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Throughout my 30+ years’ experience leading sales and relationship teams within the financial services industry I have watched knowledgeable, motivated, and focused sales people and advisors struggle to connect on a personal level with clients. Advisors gathered all the necessary data through comprehensive discovery, held regular meetings with their clients, had great looking presentation materials and were extremely responsive to client needs and requests.
But I saw no real connection between the advisor and the client beyond facts, figures, and data.
Those clients told me the advisor or salesperson was hard to relate to, cared only about making the sale or "talking numbers," or used too much jargon, which made them feel they were being talked down to.
On the other hand, the most successful sales people and advisors effortlessly build quick and strong personal connections with clients. By being great storytellers they come across as more empathetic, human, and personable. Contrary to popular opinion, great storytelling has nothing to do with personality type. Anyone, and everyone, can become a great storyteller by following a few simple steps. I have used these steps in storytelling training and role-play with advisors and sales teams for many years with great success.
Four steps to great storytelling:
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Be authentic – You have to be yourself. Clients want to know who you are and want to hear about other clients’ experiences with you. Your job isn’t acting or make-believe, so let your clients see you for who you really are. Help your clients see your human side and “feel” what it’s like when you can help them successfully achieve a goal.
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Paint pictures – According to a study published in the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), 65% of people are visual learners. You can deeply connect with visual learners by painting mental pictures for them with your stories. Instead of telling them how updating and correcting serious errors in a client’s estate plan made them very happy, describe the “smile that lit up the room when they knew their family’s needs were properly protected.” The picture that came into your mind reading that statement is the same mental picture you want to paint for your clients.
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Practice, practice, practice – You might be wondering, since it’s an authentic story and not a sales pitch, why do I need to practice? Everything you do and say in front of a client should be practiced, that’s the mark of a true professional. Stumbling or rambling through your authentic story will cause it to seem made up. Plus, practicing will help you find just the right words to paint the best mental pictures for your clients.
There is no better time than the holiday season to polish up your storytelling skills. Social gatherings and events provide perfect opportunities to be authentic and brief in painting word pictures to tell people how your year has been, what your plans are for the holidays or what’s new. You know those types of questions are coming, so take a few minutes and practice your storytelling answers today. Improving your storytelling skills now will benefit your client relationships in the coming year!
Drew Taylor is the Founder of DTaylor Group, a strategic consulting firm and organic growth authority for wealth advisors and asset managers, helping them achieve their highest-potential growth resulting in stronger client relationships and greater revenues and profitability.
Read more articles by Drew Taylor
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
