Getting Past “Blah, Blah, Blah” When Talking to Prospects

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Dan Richards

We’ve all had our eyes glaze over listening to someone who knows their topic well but goes on too long and gets into too much detail. A recent conversation at a backyard barbeque outlined how two successful advisors fell victim to the “blah, blah, blah” effect, but a third was able to clearly articulate her value and differentiate herself.

The conversation was with a very prosperous business owner – let’s call him Alan – in his early 60s and someone I’ve talked to several times over the years at get-togethers hosted by mutual friends. At a recent barbeque, he talked about his experience selecting a financial advisor.

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Dan Richards

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Alan spent 30 years building a successful retail chain; at one time, he hoped that one of his kids would succeed him in the business, but over the past few years it became clear that this wouldn’t happen. When he got an attractive offer for his business last fall, he seized the opportunity to cash in on three decades of hard work.

Until that point, almost all of Alan’s net worth had been tied up in his business. He’d never dealt with a financial advisor aside from an agent from whom he’d bought insurance about 20 years ago at his accountant’s suggestion. He hadn’t met with this agent since buying the initial policy; his only contact with him has been an annual birthday card with a written note asking that Alan give the agent a call if he’d like to review his coverage.

When Alan signed the deal to sell his business, he asked his accountant, his banker and his closest friend to recommend a financial advisor. He set up appointments with the three advisors he was referred to as a result – and that’s where things got interesting.

An impressive introduction

“All three of the advisors were very impressive,” Alan said. “They all worked for well-known firms and had professional offices. When I looked at their websites and linked-in profiles, all were clearly successful with solid teams behind them.

And when we met, all of them did the right things. In every case I was greeted politely and professionally. These advisors had clearly done their research and knew a fair bit about me and my company going in – in every case they had talked about my situation to the contact who’d referred me to them. In fact, one had gone so far as to visit one of my stores on the weekend before we met.”

Alan continued: “And when we began talking, all three demonstrated real interest in my situation and asked excellent questions about my circumstances and what I was looking to achieve. At the end of the initial portion of our conversation, I was impressed and would have been happy to work with any of them.

Two difficulties arose, however, when we shifted gears and they talked about their capabilities and approach.“

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