighthouses. Tugboats are actively pushing, making sure other boats don’t crash into anything. But a lighthouse is stationary, simply beaming away. It’s not actively interacting with boats, but it is providing good information, helping boat captains make the right choices. Neither is “salesy,” but both are serving in some capacity. So as a lighthouse, you are in the awareness and education stages. When it’s time for action, you become more like the tugboat. In either case, you’re serving, not selling.
Be wonder,
Coach Ken
Co-Founder
