There are hundreds if not thousands of books written about this all espousing the secret to being a successful salesman.  Some focus on gimmicks while others focus on language and some on technique.  While undoubtedly all these work to varying degrees of success my experience is successful advisors in our profession use a different technique.

Recommendations an advisor makes can only be as good as the information they are based upon.  The truly great advisors I have met know their clients do not share all the information with them – either intentionally or unintentionally.  To counter this obstacle, these advisors have developed systems which enable them to present ideas and alternatives without running the risk of making a recommendation that does not work for the client.

One successful advisor told me he always presents three options, making sure he highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each option.  One of the options is always the plan the client is currently following.  He makes sure the client knows this is can be a viable option that does not necessarily need to be changed.  Most of the time the weaknesses in the current plan far outweigh the strengths and when viewed objectively the client sees that some change is needed.  The other options are viable alternatives, when there are viable alternatives to present.  Additionally, he told me the alternatives do not always lead to sales for him and he is ok with that because he is an advisor – not a salesman.  

He knows doing the right thing for his clients will be the right thing for him and his business.  Other advisors have expressed the same sentiment.  It is not always an easy path to follow but each one of them agree it is the way to build a business and a reputation.  As one advisor told me, people do business with him because they trust him and that trust is built over a career but can be lost in an instant.   He wants to make sure that trust is never lost.

 

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