A financial advisory industry veteran and I were recently lamenting that so few of today’s younger financial advisors have had the benefit of formal sales training. In the past, career insurance companies, large brokerage firms and one mutual fund distributor provided specific sales education for their representatives. Many of today’s experienced advisors are alumni of those institutions. Unfortunately, the rise of the independent advisor has caused most of these traditional sources of sales training to vacate the field.
There is no shortage of books and seminars on the subject. Unfortunately, in my view, too many reflect the “he says… then, you say” style of salesmanship, which does work – provided the person to whom you are trying to sell knows their lines.
This rote approach is also very much at odds with the more modern, consultative selling style. Even this sales style has its weakness, that being reliance on the ability of the salesperson to communicate their intentions effectively to the purchaser so that sufficient trust is established for both parties to work collaboratively.
That’s why I was pleased to be introduced to Russell Granger’s book, The 7 Triggers to Yes: The New Science Behind Influencing People’s Decisions. Although this book was released in 2008, its methods are thoroughly modern and are backed by scientific research on how our brains function.
By developing a basic understanding of the way people make decisions and how our emotions supersede our intellect, we can learn to organize our thoughts and present our propositions in a way that aligns with the values and needs of our prospective purchasers. The result should be a greater sharing of minds between seller and buyer (whom the author refers to as “partners”), with correspondingly better sales results.
The first 75 pages of the book are devoted to an explanation of the theory and make for interesting reading.
However, permit me to jump right to a description of the seven triggers, with some brief suggestions on how you, as a financial advisor, might work with them:
1. The Friendship Trigger. This is a prerequisite for the success of most other triggers and incorporates everything that creates positive feelings – likeability, trust, compatibility and teamwork, for example. The best way for you to activate your client’s internal trigger for friendship is to demonstrate similarity in your interests, values, situation – even dress, physical demeanour and speech.
2. The Authority Trigger. This refers to our automatic tendency to believe someone whom we feel is knowledgeable and experienced in the subject under discussion. For this reason, you would be well advised to highlight your credentials and demonstrate your competence through examples of the work you have done for others in similar circumstances.
3. The Consistency Trigger. It’s important to recognize that everyone brings bias, beliefs and preferences, based on past experience or teachings, to their current decision-making process. If you take time to learn how your clients have acted in the past when similar situations arise, you will be able to frame your discussions with your clients so that a positive decision by your clients will be consistent with their past actions.
4. The Reciprocity Trigger. The idea that “if you do something for me, I should try to do something for you in return” is a very powerful, universal driver of action. The gifts you give to your clients can be of the physical variety – pens, golf balls, books, etc. – or, more appropriately, gifts of useful information – tips, written articles of interest and so on.
5. The Contrast Trigger. This emphasizes the difference between alternatives so that the recommendation clearly becomes the preferred choice. You can do this easily by comparing the results that prospective clients are likely to achieve if they continue with their current ways rather than adopting your suggestions.
6. The “Reason Why” Trigger. Research shows that when you ask someone to do something without giving them a good reason, they are far less likely to do it. You should be well equipped, as a result of your analysis of a prospective client’s situation, to provide lots of “I am recommending this because…” examples.
7. The Hope Trigger. People can be persuaded to follow and act more on their wishes and positive expectations than by logic and reason. If you take the time to ask your clients what they hope their retirement will look like, for example, and then demonstrate how your recommendations work in favour of those dreams and ambitions, you will achieve easier agreement.
Each chapter in this book comes with a concise summary of its points and an invitation to visit the author’s website for additional tools. This may not be the penultimate book on selling; however, it is a large step forward in helping make the process more relevant and potentially successful.
The 7 Triggers to Yes: The New Science Behind Influencing People’s Decisions
by Russell H. Granger,
McGraw-Hill;
240 pages,
$30.95
*** 1/2
© 2012 Investment Executive. All rights reserved.