100. Why some people don't like to talk to agents

If financial advisory just another selling job?

If we are to base the answer on the proliferation of popular seminar topics in the industry today (selling to the HNIs, objection handling, consultative selling, always be closing etc..), success in financial advisory is now a function of how well we sell products!

To me, focusing on just developing selling skills to build a career on financial advisory may or may not bring you to the accomplishments you envisioned. This is because approaching prospective clients with a "salesman" mindset will influence how we approach and talk to them - a salesman will focus on making a sale as an objective and if is not forthcoming, may lead to a contest of wills with the advisor using "sales techniques" to try to overcome objections and the prospect defending his decision with more objections, more often than not, this leads to negative outcomes.

Financial advisory is more on advocating financial literacy, to know and understand enough financial concepts and options to be able to make informed financial decision; whether it is to have enough funds to meet important life goals or passing on critical risk elements that may place these goal attainments in peril.

Financial advisory is all about "educating" prospective clients on how best to invest his current excess funds considering his personal circumstances, his risk/reward preferences, how market conditions may affect the outcomes, possible risk in the horizon etc.

Financial advisory is all about helping prospective clients make an "informed financial decision"! And if they decide that we are their best partner in their financial journey, then we have a sale!

• A salesman focuses on making a sale!
• An advocate focuses on sharing information that would help prospective clients understand where he is right now in his financial journey relative to where he wanted to be, options available to him and the best way forward. And whether they decide to buy or not is another matter.

Changing how we approach prospective client from a salesman mindset to an advocate mindset may be the better way of building a more sustainable financial advisory career!

All the best my friends!

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