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The following is excerpted from The Pocket Guide to Sales for Financial Advisors by Beverly D. Flaxington (ATA Press, 2014), which is available from Amazon via the link on this page.
Over the years I have had the chance to work with countless financial advisory firms to help them increase their growth. While most do not want to “sell,” they would like additional assets coming in the door! This week’s column gives a peek into the assessment process I use, which is outlined my Pocket Guide.
Review this list to see where you should focus your energy for the best ROI.
The 8-Factor Sales Effectiveness Model
Factor 1. Define Market & Product Offerings
- Are you clear about who your “best” prospects and clients are? Can you define a clear profile of the best fit for your firm?
- Do you know which clients haven’t been a fit and why? Are there trends you can identify?
- Do you know where the right target prospects are and how to reach them?
- Do you know the scope of your market? How many target prospects do you have?
- Are you clear on your competitors? Can you articulate the differences between your offerings and those of the competition?
- Have you defined the products and services you offer and the problems of the target market they solve?
- Do you have a compelling and differentiating story about your firm, your services and yourself?
Factor 2: Sales Channels
- Have you identified and are you using other channels to access your target market?
- Do you know the most effective sales approach for your financial products and services?
- Are your clients your primary referral sources?
- Do you have other reliable and successful referral sources in place?
- Do you know what the referral sources “need” from you?
- Have you explored whether there are other avenues of distribution?
- Do you have an infrastructure of support for the different distribution channels?
- Do you know the primary differences between client referrals, COI referrals and other channels? Do you know their different requirements?
Factor 3: Sales Talent
- Do you know the profile of a “top performing” business developer for your firm?
- Can you articulate the cultural fit of a sales person, including what they should value and how they should work with others to fit in your firm?
- Have you outlined, clearly and in writing, your specific expectations for people in a sales capacity?
- Do you know the kind of background someone needs to be successful in your firm? Have you put it in writing?
- Are you able to describe a person in your firm now, or in the past, who was never able to generate much business? (Take a moment to record what happened and what you would do differently.)
- Have you established and communicated the role of sales vis-à-vis other areas of the firm and how they can work together?
- Have you established how long you would be willing to let one of your advisors deliver below expected revenues in new business, and what the consequences would be if they didn’t improve?
- Do you know the “trigger” issues that would force you to remove someone and find another replacement?
Factor 4: Sales Support
- Can you specify the sales process for your wealth management or advisory services and/or investment products or other services?
- Do you have the materials that need to be used at each stage of the sales process?
- Do you know what you expect the materials to “do” at the different points?
- Is there a clearly defined and effective interaction between sales and marketing?
- Is new business information passed readily and easily between the different areas in your practice?
- Are your advisors trained to sell?
- Do you know for each of them, including yourself, what has worked and what hasn’t?
- Do your service and administrative staff understand that non-sales people are also performing a sales role?
Factor 5: Sales Compensation
- Do you outline the expected revenue goals on an annual basis?
- Do you define and communicate overall new business expectations and the sources that you expect for revenue?
- Do you know where you fall in terms of compensation vis-à-vis your competition?
- Does your compensation program allow for “other than sales” activities, such as canvassing the market for market feedback or product enhancements?
- Is your sales plan consistent with your business plan?
- Are advisors motivated in alignment with the overall business strategy?
Factor 6: Technology
- Do your employees have electronic capability when they travel?
- Are they fully supported on the road?
- Do you have a sales contact management system?
- Do you have clearly defined requirements to put in information?
- Can you use the information once the prospect becomes a client?
- If you don’t have a contact management system, do you have an alternative system to track prospects and pipeline?
- Are there reports that you and other management wish you had?
- Do you know what kind of information you are missing?
- Do you have adequate prospecting lists available on the system? Are they easily accessible?
Factor 7: Qualification
- Are you clear about the steps from first contact to close for most prospects?
- Do you regularly do post-mortems to understand who becomes a client and why, and who does not and why?
- Can you or your staff clearly articulate the needs of each and every prospect you are talking with?
- Can you and your staff answer the “why?” question when asked for details about a prospect?
- Do you have a regular set of questions to determine if a prospect is going to be a fit with your firm?
- Do you have a way to handle a prospect who is not going to be a fit but wants to talk with you and your firm anyway?
- Can you articulate the profile of someone who was easily closed but did not stay long as a client?
- Do you track the trends and similarities so you know how to identify the best prospect for your firm?
- Do your advisors start questioning and active listening at the first inquiry from a prospect?
Factor 8: Communication
- Do you have a way to use the information that is gathered during the sales process in the client service process?
- Do you know who your competitors are? Does everyone in the firm know who the competitors are and why they are your competitors?
- Are the business objectives and strategy of the firm clearly communicated to all employees?
- Do you have a system to verify that everyone has heard and understood the strategy and objectives?
- Do you have sales meetings and regularly communicate themes on what’s working and what’s not to any client-facing employees?
- Do you seek to understand and then fix communication flaws that most people in your practice raise?
While not an exhaustive list, these are common areas that advisory firms have often not addressed, or are pain points hampering the new business development process. Review these areas and check those that are working and in place. Focus on those that you are not able to check as you continue through the book.
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995. In 2008, she co-founded Advisors Trusted Advisor to offer dedicated practice management resources to advisors, planners and wealth managers. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University, teaching undergraduate students Leadership & Social Responsibility. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
Read more articles by Beverly Flaxington
