Contingency Selling in the Post 9-11 Economy
Stock Brokers and Financial Services Training

What “Contingency Selling” IS:

• The delivery of advanced sales tactics for the information-congested New Economy
• A strategic look at today’s attention-deficited Buyer of financial products
• Recognition that it is the Change Agent, not “The Buddy”, who builds their Book
• Problem-Resolution approaches that will ensure your access to the Affluent
• Building stronger Client Relationships through a deeper connection . . . early on
• Building a more profitable Clientele
• Coaching sessions that will bring “life” to YOUR sales/marketing tools

TIME SLOT: PROFESSIONALISM 1 Hour

PROFESSIONAL DISCIPLINES

“A professional thinks of the Client first, last and always.”

This session is designed to set the stage for Top Performer mentality -- the deployment of financial professionals committed to personal goals of professionalism, ethics and premium performance.

• Attributes of a Top Producer
• What drives the Information-Congested Culture and how to excel in it
• Ideas to enhance the Clients’ perception of you as a Problem Solver
• The proper mental attitude -- not Product Provider, but Financial Professional.
• More than a positive mental attitude [the ol’ PMA]; you want a Confident attitude
• Real vs. false enthusiasm -- because the Sharp Buyer knows the difference
• The role of UNCERTAINTY, UNPREDICTABILITY, VULNERABILITY, and RISK in the buying process
• The Professional goes beyond Commonality, toward a DEEPER relationship
• An innovative self-coaching system that lets the Prospect tell you where you are weak in the Selling Process -- “ANALYZE, ANALYZE, ANALYZE.”

TIME SLOT: PLANNING & QUALIFYING 90 Minutes

PROSPECTING & TACTICAL PLANNING

“The main cause of Call Reluctance in the Affluent Market is the lack of Fact-Finding, the lack of a Strategic plan, constructed for market specifics.”

An unplanned sales presentation is just a visit. That is why so many PCS conduct “Product Presentations” and never close the Client. You’ll discover secrets to Values-Based marketing -- how to make qualifying the Prospect more efficient and easy.

• Telephone vs. F2F . . . the differences begin at the initial contact
• Ways to Quick-Qualify the Prospect --Empathically --Eliminating the “Time Wasters”
• Study of the psychological factors that influence Buyer Behavior and how to appeal to those factors throughout the selling process
• Outlining those strategies necessary to set up a successful initial contact
• Determining the financial sophistication (or lack thereof) of Affluent Buyers
• Developing a Plan [a Blueprint] vs. Fact-Finding
• Finding out how Affluent Buyers invest, so that you can integrate your selling strategy with the Prospects’ buying process
• Give the Prospect credit for their intelligence while uncovering their deepest feelings - - keys to building a lasting relationship
• A questioning strategy designed to accelerate the selling process, sophisticated enough to crack even the most hardened Buyer’s facade. Going beyond the management platitude “you gotta find the prospects’ needs and wants,” successful selling will depend upon your ability to help the Prospect to be AWARE of their specific problems and opportunities that, without our help, they might ignore.

After all, in this information / product-congested marketplace for financial products, if they recognize the need, they can easily go out and buy a solution because there are literally hundreds of resources available to satisfy that need.

Once they are AWARE of the need or DISTURBed by it to take action, then you can provide the all-important closer -- the ability to spur Clients to action...NOW !

This strategy works particularly well for the Prospect who rejects Needs-Based Selling approaches because they do not “see” the need to Invest NOW. These Prospects are easily recognizable as they offer objections like:

“I’m not interested.”
“Call me back in six months.”
“Stocks and bonds are too risky for me.
“I don’t want to talk now. Just send me something.”

• In Prospecting , it is the cold, calculating Buyer to whom we seldom gain access. Again, Needs-Based Selling is largely ineffective, as in their minds, they are “comfortable” with their present financial track. Usually Affluent (and thus the opportunity for a larger case), these Prospects require a more sophisticated tactical plan designed to “break their shell” and let the Seller in. Here is a plan.
• Take a simple test…“The Value of Money” to determine the values they hold dearly.
• The ultimate Qualification …”The Fit”

This Session is built to SOLVE [via renewed Investor CONFIDENCE] one of the four characteristics of this difficult Economy, the . . .

I. Age of Uncertainty

• Tax Reform • Accounting Questions • Medical Costs
• Political Issues • Biased Market Projections • Job Security
• Energy Costs • Social Security • 401K/IRA Growth
• Government Regulations • Legal Environment • Financials?

TIME SLOT: THE FIRST CONTACT 1 Hour

AN ATMOSPHERE OF TRUST . . . AN AURA OF COMPETENCE
THE COUNSELOR

“When I’m going to meet with a person, I spend a third of the time thinking about what I’m going to say and two-thirds thinking about he will say.”
Abraham Lincoln

These Activities are designed to give you the ability to deliver an unclouded sales message, unfiltered by the Client’s prejudices about the market, death, dying and taxes. It requires gaining their Trust to such an advanced state that they are enthusiastic about giving Quality Recommendations . . . an invaluable by-product of strong Client relationships.

There is no question that the current environment in which the Investment Professional is operating is the toughest since the Depression. Why do we say that? Because the very foundations of investing have been rocked.

Investors don’t trust the stock companies. Money has been wasted on executive loans, extravagant T & E, and public trust issues.

Investors don’t trust the accountants. The only buffer between the greedy CEOs, creative accounting, and fraud was the auditor. No more.

Investors don’t trust your Company. Stock broker companies are involved in insider trading scandals, questionable IPOs, and worst of all, misleading recommendations.

BUT THEY CAN TRUST YOU!

In this Program, you will learn ways to cope with this marketplace, and even better, help your Clients to cope. There are four areas that we will address:

1. Uncertainty
2. Risk
3. Volatility
4. Information Overload

• Mastering the art of the First Impression
• The Construction of the “Counselor” Model . . . early on
• Getting into comfortable conversation with any Buyer
• Selling the Prospect on the value of your approach
• Recognizing the Prospect’s Buying Mood; altering your presentation “on the fly”
• Creating an aura of Competence -- on purpose -- that spurs the Affluent Buyer to entrust their hard-earned $$ to you. We will unlock that code for you so that even the largest Prospect sees you as “Special”
• Enhancing your Sales Versatility - the key to adapting to selling to a Business or Individuals within the various Niche Markets
• Gaining and keeping a Prospect’s attention . . . opening their ears so that they really hear the message
• Bridging from Conversation to Business smoothly and professionally
• Deployment of an easy and affordable Lead Generation system. Target selling and Target Marketing are all “what to do” marketing approaches designed to make prospecting easy. You will develop a “Client for a Lifetime” mentality into a continuous people-chain of Quality Recommendations
• Ways to open their ears to your sales message -- side-stepping those filters that cloud the message -- like bad publicity, attitudes about insurance, the market, insurance salespeople, death, dying, and taxes
• Beyond impressions, toward relationships
• Traditionally, Caretakers (Financial Counselors) looked for:
  • Consensus
  • Commonality
  • Conflict Avoidance
• As Caregivers, we must look for long-term Client Relationships, based upon: . . .
  • Consistency
  • Continuance
  • Commitment
  • Communication
    

TIME SLOT: THE CHANGE AGENT 2 Hours
UNLOCKING THE CODE TO A COMPELLING PRESENTATION

”The most expensive thing one can own is a closed mind.”

This set of competencies is vital for any entrepreneurial marketer in the 90’s, because they are designed to arouse curiosity and create interest. In the last session we open the ears of the prospective Buyer, here we open their minds. Sharp Buyers respect quality; here are the keys to quality Presentations by quality specialists.

• Tactical approaches designed to access the busy Prospect
• Motivating the Financial Buyer via “The Comfort Zone”
• Understanding the role of Grief . . . accepting it and using it to your advantage
• Selling through Accountants, Attorneys and other business-building Professionals.
  What makes them tick and how to make compelling presentations to them -- individually, via seminars, or in their practice office
• How to be “in command, but not obvious command” of the selling process.
  This set of Drills and Exercises gives you the impetus to move Clients smoothly through your sales cycle
• Selling Prospects on the “Next Steps” of your Buying Process
• Getting prospective Buyers to say, “I want to hear more!”
  

“SELLING YOUR VALUE”

“Personalization is the ultimate form of Suitability in the Compliance arena.”
Compliance Attorney

In these times of “get your money’s worth” we get Primerica, Charles Schwab, Select Quote, Arthur Andersen, and who knows, what’s next. It is incumbent, then, on the Broker to be able to prove their worth as a financial counselor, prove the product’s worth as a vehicle for attaining financial goals, and prove the worth of YOUR COMPANY as an financial services company worthy of their hard-earned $$. The key word is “worth.”

• Getting ahead of the competition and keeping them out of your Client Base . . . forever
• How to attack the competition, how to gain market share -- without giving a mean- spirited or unprofessional impression
• Handling competitive objections like:
  “I can get this for lower commissions from _________.”
  “I already have a broker.”
  “My bank’s financial planner is putting something together for me.”
  “We use our CPA and our attorney to handle these issues.”
• Demonstrating value-added differences
  “Why do business with US rather than _____?”
• Taking a lesson from the world’s largest organizations, we will pay particular attention to a key management discipline for the 90’s:
  “Make it easy for your customer to buy.”
• What are the Logical Reasons to Buy and the Emotion Incentives to Act? will be examined and then how they are applicable to designated Target markets
• How can we use exhibits, statistics and other forms of evidence to defeat disbelief
  when working with that incredulous Buyer?
• Identifying the process that delivers the Features, Benefits and Claims that will compel the Buyer to Buy
• Developing a well-prepared, provocative Product Presentation
• Selling Product Solutions to individuals/business professionals-“What they look for”
• Cost justification - the “price is right”; it is vital for the Top Producer in today’s marketplace to be able to “Know their Value, Sell their Value, Price their Value.”
• Most salespeople toss out benefits to see if they stick, especially during the Product Presentation; this Skills Set enables you to deliver benefits that are meaningful and relevant to THAT PROSPECTIVE BUYER THAT DAY.

This Session is built to SOLVE [by giving Investors CLARITY] one of the four characteristics of this difficult Economy, the . . .

IV. Information Overload

• Unlimited range of products
• Complexity of product options
• Lack of product differentiation
• Contradictions in publications
• Internet marketing
• Junk mail
• Unethical advertising
• Misleading sales presentations

TIME SLOT: CLOSING CASES 90 Minutes

TAKE YOUR PROSPECT’S TEMPERATURE

“It is said that some salespeople spend five minutes talking themselves into a sale, and then spend the next 35 minutes talking themselves out of it.”

An unprofessional salesperson always closes too soon, layering undue tension and pressure onto the sales process. When you discover how easy it is to discover when the Prospect is ready to buy, you will no longer feel the need to resort to manipulative, arm-twisting closes. Compliance becomes easy!

• By determining the Prospect’s Temperature, you find out how strongly they feel about specific selling points or how deeply they feel about their concerns
• Identifying where they are in the Buy/Sell Process
• Learn the use of Magic Questions - gentle, probing questions that give you remarkable insights into how the prospective Buyer feels at any time
• Cut selling time in half . . . talk to more Accounts . . . close Cases faster
• Give the Sharp Buyer credit for their intelligence

This Session is built to SOLVE [by providing the Investor with CONSISTENT Communication] one of the four characteristics of this difficult Economy, . . .

III. Increasing Volatility

• Computer Trades
• Inflation
• Economic Trends
• Day Trading
• Futures Markets
• Interest Rates
• Institutional Investors

BUYING SIGNALS

“More important that knowing how to close is knowing when to close”

Everyone who touches the Buyer “sells.” And whoever talks our Clients often needs to address addresses those situations where we can maximize Client Retentions and minimize Client Defections. We must understand people’s physical and vocal signals for --satisfaction, unhappiness, an inclination to buy/not buy.

• Learn Situational Buying Signals which identify additional sales opportunities
• Learning the inestimable value of Active (Conscientious) Listening
• Examine Client Maintenance strategies for Sales and Sales Support personnel
• Recognizing Defection Danger Signals
• What they say when they’re ready to buy
• Improving listening skills
• What they do when they mentally become Clients
• Being observant
• Watching and Listening for the time of Decision . . . managing the process
• Listing the Financial Stages of Life and the versatility required to sell to them
• While some believe that listening skills are vital for sales success, this goes one step further. This gives you WHAT TO LISTEN FOR !

LET THE CUSTOMER BUY

“Never thank a Customer for the business; instead, congratulate them
on a decision that will help them achieve their financial goals.”

The salesperson’s attitude at the time of decision should always be relaxed. For whose benefit? The Prospect’s benefit ! Decisions are a traumatic ; make it easy on Prospects..

• Knowing how to close effectively . . . without high pressure
• The Best Closer = The Change Agent
• Creating the climate for a mutually beneficial decision
• Making the decision easy for the Prospect
• Eliminating Buyer remorse
• Decision-Making without Manipulation ensures Compliance
  No manipulation = compliance. This allows for a “Counselor” mentality, because the atmosphere is a mutually beneficial decision
• Recognizing why Buyers procrastinate
• Getting the Prospective Buyer to complete the Sales Process … NOW

This Session This Session is built to SOLVE [provide the Investor COMFORT] one of the four characteristics of this difficult Economy, the . . .

IV. Exploding Risks

• Retirement Funding • Water Shortages
• Social Security • Life Expectancy
• Consumer Debt • Consumer Confidence
• Inflation • Health
• Outliving Resources • Terrorism

TIME SLOT: PROBLEM RESOLUTION 4 Hours

FINDING THE REAL OBJECTION

”More sales are lost by the American salesperson by attempting to answer objections
that do not exist than for any reason.”

When you ask someone, “Why do you feel that way?” the Prospects automatically feel like they must defend their position and objections get tougher.

• Don’t answer Objections that do not exist
• Persist without upsetting the Prospect
• Keep the Prospect on track; get them thru the Change Process
• Remain in control, but not obvious control
• Testing the validity of Clients’ concerns
• Evaluating the weight of various concerns

DEFUSING THE OBJECTION

“All objections are questions in disguise.”

When a Prospect realizes that their concern is a Question, not an Objection, then they give the salesperson the opportunity to answer it.

• Win an argument / lose a sale
• Lower emotion so you can sell
• Personal Revelation . . . the most powerful form of Empathy
• Make handling objections a process so that you can analyze whether you
  are right or wrong in your approach
• Using Empathy Cushions lets the Client know you are “on their side”

REDUCING THE IMPACT OF PROSPECT’S CONCERNS

“There are two types of objections that Brokers run into in any one day; two of one type,
five of another, four times to handle them, five different ways.”

Objections STOP presentations, and the most difficult objections come during the Prospecting phase. Why? Because they don’t know you or the Product’s benefits, so, by definition, they are unenthusiastic. indifferent, or even surly.

• Verify the real Objection; you cannot possibly answer a Prospect’s objections until you find out what’s on their minds
• Identifying the Client’s Arsenal of Obstacles -- Groundless, Excuses, Sharp Buyer and Sincere Objections
• Don’t fight Objections; welcome them
• Removing excuses for not doing business with you
• Analyzing the various types of objections, especially those that are relevant to the Affluent Buyer such as:
  “This is not a priority for us at this time.”
  “I don’t pay sales charges for my investments.”
  “We use our CPA and Attorney for these issues.”
  “I’ve been burned twice. I’ve had enough!”
  “I’m much more comfortable investing in Real Estate. That’s where
  I made my money.”

TIME SLOT: CREATING EMOTION 1 Hour
THE STRENGTH OF EMOTIONAL APPEAL

“Fanning an ember of want into a roaring flame of desire”

This is a lost art -- the art of creating emotion in the Prospect on purpose! And what a shame! After all, it is WHY PEOPLE BUY!

• When Logic and Emotion are in conflict, Emotion always wins !
• Make the Prospects aware of their financial Problems & Opportunities
• Letting the Prospects see themselves benefiting from your products
• Using powerful language that appeals to the senses
• Gaining an advanced understanding of the Dominant Buying Motive
• Learning the use of emotional word pictures that drive the emotional message of a Life and the Life Insurance Product . . . home
• Inserting “life” into your selling process at any time via Emotion

TIME SLOT: PROSPECTING 2 Hours

THE TELEPHONE AS A SALES & SERVICE TOOL

“When you point at a person and say, ’That person wasn’t interested’,
there are three fingers pointing back at you.”

Telemarketers have made our private lives and making appointments a nightmare for today’s Sales Professionals. But you can learn from the good ones and make the telephone a “friend” again.

• Losing the fear of the phone when chasing the Affluent Buyer
• Knowing why you are rejected on the phone -- avoiding the pitfalls
• Getting the appointment (especially when working with the Tough Buyer), is after all, a sale. Learn how the logical reasons people buy and the emotional incentives that cause buyers to act are forceful in telephone scripting.
• Analyze Script Criteria for compelling messages and how your current scripts measure up
• Eliminating excuses for not seeing you
• Large Account Selling strategies that get you in to see the busy Prospect
• Tactical plans for handling Voice Mail and the screening Secretary
• Ideas that “tie down” the busy executive, the physician and the affluent investor

TIME SLOT: GOAL-SETTING 1 Hour

PERSONAL GOALS & CORPORATE OBJECTIVES

“Pressure causes some people to break, others to break records.”

Every fighting force must have common goals, a strong commitment and superb execution. Without a complete understanding of the objective, though, all is lost.

• Tying your personal goals to YOUR COMPANY’s objectives
• Organizing habits and time
• Long-term and short-term goals
• Selling in a Post 9-11 Culture . . . ACTION STEPS

"Our success is measured by your improved performance."

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