The prospect conversion

Turning prospects into clients is all about knowing your target market.

The biggest mistake that advisors make in attempting to convert prospects is failing to create a clear picture of what they do and how a person can benefit from their services, according to author and financial services sales guru Paul Karasik.

“The advisor is not clear on who their target market is and the specific benefits that they bring to that target market, so it’s never clear in the mind of the prospect about why they should do business with that advisor,” says Karasik, a leading U.S.-based speaker, sales trainer and author of Sweet Persuasion: The Illustrated Guide to Closing the Sale and How to Market to High-Net-Worth Households. “They don’t create a compelling reason for the prospect to continue the relationship or continue the conversation.”

Along with being able to articulate what it is they have to offer and which individuals would benefit the most from these services, Karasik says advisors have to implement a process that generates a steady stream of qualified prospects, because the closer the prospect is to the advisor, the easier the conversion.

Karasik ranks a referral from a current client as the best candidate for a successful conversion and a referral from a seminar as next best. “At that point, the conversion becomes easier because there is a certain amount of rapport and relationship-building that has already happened,” says Karasik.

When converting prospects, financial services marketing expert Duncan MacPherson urges advisors not to mistake inaction for rejection. “Because they don’t hear from their prospect or the prospect doesn’t respond at that moment, the advisor thinks they’re not interested, and that’s not the case,” says MacPherson, the Calgary-based co-founder of Pareto Systems.

Along with being persistent, Karasik adds that there is no substitute for sharp selling skills, an asset that advisors should be honing through books, courses, free newsletters (to sign up for Karasik’s, go to www.paulkarasik.com/speakers/) and by talking with other advisors about their approaches. “The financial advisor has to understand that best intentions, great character, sincerity, likeability, great products and great services will never ever replace the need for good selling skills,” says Karasik.

Please call your Franklin Templeton Investments sales manager at 1.800.897.7286 to obtain your free copy of Getting Referrals from Your Mutual Fund Clients. This brochure offers time-tested prospecting tools for gaining referrals and converting prospects into clients.

December 2002

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.