There are thousands of books out there which promise to improve your communication skills with your clients. But rarely do you come across a book like Storyselling for Financial Advisors which gives you some simple tips without being simplistic.
What is ‘storyselling’? Authors Scott West and Mitch Anthony say that top advisors sell by simplifying matters, not complicating them. In the authors’ words, this technique is “using simple illustrations, anecdotes and metaphors,” to ensure that their ideas are effectively communicated to their clients.
Apart from sensible selling techniques, the book also explains how advisors can carve out niche markets for themselves, which will enable them to rapidly grow their business.
Here are the key learnings from the book:
- The book says that as a financial advisor, you are not expected to wallow in a sea of statistics and bombard your clients with the same. Rather, you have to be a combination of a counselor, teacher and a coach.
- Learn to be in tune with your client’s priorities. According to the author, the top six client priorities are:
- Understand my situation
- Educate me
- Respect my assets (no matter how small)
- Solve my problem—don’t sell me a product
- Monitor my progress
- Keep in touch
- Non-verbal communication is important and body language that your personality generates conveys messages that clients pick up. In fact, many clients make up their mind in the first few minutes of a meeting with an advisor. You might be extremely knowledgeable on your subject matter, but if your body language lets you down, you might lose a client forever.
Though this book has been written with an American audience in mind, it is still relevant to Indian adviors. The underlying message is keeping your communication simple and direct, and the book conveys this in a similar fashion.
