If you’re a Ted Lasso fan, you’re familiar with the bright yellow sign above his office reading “Believe” in blue ink.
With that sign, Ted Lasso taught us the core sales skill: believe. So many people want to become great at selling, and they think it’s about the tactics. But the best salespeople believe so much in what they do that others can feel it and want to be part of it.
Entrepreneur, speaker and coach Ed Mylett once said, “You don’t need to convince people to believe you, you need to convince people that YOU believe you.” People could have zero sales tactics or skills, but if they believe in the value their firm delivers, they don’t need all the other things.
But it still comes in handy to have the other sales skills. So what are “sales skills” in the context of G2 advisors? I like to say that sales in this context is “effective communication that gets someone to make a decision that is in the best interest of everyone involved.” This is the definition I outlined in a Journal of Financial Planning article I wrote.
Selling in this case involves communicating your message that gets your clients or prospective clients to make the best decisions for their life. Traditional definitions of sales involve getting people to purchase “goods” and “services.” In the context of this article, the “goods” are you and your expertise, and the “services” are your advice and service that you offer to your prospects and clients.
Let’s dive into the three sales skills young advisors and potential G2 advisors hoping to take over a firm should build. Then I’ll offer some tips on how to build those skills.
Believing is Selling
I’ve already established that the greatest salespeople believe in the things they are selling.
Zig Ziglar said, “If you believe your product or service can fulfill a true need, it’s your moral obligation to sell it.” And that this belief can also make you more persuasive.
You might be in a place where you don’t believe in your firm. That usually happens when people are uncertain that the value exists. Maybe there are problems at the firm that need to be fixed before you can believe. Perhaps you haven’t taken the time to convince yourself of the value – even when your clients are raving about you and how much they love you. You might think, “Well, are we really that good?” Convince yourself of the value that you provide.
Forbes reported that as humans, we can pick up on energy. So it’s likely your prospects will pick up on your energy if you’re just “going through the motions.”
How to develop: It’s easy to say, “If you don’t believe in something, quit and find something else.” That’s not always a tangible solution, but you can build your belief in your firm.
First of all, figure out why you don’t feel you believe in your firm. Are there problems you’d like to fix? Are you not convinced of the value? Pinpointing the “why” can help you figure out a path forward.
For example, if there are problems at the firm that you feel need to be addressed, list them out and practice a diplomatic way to bring them up to leadership. If you’re not convinced of the value yet, gather all the stories you can about the clients your firm has helped. Get inspired by those anecdotes. Pick the ones that resonate with you and revisit them when you start to feel your belief waning.
The ‘Coach’ Mindset with the Art of the Question
You can feel the difference when somebody is asking you a question because they’re genuinely curious to understand your perspective and where you’re coming from, and when they’re asking you leading questions to sell you something.
The former is a more powerful way to ask questions. I am a former advisor turned coach. In order to make that transition, I went through training to learn how to become an effective coach. One big part of my training was learning how to be genuinely curious and ask questions that get my clients and coaching members sharing.
You must genuinely understand your prospects and clients, and their beliefs, to best serve them. I like to call this the coach mindset, and it’s helpful for advisors to learn to get into this mindset.
How to develop: There are several courses you can take to strengthen this skill, from offerings through Golden Gate University to the Accredited Financial Counselor or Financial Fitness Coach designations from AFCPE.
Abbey Henderson, CEO, Abaris Financial Group, LLC, has three go-to tips to asking really great questions.
- Ask open-ended questions. Abbey says to always start with a “What” or “How” question. She avoids “Why” questions because they might make your clients defensive, and that’s the opposite of what you want!
- Once you ask the great question, don’t rush your client to answer. Give them time to answer.
- Ask them to say more. Something as simple as saying, “Is there anything else you want to share about that?”
The Power of Silence and Listening
There is too much information coming at people these days. It is estimated that we consume up to 74 gigabytes of information every day, up from 34 in 2009. Your clients may be leaders in their work, or have to make all the decisions at home, and they need time to process your questions.
One of Henderson’s tips for asking great questions was to pause and offer silence. Forbes reports that silence can allow your clients to process information and make better decisions that align with their values and goals.
It’s not always the easiest thing to do to sit in silence with your prospects or clients, but that’s when some of the best information comes out.
“It can be so uncomfortable to have a moment of silence,” Executive Business Coach Jessica Colston said in a with Henderson. “One of the tricks that I use as a coach is to pause for seven seconds, and we jokingly call it the ‘awkward seven-second pause.’ But sometimes when you do that, what follows is magic.”
Henderson said even though you might feel it’s a long time, it will always feel longer to you than to the client receiving the question. Plus, sends a message that you value what your prospects and clients are saying. It makes them feel heard, understood and safe to share.
Making Your Masterpiece
Now that you know the ingredients to building your selling masterpiece – belief, asking curious questions and listening – you can go out and build it.
Revisit all the amazing things your firm has done to build your belief in what you’ve done, ask questions that get at the heart of who your prospects and clients are, and don’t be afraid of silence.
If you need help, you can always call on us to help you build up and sharpen your sales skills.
