My own experience of hiring a financial advisor even though I didn’t know I needed one…
Step 1: Find and Engage The Prospect
A few years ago, I got an invite to connect with a financial analyst on Linkedin. I had mutual connections with him, so i figured he must be a real person and I accepted. At this point, I had no interest in hiring a financial advisor. I generally followed the stock market and would put most of my spare cash into mutual funds that I felt were good. The money I wanted to play around with I’d put into companies that I researched and felt had a good future ahead of them and a leader that could execute the vision. I say all that to say, hiring a financial advisor had never even crossed my mind. I didn’t even know what one wold do for me.
Nonetheless, after we were connected he asked if I’d be open to a quick phone call to chat. Not seeing the harm in seeing what he does and what he has to offer, I said sure.
Step 2: Be Patient, One Step At A Time
On the phone call, he didn’t try to close me on a package. He introduced himself, told me a bit about him and then asked me some questions and got to know me. He built rapport. His goal on this call was to get me to agree to meeting him for breakfast where he would give me more details about the services they provide.
Talking to him, I could see the value in having someone to talk to about my finances. We already have to sales lessons here:
- Focus on one call to action at a time. Don’t try to close from the very beginning - especially if the prospect is problem-unaware. Just get them to take the next step in the process.
- If the prospect doesn’t know that they have a problem, you have to educate them on what they’re missing out on.
Back to the story.
Step 3: Close the Deal
About a week later, I meet the guy for breakfast at a local place. He tells me his backstory, where he went to school, what jobs he’s had, how many kids he has and what school they go to etc. I share details about my life as well. What he’s doing here is building even more rapport. A really smart thing he did was take me out for breakfast. In person meetings are way better than phone calls for building trust.
At this point, I like the guy but I want to know exactly what he can do for me and what it’s going to cost. He gives me a couple package options and immediately I’m relieved that he’s not charging some astronomical amount that I can’t afford. I agree immediately, sign the contract, and we’re in business.
This sale closed because he took the time to find me, build rapport with me, explain what value he could provide me, and then finally close me on the sale. I hadn’t gone out seeking a financial advisor, this was 100% because he took the time and effort to connect with me. To that point, he ended up leaving the company a few months later and as soon as he left i canceled the advisory subscriptions because I had a relationship with him and I trusted him with my money. I didn’t want to go through my finances with another random person.
People that truly understand sales and have the internal motivation to just put their head down and do the work necessary will never go hungry. With a half decent offer they can close enough sales to make good money in any industry.
The Online Sales Funnel
One of the mistakes people building online businesses make in the initial phases of the business is assuming that just because you put your offer on the internet, people will start buying out of nowhere. They don’t even think about doing the manual, time consuming work of sales that is necessary to keep the lights on.
The principles are the same for online businesses. You have to find prospects and then take them from problem unaware to ready to buy. You do this by creating a sales funnel where you educate and provide value to prospects until they’re ready to buy.