Muscular Portfolios by Brian Livingston

Author:Brian Livingston
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946885388
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.

» Tech talk

how commission-driven salespeople get into your head

In Get Wise to Your Advisor Steven Lockshin describes the seduction process:

Effective salespeople know that a simple way to win over a potential client is to get him saying yes—or at least get the client nodding his head. I recall learning that if you can get a prospect to say “yes” seven times, then your likelihood of completing a sale goes up exponentially. Achieving that is simple: Just ask questions or make statements to which the only possible response is “yes” or “I agree.” A nod of the head counts as a success.

Here’s an idea of how such conversations typically go when advisors are doing the selling.

ADVISOR: I’ve been dealing with wealthy clients for many years. Most of these folks share some common goals. Rule #1 is that they want to be able to maintain their lifestyle no matter what.

POTENTIAL CLIENT: (nods head, thinking, Yep, that’s me.)

ADVISOR: They want to minimize taxes

POTENTIAL CLIENT: (Nodding head) Yep.

ADVISOR: And they want to protect their wealth so they can pass it on to their kids and/or charity, but not the government.

POTENTIAL CLIENT: (Nodding head) Exactly.

For those of you keeping score, that’s three head nods in response to three statements. All the statements are aimed at the potential client’s emotions, certainly not their intellect. (Is there any wealthy person who wants a less comfortable retirement, who wants to pay more taxes, who wants to leave everything to Uncle Sam? Well, there may be a few who want to disinherit their kids, but not very many.)

The questions are emotionally manipulative—and extremely effective. The potential client feels the advisor really “gets” him, and thanks to all that head-nodding, he’s now in an agreeable frame of mind. After a few short platitudes about investment performance and client friendliness, the advisor typically has himself or herself a new client.

If you truly need outside expertise, hire a fee-only consultant. But before you make any decisions, read Lockshin’s book—and, by the way, ask for five references.

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