sales skills Archives

Use a puzzle to provide clarity to clients!

by Tony Vidler How often do financial advisers struggle to explain to prospective clients, or audiences at large, what it is they do? Providing clarity so that clients do not struggle to understand the explanation must be the objective, surely? This diagram pictured on the left is an excellent tool that works well (even with […]

Top Of Mind Awareness: Being Present Without Being A Nuisance

by Tony Vidler Promoting our personal professional brand is essentially all about creating top-of-mind-awareness. Being the person that our target market thinks of, and then calls, when they recognise a need or desire is our goal. We want to be “top of mind”. To achieve that we must master the art of being present, but without […]

The emotions that drive client decisions

by Tony Vidler There are three basic emotions that drive most client decisions, or actions, in financial services: 1. Fear 2. Greed 3. Love The one we often shy away from is the first one: Fear. I am going to suggest you might want to consider “slapping” some clients with it sometimes…not literally of […]

Give yourself a better chance of having prospects engage you

by Tony Vidler There is one simple thing that advisers should do to improve the probability that prospects will engage you: Talk about the outcomes you create for clients rather than talking jargon. In engagement letters and scope of service documents, as well as in advertising brochures or online, too many advisers list their expertise […]

Sales Technique Is The Key To Opening Minds

by Tony Vidler “Sales Technique”…the very phrase sends shudders down the spines of professionals today it seems. Despite the focus on our increased technical knowledge and the emphasis upon good process, financial advisers do actually have to “sell” – even if they don’t want to face up to that. A large problem for many newer […]

How To Get Buy-In From Clients To Full Advice

by Tony Vidler Clients often want advisers to deal with just one element of financial planning…their current “burning issue” that triggered the need for advice to begin with. Getting them to engage in full advice can be tough and they need to understand what you CAN do for them, and where your knowledge and skills […]

New Ways To Lift The Game With Customers

by Tony Vidler Have you thought about rolling the dice and asking your customers what they would like you to provide? In professional services we are often reasonable at surveying our customers for satisfaction and service levels, and asking generic questions about how we can improve in those areas. More often than not though […]

How do you know your financial advice is suitable?

by Tony Vidler Knowing that your financial advice is suitable for a client is something that every professional adviser is willing to attest to, but proving it when challenged can be incredibly dificult. Advisers are increasingly being challenged and therefore seeking assurance that their practices are robust and will withstand such scrutiny. Whether that scrutiny […]

Sales Activity Can Be Gamified

by Tony Vidler Some things are timeless simply because they have stood the test of time, and focusing upon sales activity is one of them. “Sales activity” as a concept is probably abhorrent to many professionals today, but it is simply about managing the inputs which provide the outputs that your business wants. It […]

Uncomfortable with Referrals? No problem…there is another way…

by Tony Vidler Being a firm believer that Word-Of-Mouth marketing is THE most effective form there is, I do bang on about being referable and engaging with the target market…but… REALITY CHECK: Some people just never feel comfortable giving referrals. In fact there IS a good chance that you will jeopardise your existing business […]

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