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CHAPTER 1

Mentally Preparing for Sales Success

Congratulations! You have chosen a career in one of the best fields of all times. I mean that. Money really does make the world go around. Those who are wisest with their money have opportunities to enjoy more of what our world offers, including more fun, more security, and more wonderful opportunities. And you have chosen to become well-educated on financial products to earn a very nice income for yourself while serving the needs of others. By picking up this book, you have come to the right place to begin. I’ve always been known as a foundational teacher so we’re starting at the ground floor.

Speaking of ground floors, we’ll use a building analogy throughout this book. None of today’s great architects would begin a structure without a complete set of blueprints. Follow their example. Do not attempt to build your business without developing your own personal set of plans to arrive at the final completed structure of your dreams.

Take Advantage of the Advantages

Before we get into creating your career blueprint, let’s consider some of the greatest advantages of this exciting, challenging and most rewarding field. Why is this industry the best place for you?

Advantage #1 – Nearly everyone is a potential client. Unless you plan to specialize, such as working only with the affluent who have $10 million or more in net worth or some other niche, your pool of potential clients expands to nearly every adult on the planet. Think about it. Who doesn’t need knowledge and sound advice on keeping and growing their money? It doesn’t matter if their discretionary funds are only $50 or as much as $50,000 a month, everyone has a need for what you offer. Millions of people are seeking to earn, save, invest, and increase their fortunes. They need life insurance, debt consolidation services, long term care, annuities, 401K plans, full blown investment programs and other financial services. Most will have a continuing need for those services and so will their families as the children grow and are told, “Just call Bob/Sally. He/She has taken good care of us for a long time. You’ll do well with them, too.” Your legacy will grow with continual referrals from satisfied clients.

Advantage #2 – You, and only you, determine your income level. You get to choose how hard you work, how long you work and how many clients you want to work with. You also choose how well you’ll develop your skills.

Some of the best advice I ever got about selling as a career is this: Selling is the highest paid hard work and the lowest paid easy work there is. That’s it in a nutshell. If you’re willing to work hard, the reward is huge. My job in this book is to help you learn how to increase your income and your sense of accomplishment by working smarter as well.

Sure, you can double your income by working twice the hours and with twice as many clients. The real fun begins when you develop your skills to a point where you’re working half the time and still making the same income. Or, if you choose, you’re working the same amount of time for double the income! No one limits your income potential in this field but you.

NOTE: It doesn’t matter how well or not-so-well you’ve done so far in your financial services career. You are to be commended for investing in your financial future by owning this book, by investing your time to read it, and by applying its tactics and strategies to create a better life by better serving your clients. You are already demonstrating your desire to go beyond average to achieve “champion” status.

Advantage #3 – You’ll experience real joy and satis­faction in helping others throughout your career. Who doesn’t want that as a reward for their daily toil? If you’re in this business for the right reasons—to serve the needs of others—it’ll warm your heart every day that you help a family or an individual take one more step toward doing the right thing with their money because you educate them. You help them make wise decisions to protect their families and their assets, to start investing for growth and planning for the future. You’re making a powerful, positive difference in people’s lives. What a bonus!

I’m constantly amazed at the shockingly high percentage of our population that hasn’t the foggiest idea of capital, how it works, and how it can be used to better one’s life. This is where you come in. You are an integral component of our free enterprise system. Your knowledge, wisdom and experience with financial matters puts you in a position to help fuel the dreams and ambitions of individuals, families, companies and organizations—it’s how you make things happen.

Advantage #4 – You are in charge of your time. Of course, most financial planners work specific hours but you have the freedom to choose those hours and the flexibility to include important non-work activities in your schedule. There are few things worse than achieving business or financial success while losing touch with the loved ones who make the rewards worthwhile.

Most folks in the financial services industry are entrepreneurs, or independent contractors who work on their own, but not alone. They align themselves with large companies or groups whose products they offer. Those companies have your back. They provide education, service and support for what you do, but they don’t dictate your hours. You inhabit the very best of both worlds.

Advantage #5 – You can live and work practically anywhere on the planet. It’s wise to build your business and your reputation in the community in which you live. However, if you choose to specialize in another market, or even another part of the country, once the accounts are established, much of your continuing service can be done via phone, email, and online.

Advantage #6 – Providing financial services is mentally stimulating. It's important to remember that the industry is large and diverse. With so many choices to explore, you are bound to find aspects of the industry that are a good match for your skills and interests. Rather than being a Jack or Jill of all financial trades, you may decide to specialize in working with particular lines of products. And, with the needs of your clients and industry offerings constantly changing, you’ll find yourself enjoying learning about new products that may be beneficial to your existing clients or help you earn the business of new ones.

In some ways, your job is to gather just the right materials and equipment (products and services) to build the dreams of your clients. You are a financial structural engineer!

Advantage #7 – There’s long term potential. The need for financial services professionals is huge. It’s on the Bureau of Labor Statistics list of “in-demand” occupations. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates for the ten year period from 2006 to 2016, 2.2 million positions will be necessary in financial services. See…what you do is necessary for the long haul. If you’re willing to do your part, you can build a lifetime career in this field. A large number of industries are dwindling, downsizing or dying every year, but financial services is not one that’s even on the edge of extinction.

If you’ll look up other statistics, you’ll likely find that average financial services counselors and re p r esentatives earn good incomes. That’s wonderful news but my goal in this book is to show you how to rise above average—how to earn whatever income you set your mind to.

I don’t know of anyone who has ever taken my training with the goal to become average. There was a time when mediocrity was acceptable. It was the standard—the norm. Achievers were seen as being pushy and aggressive. Or, worse. Many were considered oddballs. Not so today. Go-getters are admired and their progress watched. Clients want to work with someone who’s on the cutting edge of the industry. They want to be the first to know about new products that might benefit them and they’ll go out of their way to work with an advisor who has his or her fingers on the pulse of the financial world.

Improve Upon the Law of Averages

Even if you were born into an average family in which no one ever earned more than an average level of income, or if they never stepped out into the entrepreneurial world that doesn’t mean you can’t. You just have to choose to leave those old thought patterns behind and adopt new, more progressive, more rewarding ones. We’ve seen this in the movies where the average Joe or Joanne aspires to greatness beyond working in the mines, the mills, the manufacturing plants or whatever. They succeed because of their hard work and determination. They rise above the expectations others have for them by thinking differently, then acting upon those thoughts. You see thoughts really do become things.

I once heard the late great Earl Nightingale say, “You are and will become that which you think about most of the time.” Acting upon that single sentence, changing what I thought of myself, has made all the difference in my life. I was able to rise above the old me—little Tommy Hopkins who was not good in school, who was afraid to stand up and speak in front of the class, and was picked on for his small stature—to achieving a life I had previously thought an impossible dream.

I hope you have people in your life who are supportive of your career choice, but if you don’t, know that it’s possible to have whatever you want in life anyway. You just have to choose your own way. Then, act upon that choice. Mr. Nightingale was absolutely right. Action always follows thought. Think right. Act right and you’ll get the right results—every time.

Find new friends and associates who will support your dream of success as a financial planner, counselor or representative. That doesn’t mean ditch your old friends, though you may end up spending less time with them. It just means to stop allowing their choices and their expectations of you to limit what you do for yourself.

How do you do that?

Well, you can start with something as simple as affirmations. An affirmation is a positive declaration about something. It’s a statement of belief.

Here are some examples:

“I’m happy. I love my life. I’m always discovering fascinating new things to do.”

“I know that I have a wonderful future.”

“I work smart and deserve all the success I want.”

This process involves the use of self-talk. It’s the conversation you have with yourself. It’s always going on in your head whether you consciously realize it or not. These thoughts represent your core beliefs and they’re what made you what you are today. If you want to be someone different tomorrow, you need to start actively, consciously, talking differently to yourself. I know this sounds overly simple but it really is that easy. The hard part is that you have to decide what messages you want to give yourself and you must review them consistently until you catch yourself having those positive conversations in your head.

The more specific you are the better. Invest 15 minutes envisioning your perfect life and writing out its description in positive statements. The key is to make certain as you read each statement that it provides you with a clear picture of that life.

Our minds think in pictures, not words. For example, if someone says the word “car” to you, you may picture a Ford while the person standing next to you “sees” a Lexus in his or her mind’s eye. So, the more descriptive your words are the better your picture will be. And, the better, the clearer, and the more real your picture, the better your real life becomes.

The key to your success with affirmations is belief. You must believe in the power of affirmative statements for that power to enter your life. If you lack belief, say them anyway---regularly and sincerely. In a surprisingly short amount of time the proven positive results of your efforts will make a believer out of you.

Here are some sample affirmations you may want to use as they relate to your career:

“It’s amazing how easily I meet new people who need my services.”

“I’m terrific at remembering names. I remember a new person’s name right away.”

“I’m always excited to learn about the newest products I can offer my clients.”

“I keep in touch with my clients on a regular basis so they know I am here to serve.”

Keeping Up Appearances

Now that we’ve addressed what’s going on inside you, let’s take a moment to consider the exterior. I won’t dwell or ramble on here, but I feel the need to address the issue of your personal appearance as it relates to your image as a financial services advisor people will want to do business with.

Do yourself a favor. Get dressed as if you’re meeting a typical client and step in front of a full-length mirror. Look at yourself from head to toe. Adjust your posture if you feel the need to do so. Smile. Then, ask yourself this question: “Would I entrust something as important as my family’s financial future to the advice of this person?”

If you feel even the slightest sense of doubt creep into your mind, make a phone call immediately to a hair stylist, someone to give you a manicure, or someone to provide advice on a profes­sional wardrobe. Shine your shoes. If you’re a man, learn how to iron your shirts so they look crisp. Learn how to tie a better knot in your tie. If you’re a woman, consider visiting the experts at the make­up counter in your local department store. You have to look as sharp as you are mentally.

You and I know that it’s your knowledge people really want, but if you don’t look like you have taken your own advice and appear financially successful, why would they? Appearances do count when working with the public.

The Groundwork

Okay, let’s get back to our blueprints. Before a structure can be built, the ground must be measured, tested for density, and in some cases worked over a bit to be level. The groundwork in selling includes a basic understanding of what I call the selling triangle. The triangle is not unlike a pyramid-one of the most sound structures man has ever created. Talk about standing the test of time! I’ll speak about all three sides shortly, but let’s begin with the beginning, the base.

Attitude, Enthusiasm and Goals

The foundation of your business includes your attitude, enthusiasm and goals. You see, you can have all the product knowledge in the world and excellent people skills, but if your attitude is sour and you’re not enthusiastic about what you’re doing, you might as well not bother getting out of bed in the morning. Your lack of enthusiasm will show. Worse, it’s contagious. If you’re not upbeat and excited about what you do for people, they won’t be either. If you don’t engage their emotions, they won’t do business with you.

As a comparison, think of a doctor with a poor bedside manner. He may be very knowledgeable and skilled, but if he doesn’t excel at making his patients feel they’ve made a good decision by seeing him, they’re not likely to return. They’ll find someone who makes them feel good about feeling good.

Your positive attitude is what you feel within and your enthusi­astic manner is what people see on the outside. They should come not only from your belief in the service you provide but from the goals you have set and are working to achieve.

Let’s say you have a goal to do what every red-blooded American family wants to do—go to Disneyland. You’ve done the research and know how much you need to earn and save to achieve the goal by a pre-determined date in time. Your family is excited. You’re excited. You want to be the hero and achieve the goal. You know that providing excellent service to a certain number of clients will do the trick. Are you excited to get up and get to work every day? You bet you are! Are your spouse and kids excited for you? Are they telling you how great you are to be helping other people so they can benefit, too? Yes and yes.

That’ s your foundation: Attitude, Enthusiasm and Goals. Evaluate each of those areas right now. How do you feel about what you do? How is that feeling showing up in your outer world? If you’re not satisfied that they’re as good and as strong as they could be, perhaps you need to set better, loftier goals.

The goals you set must be better than your best, but believable. Otherwise you won’t stretch and grow. You won’t be motivated to achieve them. Let’s take a moment to review the basic laws that apply to goals:

1. Your goals must be believable. If you don’t really believe you can achieve it, you won’t. End of story.

2. Your goals must be clearly defined. If you set a physical fitness goal regarding weight loss, you wouldn’t write, “I’m going to lose weight.” Why? Because nobody wants to “lose.” They want to gain and in this case you want to gain a healthier body. So you’d write, “I’m going to achieve my ideal weight of 175 pounds by November 6th, 2009.” It’s clear. It’s specific and it has a deadline. Great goal!

3. Your goals must be ardently desired. You simply won’t work for something that “would be nice to have or do.” Your goals must be ardently desired. I love that phrase because you nearly have to grit your teeth to say it. It just doesn’t sound right if you say it without emotion. You must be passionate about your goals.

4. Your goals must be vividly imagined. This goes back to our discussion of what you see in your mind’s eye. Can you envision yourself at 175 pounds in the summer? What are you wearing? How do you feel at that weight? Get as vivid a picture as you can. See it. Smell it. Feel it. Taste it.

5. Your goals must be in writing. This seems to be the most daunting task for people. Too many feel that if they put a goal in writing and don’t achieve it, they will have written proof of their failure. If that’s your thinking, stop it right now. The value of putting your goals in writing is so you can read them over and over again to keep them fresh in your mind on days when everything you touch turns to something other than gold. Your written goals are your motivators to keep moving forward. And it’s okay if you change your mind or alter your goals as you journey toward them. They’re not stamped in concrete after all. But do put them in writing. It’s an important step toward making them real.

That takes care of the foundation of our selling skills triangle. Now, let’s take a look at the sides.

On the left side, we have product knowledge. As I already mentioned, this is something you get from the company or group you’re associated with. Since you’re now treating your business like a hobby work is now fun. One of your goals must be to study all of the product information you can get your hands on. After all, it will do you no good to stutter and stammer your way through infor­mation on something you want your clients to own.

“Oh, yeah, Mrs. Johnson, we have this new product that’s exactly what you need. Let me find the brochure on it. It’s, uh, oh, I don’t remember exactly how they describe it, but it sounded like it would take care of your concerns about…”

If you don’t know it, don’t try to sell it! You won’t come across with confidence and they won’t have confidence in either you or the product even if it is great for them. You must be seen as a truly knowledgeable and competent professional within minutes of meeting any new prospective client. The potential client must believe you not only can “talk the talk,” but that you can “walk the walk.” This requires study, rehearsal and may even involve conversations with others who are marketing the same product to get a better feel for the type of client it will help the most.

Financial products are changing all the time to meet changing consumer needs. Government regulation of the industry requires you to stay on top of what you can and cannot do or say within this realm. If you don’t keep up and follow the ever-changing rules, you may find yourself out of touch, out of the office because you’re in court, or worse, out of business.

To stay on top of the knowledge game, attend as many educational sessions as you can reasonably fit into your calendar. Join an industry trade association and read the newsletters and other information they publish. It’s their job to provide the latest infor­mation. It’s yours to read, understand and internalize it.

Now, let’s move on to the right side of our formidable structure and what the rest of this book is all about—your people skills.

This is where you put your great attitude, your enthusiasm for your products and your product knowledge to use in achieving your goals. As a general overview, people skills involve: finding ideal potential clients for your products; how you meet them; strategies to qualify them about their needs; skills to educate them; methods to address their concerns; a course of action to get their business; and, to earn the right to ask for referrals.

You may already be strong in some of these areas. Most people who get involved in a career in financial services enjoy meeting new people and getting to know them. They may also be good at explaining new ideas and concepts to others. Those skills are essential to giving effective presentations. The goal of the following pages is to help you understand that there is a step-by-step process to effective selling and to teach you where your existing skills fit in. For those areas in which you may not be as skilled, we’ll cover very specific, how-to strategies for taking those steps in the most productive manner.

Before we begin with our selling steps, let me give you one bit of advice. If you truly want to improve where you are right now, it will take some dedicated effort on your part. You will need to commit to read this entire book not once, but several times. In fact, most of our students have found it most beneficial to read our books a minimum of six times to gain solid retention of the training. Don’t panic! I’m not telling you to read it six times through over and over, though that’s not a bad idea.

Rather than overwhelm you with directions of how to proceed, make a commitment to live by the following twelve words that have made all the difference in my career and the careers of millions of my students.

I must do the most productive thing possible at every given moment.

That’s it. Simple, isn’t it? In fact, you could probably memorize that sentence right now if you just repeat it to yourself six times. That little sentence is something I have lived by for many years. I’ve encouraged others, like you, to do the same and it’s amazing what happens. If you ever find yourself stuck on a plateau in your career, stop doing whatever it is you’re doing. Take a moment to consider if what you’re doing is the most productive thing possible. If it’s not, make a new plan and move on with energy, enthusiasm and confidence.

It’s probably not productive to work on analysis of your client’s financial information during times when you could or should be talking with clients directly. Plan your time to do those things when it’s most productive.

Many people have a fear of planning their time. They think if they plan it all out and something changes the schedule their world will come crashing down. It doesn’t if you plan correctly. Plan for client time, analysis time, study time, time to reflect on what you’re doing right, time to consider where and how to improve, time to rest, time to take care of your personal needs, and quality time to invest with your loved ones. (Please note, your loved ones shouldn’t be last on your list of how to be productive with your time. If you do put them last, you may find yourself financially successful but with no one there to share the rewards.)

Those twelve words above can be the most profound source of direction for you in wise time management. Obviously, since you’re still reading, you must consider this time most productively used for learning new ideas for selling more effectively. Let’s get on with it!

“Service to a just cause rewards the worker with more real happiness and satisfaction than any other venture of life.”~ Carrie Chapman Catt