professional sales process Archives

Lost Sales Skills: How to “get down to business” without drama

by Tony Vidler The advice industry has lost a lot of sales skills, and it needs them. If we are to help consumers make better decisions and change behaviour then we have to be able to help convince them to change. The first tension point for today’s professionals is how to transition from the […]

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 […]

Deal or No Deal? Advice is that simple at the beginning. Really.

by Tony Vidler One of the greatest challenges for professionals working with complex ideas and products is to keep initial advice as simple as possible, without being patronising to the client or skipping the detail that compliance demands. After all, it takes great skill and careful thought to be able to simplify complex information […]

I sell…You sell…We ALL sell. Or should do…

by Tony Vidler I am a professional. I am a salesman. These two things are not contradictory. We all sell stuff. It seems like I’m selling my time these days…sometimes a product….sometimes it is just selling concepts and possibilities. Mostly it is selling behavioural change & fixing other peoples’ problems though. But I sell. […]

Brainstorming for fact finding financial advice

How to challenge clients thinking without being confrontational

by Tony Vidler Perhaps the toughest task any adviser faces is to challenge clients’ own thinking, but without getting into a confrontation that threatens the entire relationship. Most of us find ourselves occasionally dealing with a client who already thinks they know the answers – they haven’t come to us for advice, they have […]

To fix repeated problems, you need a process!

by Tony Vidler For financial advisory firms the word “process” has become synonymous with “best practice advice”, but good process is so much more than just a compliant and well-documented series of advice documents. Process cures problems. Process is what builds franchise businesses. Process is what creates turnkey operations that are highly valued […]

Written Advice: Should it be Clear? or Concise? Or Effective?

by Tony Vidler When it comes to delivering our written advice to clients there is a tendency to be guided by the words used by the regulators, or law, in how that advice is framed or written. The written advice, be it financial plans or Statements Of Advice being delivered to clients, are however […]

Slow down and get better results

by Tony Vidler To get better results one usually has to change something, and sometimes it strangely enough better results can be achieved from doing something which seems counter-intuitive: Slowing Down. Anyone who has played a lot of sport knows that when things get disjointed and are not quite working seamlessly, the trick is […]

Using Visuals To Sell Bad News And Complex Ideas

by Tony Vidler Disclaimers and fine print don’t ever really help in selling tough ideas, but visuals do sell complex or tough-to-swallow concepts quickly and easily. Nowhere is this more true than when you want to manage client expectations and “pre-sell” what is likely to happen in the future so that everyone avoids […]

Understanding why people buy…anything.

by Tony Vidler When it comes to advising clients to change course or do something new we should remember the reasons why people buy anything, including “advice”. If we want our advice to be effective (and lead the client to do something better than they are currently doing) then it is best to make […]

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