Archive for September, 2010

As a female financial advisor we have few million dollar female advisors to look up to, thus we often set our sights below our potential.  This limited vision can be the single biggest factor in turning a good business to great.  You may have all the skill sets, process and ability to achieve the million dollar mark but if you can’t perceive yourself there you won’t achieve the goal.

If you want to be a million dollar producer you must think, act, talk and make decisions as would a big producer, regardless of the stage of business you are in.  During my first year as a financial advisor I was required to listen to the weekly “Rookie” calls every Tuesday night.  Each call would feature a “rookie” who had achieved success in one aspect of building their business.  I found every excuse to miss these sessions as I found little value in learning from my peers.  If I was going to learn from other advisors I wanted to learn from the Million dollar producers whom I aspired to be. 

I realized that to be a million dollar producer I must perceive myself as a top producer TODAY.    As a result everything I did as a new advisor, every decision I made was based on my perception of myself as a million dollar producer.  Each morning I would recite my affirmation statement which started with “I am a million dollar producer…”. I approached my business and my clients as if I had $100,000,000 in assets under management, the only thing I was missing was the assets (but I knew they would come).  

As you go about your day, with every decision you make ask yourself “If I were generating a million in production would I say, do and act that same way?”  From this new vision will come a new more confident approach to speaking with prospects.  You will find yourself more definitive in making recommendations. You will spend less time chasing a prospect and more time attracting new prospects.  You will begin to delegate more of the daily “busy” work and stay more focused on the activities that add value to your clients and generate assets and production.  It is this vision and perception of yourself that can transform you business, redesign your practice and reenergize your life. 

Remember you can only achieve what you can perceive.

Today while  coaching two different financial advisors  I focused our time on prospecting calls or perhaps I should say on “Call Reluctance”. In fact in both cases the Advisor was to make calls to warm leads yet the Advisors were both struggling to get on the phone with any consistency.  There always seemed to be a hundred excuses none of which were valid.  In one case in which the advisor shared his script, it was so salesy even I got “call anxiety”.

Making effective prospecting calls today is so much easier than in the past. Your probably thinking “How can she say that?”.  But it’s true.  In the past you needed to create a script that was filled with professional language promoting yourself and your practice, in many cases it was a mouthful,  something you had to memorize.  It was impersonal and difficult to get through.  Today all you have to do is talk.

Prospects are tired of the canned presentations, heck you might as well hire a calling machine if that’s all your going to do. What prospects want is a live, warm blooded, breathing individual who is calling to add value to their life with more interest in learning about the prospect than promoting a product.  The process is really easy, especially when you approach the call as if you are calling a good friend.

Sample Script:

Hey John, how is the new house?

I know we haven’t talked in a while but I wanted to reach out and just get your take on the market.  I have been receiving a number of referrals and investors are really struggling with this volatility so I decided to reach out to all my friends and family to make sure they were doing ok.

How are you handling this volatility?

How has it impacted your financial life?

What adjustments have you made to accommodate your needs?

You know John, based on just this brief conversation I know there are some things you could be doing that would ease your mind, better protect your assets and give you a better idea as to your long term progress. You know  I found it kind of ironic that I am helping so many who come to me as strangers and yet I have left my family and friends to fend for themselves.

I certainly don’t want to push you but wanted you to know that I’m here and would be happy to help or just give you a second opinion.

How can I best help you?

Your role on this call is NOT to educate, this is not when you sell an idea or a product. Your job is to ask good open ended questions and to really listen, listen for one or two issues that are creating anxiety in the prospect.  This is what you should focus on, acknowledging their feelings, substantiate your concern and letting them know you have solutions.  They key is make it personal and just be yourself.

 I just spent my morning shooting two new video’s. Now don’t get excited they are very short videos shot right here in my home.  The videos will be posted to my website to create a more personal introduction to who I am and what I do.  I must say it is a little uncomfortable making a video of yourself but if I don’t get the message out there who will?

I realized that while I was feeling some discomfort about promoting myself that is the same feeling many of my female advisor clients have when selling themselves.  The difference is in my videos, although I used a script the script was written from the heart using my own language and vocabulary.  Most female financial advisors have been taught how to promote themselves based on the male oriented approach, often times using a male message and male vocabulary, no wonder they are uncomfortable. 

There are many ways to send your message but what is more important is the message itself.  Finding that authentic message can be stifling. For so long female financial advisors have hidden their true self in order to conform to the male dominated industry.  The good news is your true self is still alive and well, the bad news is it may take some serious excavating to find her, a necessity if you are to develop your real story. 

If you are determined to uncover your authentic message consider starting with the following exercise.  Imagine you are having a conversation with your husband or best friend someone you are very close to with whom you can be very honest.  Perhaps business has been challenging lately (considering the past two years, you don’t have to imagine much) and your husband or friend asks you sincerely “Why do you want to continue being a financial advisor?”  How would you answer?  Your husband or friend is not looking for the stock answer they really want to know what is it about being a financial advisor that keeps you going even when the going get’s tough. 

You may find it difficult to come up with an answer, just have them keep asking.  Force yourself to dig down, to search for the answer.  Once you answer this question and odds are you have found your story.  Once you have your story it’s time to share it with the world.

I’ll be watching U-Tube for YOUR new video.