Joe's Situation

Joe is a competent and intelligent financial advisor. His closing ratio is good and he is effective at obtaining referrals. But Joe also has some concerns: he drives too much and feels he is wasting both time and money. He's also of the mindset that he has to work with any prospect he has access to. He sells a wide variety of products because he is afraid to leave any money on the table. He worries that he lacks depth in product knowledge because he finds it hard to stay current on the wide range of products he sells. Finally, he knows he needs to prospect more selectively so that he can upgrade his clientele.

In effect Joe operates on this principle: go anywhere, sell anybody anything they want to buy and leave nothing on the table.

The result: Joe feels unfocused, underpaid, and overworked.

What Would You Advise Joe to Do?

What are the issues Joe should clarify and correct?
What plan of action would you recommend?

What We Did for Joe

First, we helped Joe define his ideal client. By using an extensive client evaluation questionnaire, Joe discovered who he likes to work with, and of equal importance, discovered those people who have chosen to work with him. In spite of Joe's willingness to work with almost anyone, he discovered that he had a natural attraction to certain identifiable type of clients. One basic requirement: the chemistry had to be mutual.

Next, we helped Joe identify his ideal geographic market location. As he didn't want to drive more than 30-45 minutes to see clients and prospects, he became much more selective in asking for referrals in his ideal geographic location.

Third, we helped Joe define his ideal product offering. While he was able to sell many different products, Joe decided to settle on a core array of products and services. For needs outside his core group, Joe arranged to refer business to other advisors who had more expertise than he. This was a difficult issue to resolve, because the salesman in Joe said, "Don't miss a sale!" The businessman prevailed, which meant that Joe referred non core business to others.

Finally, Joe began to prospect more effectively. He became more consistent asking for referrals by always using a Fact Finder which helped him capture names to be used in future referral conversations. He also learned how to be more strategic as to when and how to ask for referrals. His goal: to work with ideal clients 80% of the time.

The Outcome

It took Joe a year to iron out these issues, as the new solutions often ran counter to everything he had been taught. By becoming clear on basic issues: ideal clients, ideal geographic location, ideal product offering and more effective prospecting, Joe increased his income by 35% and reduced his driving time by almost 50%.

My mission is to help others just as I helped Joe.
A complimentary coaching session is always available.
Contact me at (510)-898-3245 or e-mail me.

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Just What Do
We Business
Coaches Do?

You'd be surprised.

Perhaps you think most coaching time is spent helping the advisor become better at the sales process.

That's true - about 10% of the time. The other 90% is spent helping the advisor become a better business person.

Here are typical issues we deal with:

• Describe/Define your ideal client.
• What is your specialty?
• Are you profitable?
• Are you earning and saving enough money every month?
• Do you have a continuous flow of ideal clients?

This month we profile our composite financial professional Joe, and how he solved his problems.