Back to the future - rekindling your inner sales person

How often, in both our business and personal lives, would we like the opportunity to go back and start all over again?

Stuart Wilson
23rd July 2015
stuart wilson lla

Hindsight is a truly wonderful thing and there’s no doubting that, with its benefit and some crucial thinking time, it’s often the case that we would not embark upon the same path given that choice again. Whether it’s something as everyday as a conversation, or a relationship, or the launch of a new proposition, perhaps the building of new technology, the outcome of each and every one of them could have been much different and more positive, if we could begin again.

Unfortunately, working from a blank slate tends to be a rare occurrence. Certainly in a business situation, it’s not often you get such a chance – how does the saying go? ‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression’, and with the nature of legacy in financial services it can be impossible to rip it up and start again. Indeed, it’s much more likely that you simply bolt solutions on which allow you to muddle through, rather than go back to the start and build from scratch.

I sense that, in the ongoing debate about pensions, retirement living, later life advice, benefits, the involvement of the State, etc, that many within the Government, particularly the Chancellor, are yearning for a chance to go back to the future and start from scratch. The problem is that dismantling all that has gone before is a very complex process and in striving for simplification, we often get greater confusion levels and, certainly for consumers, little clue about what the new situation is and how it impacts on them.

This, of course, is where quality advisers earn their corn and I think we often forget just how important our profession is, certainly to the Government and regulators, in turning regulatory gobbledegook/legalese into plain English which can be acted upon. The fact is that ‘simplification’ often means the exact opposite in practice – certainly when any attempts at it have been through various members of regulatory staff and umpteen different solicitor firms.

Advisers have traditionally been the ones charged with deciphering the jargon but I am of the opinion that increasingly we are tending to veer into it when dealing with clients. This is a real mistake. He may not be to everyone’s liking but certainly someone like Martin Lewis has carved out a considerable niche by speaking in a language Joe Public can understand, and for that he should be commended. Advisers can learn much from this approach because not only can we deliver confidence to our clients through plain speaking but we are also able to directly advise and recommend on products which will benefit them immensely.

And here’s the big, important point especially if we feel we are drowning in the regulatory talk and requirements – advisers should not be afraid to sell to their clients. I think we’re in danger of being so incredibly ‘qualified’ and ‘competent’ that we are in danger of losing the skills of selling. Sales is not a dirty word – of course we know it needs to be backed up by thorough factfinds, research, a true understanding of what the client requires, etc, but in order to help that client secure the mortgage, or equity release, or protection, or insurance, they need advisers will need to use their sales skills. Clients come to advisers for advice and a recommendation but it doesn’t mean they will always take it, even when the argument is firmly in its favour.

So, advisers need to understand this and rekindle their inner sales person. In a very true sense, the pension freedoms and the ground-breaking changes we are seeing in the later life space, play back to the sales strengths of advisers. This is not purely about advice; it is about ensuring the clients take out necessary and required products not by force or bullying tactics but by stating the facts and selling the benefits. Without securing the sale, there is a good chance that the client opts for a potentially damaging status quo.

Therefore, while we play our part in helping clients understand their position in this changing landscape, let’s not just walk them through the door marked ‘advice’ only to leave them stuck at the door marked ‘sales’. I’ve said before that those in later life are in need of advice like never before, however if they don’t act upon that advice and take the necessary products, then their situation will not change and they are likely to find themselves unable to fulfil any of their retirement wants and needs.

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