Managing Disruptive Change Frank Furness | Sales & Marketing Speaker

Your 10 touch plan for clients

Client Based Selling | Sales & Marketing Speaker | Keynote Presenter

Do you sell to clients the way they buy, or the way you want to sell?

We know that people like to do business with people that they like, trust and feel comfortable with. People like to buy from people similar to themselves.

One of the most powerful courses I attended many years ago was one about dealing with different personalities and being able to adapt your selling style to suit the client’s way of buying.

It made me realise that everyone is different; there is no wrong or right personality style, people are just different and as great salespeople we have to have great versatility to recognise their style immediately and adapt ourselves to make it easy for the e clients to want to do business with us.

There are many styles and sub styles, but I am just going to highlight the four major styles, see if you can recognise your clients that fit the profile or indeed which style you are.

Task Focused buyers

STRENGTHS          

Determined

Assertive                                

Efficient                                    

Decisive                                     

Thorough

WEAKNESSES

Pushy

Severe

Tough-minded

Dominating

Harsh

BUSINESS ATMOSPHERE

Wants to reach a decision quickly

No small talk

No time wasting

WHERE YOU FIND THEM

Decision Makers

Directors

Management

Politicians

Self-employed business owners

Solicitors

OFFICE

Efficient                    

Picture to fit office, Awards (no   posters or slogans)

Desk may be packed with work materials

Desk used as a barrier

ATMOSPHERE                   

Businesslike

PRIORITIES                

Disciplined - Wants effectiveness and  efficiency

PACE                            

Fast/Quick - gets to the point

ABOUT YOU              

Wants to know your qualifications/ company record (strengths/past performance) / how good is your product

WINNING ACCEPTANCE              

Documentation stressing results                 

YOUR PRODUCT                  

What your product can do                                                         

PROBLEM SOLVING                         

Support their ideas 

How to win them over

Impress them by:                           Getting to the point

Ask questions that:                        Are relevant

Support their:                                  Actions

Demonstrate your:                         Experience

Make benefits:                                Tangible & concrete

Show commitment by:                 Getting things done

Be impressed by their:                 Strength

Best close:                                       Be direct

 Relationship focused buyers - Enthusiasts

           

STRENGTHS          

Personable             

Stimulating  

Enthusiast

Dramatic                                   

Inspiring

WEAKNESSES

Opinionated            

Excitable                  

Undisciplined

Reacting

Self Promotional

BUSINESS ATMOSPHERE

Open, friendly and enthusiastic

Wants proof of your success  

WHERE YOU FIND THEM

Trainers

Salespeople

Sales Managers

Creative, Advertising & Media people

                                                                               

OFFICE                                                          

Motivation is the theme

Walls contain recognition certificates slogans, posters

Open friendly atmosphere

Office appears disorganised

                                                         

ATMOSPHERE                                        

Open and enthusiastic

PRIORITIES                                                

Develop the relationship

PACE                                                               

Quick

ABOUT YOU                                               

Who are you/ your thoughts /who you know/ who uses  your product

WINNING ACCEPTANCE       

Give recognition and praise

YOUR PRODUCT                                      

Who has used it

PROBLEM SOLVING              

Support their dream, ideas and ambitions

DECISION MAKING               

Testimony and incentive

How to win them over

Impress them by:                                       Your flexibility

Ask questions that:                                   Support their dreams

Support their:                                              Ideas

Demonstrate your:                                     Originality & creativity

Make benefits:                                            Innovative

Show commitment by:                            Giving fresh ideas

Be impressed by their:                            Achievements

Best close:                                                  Be direct

Security Focused Buyers

STRENGTHS                                

Supportive                                      

Respectful                                       

Willing                                              

Dependable                                  

Personal

WEAKNESSES

Conforming

Retiring

Non-committal

Undisciplined

Emotional

OFFICE                                                              

Friendly and open                                          

Family pictures on desk

Desk is neat and functional

Open contact; round desk or couch

                                                         

ATMOSPHERE                                

Open and sincere

PRIORITIES                                    

Develop the relationship

PACE                                                            

Cautious and deliberate

ABOUT YOU                                   

You must be friendly/honest/ non- threatening or pushy

WINNING ACCEPTANCE          

Show personal interest                                                           

YOUR PRODUCT                                        

Why your product is best

PROBLEM SOLVING                

Support their feelings and interests

DECISION MAKING                                     

Provide guarantees and offer opinions

How to win them over

Impress them by:                                       Friendliness

Ask questions that:                                   Are non-threatening

Support their:                                              Feelings

Demonstrate your:                                     Warmth

Make benefits:                                            Personal

Show commitment by:                             Working with them

Be impressed by their:                             Loyalty

Best close:                                                   Assumptive

           

Frank Furness is an international speaker & author who has presented in 58 countries. He is a specialist in sales & marketing, technology, social media and goal setting and how they work in tandem to produce great results for organizations.

He has helped organisations understand how to manage disruptive change and what they should be doing to embrace it.

Apart from being a partner in an insurance brokerage in London, Frank consults and works in-house with companies and marketing teams around the globe.

For more information on Frank, check out his website at www.frankfurness.com or email him at frank@frankfurness.com

Success Strategies for Financial Advisors | Sales & Marketing Speaker

I enjoyed 23 years in the greatest business in the world, a financial advisor. I managed to qualify many times at Million Dollar Round Table ‘Top of the Table’ level and right now is a full time motivational speaker sharing ideas and strategies in 48 countries. In this article are some of the basic strategies I used over the many years to achieve the highest levels in financial services.

One of the most important things that I learned early on was to remember people’s names. This was brought home to me in a disastrous interview early in my career.  I was going to see a top executive at IBM and he’s name was Eustace Harris. Well I remember sitting in the waiting room saying to myself, ‘don’t call him Useless’ (instead of Eustace). As you can imagine, I had just conditioned myself to do just that. What happened? I walked straight in and said, “Hi Useless, my name is Frank Furness, how’re you doing?” and throughout the rest of the interview I kept calling him Useless. Fortunately he had a sense of humour and became a client and up until today he still reminds me about that first interview.

Keep alert and pleasant, I mean it doesn’t matter what time of the day it is, you’ve got to be alert, you’ve got to be pleasant and let the clients talk about themselves. Put yourself into the position of the client and think about what may be some of the things on their mind just before seeing you. They’re probably thinking, who are you, how credible are you, and how long have you been in the business, how qualified are you? Who is the company that you work for and how long have they been around, how credible are they, whose products do you sell? Are you there just to line your pocket or to actually look after the client? Are they going to see you again? These are some of the questions that are on the client’s mind and you’ve got to clear these questions before you go any further. Now the way you do that is using a method called the ‘Ben Duffy’. 

Many years ago a large tobacco account was up for grabs and every big advertising company was after this account. There was a fellow called Ben Duffy and he was also after this account. He had a tiny firm and he thought to him, how am I going to get this account, I’m just a small guy with a small company, there’s no chance. Then he thought about it and said to himself, ‘let me put myself in the position of the buyer that I going to see. Let me think about some of the questions, some of the things that might be on the client’s mind’ and he wrote out a list of fifty questions, then narrowed those down to about ten questions and answers. He went in to see the client and said, ‘in preparing for today’s meeting, I put myself in your position and thought there might be some things you’d want to know about me, my company, what’s in it for you, what’s in it for me and as such I’ve prepared a list of ten questions.’ Well the chap from the tobacco said, ‘well I’ve got ten questions as well’. They swapped lists, six were the same and he won the account.

Now for years and years, I used exactly the same strategy. When I met a potential client at the first meeting, I would reduce tension levels by getting the client to talk about themselves and then  I’d say to the client, ‘you know Joe, in preparing for today’s meeting, I put myself in your position and thought there might be some questions on your mind. Who is Frank Furness, who is XYZ Financial Services, how long have they been around, what’s in it for me, what’s in it for you? Are these some of the questions on your mind?’

They would normally nod in agreement and this is the only time you will speak about yourself. This is the opportunity to sell yourself and establish your credibility. So if you’ve got a degree, if you’ve been in the business for ten years, whatever you have done well, this is where you sell yourself.

Next you would speak about your company, how well established they are and what sets them apart from everyone else. Next I would say ‘ you’re probably also wondering what’s in it for you and what’s in it for me; well what’s in it for you, all I want to do is take a snapshot  of where you are now, and where you want to be in the future and really just help you develop the strategy to get there. What’s in it for me; if you like what I’m doing and feel that I can do a credible planning strategy for you, all that I would ask of you is, should you be satisfied with our recommendations, that you place the business with us. Secondly, whether or not we do business together, should you find us to be professional and ethical, we would like you to refer us to other professionals such as yourself. (Get commitment)

Right now I am an International motivational speaker specialising in sales and technology, but where I learned my selling skills was in financial services where I qualified amongst the top half percent of salespeople in the world at the Million Dollar Round Table ‘Top of the Table’ level.

I used all of the methods explained above and these are also detailed in my comprehensive 15 CD/DVD resource Sales Strategies for Financial Advisors (http://www.ifaskills.com )

For more articles, please take a look at my website http://www.frankfurness.com

Frank Furness CSP CFP is a professional speaker and trainer specialising in sales and technology. He has educated, entertained and inspired audiences in 42 countries. His publications and sales CDs have been sold globally. He is the author of ‘Walking with Tigers - Success Secrets of Business Leaders’ and ‘How to Find New Business & Clients’

For more information or to sign up for the free ‘Sales Tips & Ideas’ newsletter, email frank@frankfurness.com or telephone+ 44 (0) 1923 248200. http://www.frankfurness.com

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