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When a prospect meets with you for the first time and tells you about their situation, it’s easy to interpret that as a new client coming on board with you.
A prospect who seems to know what they want? That’s music to your ears.
While they’re sharing their challenges with you, and as you listen and nod, in your mind, your instinct is to start solving their problem... right? It’s not like it’s the first time that someone says to you: “I need help planning my retirement.”
As soon as they’re done talking, your instinct most likely will be to ask fact-finding questions and then share with them the path to work with you to solve their problem.
Everything is smooth so far, zero friction, “looking good” (you say to yourself).
They even say to you they’re “definitely interested” (and they’re high-net worth) and ask you to send information that will help them decide if they want to take the next step.
It’s an intoxicating experience, having years of knowledge and expertise validated and appreciated right in the first meeting.
But that beautiful experience then tapers quickly when they don’t get back in touch with you, or don’t upload their documents you asked for, to continue with your process.
You give it a week or two, still nothing.
You fire off an email to “follow up” but they don’t reply.
You get the courage to call them (even though you vowed never to “chase” anyone), but it goes straight to voice mail.
What went wrong?
How did this situation reverse so dramatically?
In your initial meeting, you were the expert, and you were highly engaged with them discussing their problem – then they ghosted you.
Here’s the most likely reason, based on the psychology of the situation:
You interpreted their openness about their situation and quickness to tell you what they wanted, as “engagement” – and you assumed you knew enough about their issues to move them forward in your sales process.
The opportunity was right in front of you. All you had to do was reach out and take it... or so you thought.
That was a false assumption.
The truth is that your prospects often don’t tell you everything you need to know to assess the depths of their problems, because they can’t articulate the context behind their surface-level description of their issues. They see their issues from a 180-degree perspective. Yet you as an advisor have the gift of a 360-degree perspective.
Because you accepted what you heard, rather than challenging them to see the deeper context, impact and urgency of their issues (prior to asking for documentation), they felt the experience was a duplicate of the other advisors they met. This scenario plays out over and over for advisors, primarily because the profession still uses a commoditised “discovery meeting” approach to making the sale.
When a prospect tells you their problem is X and that they’re therefore looking for Y, don’t assume that is the full truth.
If anything, it’s only part of the truth.
Chances are there’s “Z,” another piece of information they’re not telling you... not because they’re trying to mislead you... but because they’re not aware of it or they can’t appreciate its significance.
This hidden variable is the key to: a) determining whether or not you can truly can solve their problem; and b) the prospect seeing you as an authority they can trust, instead of someone just trying to make the sale.
You need to be politely skeptical so you can discover the hidden variable that wouldn’t be obvious to them. There’s an approach to do this tactfully so you don’t come across as being difficult, but as an expert who genuinely cares – a truth-teller.
I call it “going down the iceberg”.
Like an iceberg, what looks like a clear and present issue only appears that way on the surface.
Navigating solely from what you can see on the surface puts you in danger of missing the deeper emotional issues and impacts that lie below and they need to accept before you can go to a next step.
The truth of the sale (the iceberg) is always hidden below the surface, and it’s usually bigger and deeper than what you’re presented with initially.
To learn more about how to go down the “iceberg” and preserve your authority to avoid losing perfectly qualified potential clients, order your complimentary book and consultation below.
Ari Galper is the world’s number one authority on trust-based selling and is the most sought-after high-net worth/lead generation expert for financial advisors. His newest book, “Trusted Authority” has become an instant best-seller among financial advisors worldwide – you can get a Free copy of Ari’s book here and, when you click the “YES” button in the order form, you’ll also receive a complimentary “plug up the holes” lead generation consultation. Ari has been featured in CEO Magazine, Forbes, INC Magazine and the Australian Financial Review. He is considered a contrarian in the financial services industry and in his book, everything you learned about selling will be turned upside down. No more chasing, no pressure, no closing.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
