Read our article in Barron’s about Consultative Sales Method as the anti- Bud Fox!
Consultative Sales: The Anti-“Bud Fox” Method
☛ What is Sales Coaching?
Neuroscientist Gregory Berns has explained "A person can have the greatest idea in the world - completely different and novel - but if that person can't convince enough other people, it doesn't matter."
Research by the Sales Executive Council shows that no other productivity or marketing investment comes even close to coaching in improving a professional's performance pertaining to growth. Yet, service providers spend thousands of dollars on expensive websites, brochures, technology platforms, search engine optimization, blog writing, and peer group discussions to grow their practice.
The end result? Many advisors growing at less than 10% annually, or even worse, throwing in the towel, laying off talented planners from their team, merging with advisory firms unwillingly, giving up their hard-earned independence, or being bought out prematurely.
A CONSULTATIVE sales coach brings in an outsider's perspective inside your practice, providing a third party, unbiased viewpoint of your team and how you operate as sales professionals. He or she also compares you to the industry benchmark of growth, which is comprised of years of research and observation of best practices in sales strategies within your particular industry.
With a full understanding of what you're doing right and where the potential weaknesses are, a good sales coach will be able to work with you and your firm to bridge the gap and help you become extremely competitive to win and maintain more business.
☛ Who is a good candidate for the Select Advisors Sales Coaching Program?
At Select Advisors,we believe that there is no “one size fits all” for everyone to grow their practice; it all boils down to personalities and what works best with your DNA. Some of us genuinely enjoy being the life of a party or networking event, but we have difficulties closing; others are great at researching leads, but they can’t articulate their value at a prospect meeting.
We have distilled people’s Sales Personalities into three categories:
The Strategist
The Charmer
The Researcher
Once you take our Consultative Sales Personality Test™, we will know your lowest hanging fruit to growing your practice.
You will then work with coaches and experts who excel at working with personalities similar to yours, and you will develop a roadmap to being the best version of you in your practice.
☛ How do you select a sales coach? Ask yourself, would I hire this person as my advisor if I was a prospective investor?
A sales coach is ONLY, repeat ONLY, as good as the coach behind it. If you have respect for the person coaching you, and want to emulate his/her style and approach to growth, you should hire that coach. If the coach irks you, or their style is unrealistic, trust your personal judgement.
At the same time, a sales coach should differ in their strategy from yours. Otherwise, you would be repeating the same pattern of growth, which is most probably not as ideal as you'd like.
Another way to see if you want to work with a sales coach is to see how fast they have grown their own sales coaching practice. If someone is a good sales coach, they can also sell their own business! If they have been in business for 10 years as a sales coach and still working with only 10-20 advisors, that's not a good sign.
☛ What are the credentials you should look for in a coach?
Some factors you should look for in a coach are:
Their track record within your own industry
The education and schooling of the coaches
The way they carry themselves. If you were a potential client, would you select this person as your financial advisor? Why or why not?
Are they ethical?
Do they understand your industry on a very technical level, and/or can they learn quickly because of their robust background?