Want to know how to transition from:

Upfront insurance commissions and trails to being able to charge Strategy Preparation and Implemention fees - every time, consistently.

Watch this video to find out how...

TRANSCRIPTION

Adam Stewart – Financial Life – Toowoomba QLD

In this Video, I’d love to share with you Adam, a Blackwing Profit Coaching Club member story how he went from 100% upfront commissions and relying on insurance policies to be sold and accepted to get paid…, to a place where he’s adding heaps more value and being able to charge Strategy Preparation and Implementation fees to his clients – every time, consistently.

He’s gone from having to hope and pray that he’d get paid… you know, sometimes spending 5, 8 sometimes 10 hours doing a heap of work to present to his prospect. Knowing full well that the only way he was going to get paid for his work and his advice was if the person decided they were happy with the prices he quoted and proceeded with the insurance. Taking the skills, experience and his good reputation that he already had…. And just 2 strategies that he learned since he joined Coaching Club, he’s totally turned that around.

Let me tell you what happened….

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Person

Let me give you a quick overview of Adam Stewart from Financial Life in Toowoomba.

Adam took over his Dad’s business in about 1996 and he’s very much a RISK focused adviser. Does a little bit of super but definitely calls himself a Risk Specialist.

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Problem (Frustrations & Fears)

When I first met him, he really didn’t have anyone in particular that he worked with…. Pretty much anyone and everyone was his market. He was ‘the Insurance Guy’.

His model was very much product and volume oriented and the reality was that he needed to sell stuff to make a living. Income was tight. In fact it was actually negative and he was working his guts out – trying everything he knew to get new leads, sell to them better and make sure that clients took his advice and went ahead with the insurance deal cos his model was built on that.

He was really nervous about asking people for fees because he wasn’t 100% sure of what it was that they valued so he doubted that he actually gave much value other than setting up the policy…. That meant everything relied on commissions and up-fronts.

The challenge was that he also knew that was unsustainable and something had to change but he didn’t know how.

BDM’s were no help. He had another business coach but because he didn’t know the industry, that didn’t work either…. And he was struggling to know which way to turn or just how he was going to change things around.

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Impact So he had to push to make sure he got the sales. He was doing heaps and heaps of work and spending countless hours doing up quotes and comparisons and stepped versus level projections and doing up draft reports and SOA’s in the HOPE of a sale…. All before the prospect had given one ounce of commitment whether they were going to go ahead or not.

The product became the hero and the decision to proceed kept coming down to price. They saw Adam’s value in whether he could get the premiums cheap or not…! There was absolutely NO VALUE on his strategy or advice.

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Framework So what we needed to do was develop a process. A framework to follow that got the prospect to talk – talk about their frustrations and fears and challenges and the issues they face around insurance and what the consequences would be if they did nothing…. What it’s costing them NOT to have cover or paying too much or not having things set up properly or whatever it was for them.

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Actions (Wants & Aspirations) We built what we call a Conversion Conversation framework – very, very different to the discussions most financial planners have with their prospects – but a conversation that allowed Adam to do a few things: LEAD his prospect.

STRETCH THE GAP and have them articulate exactly where they want to be – what it would look like if they had their insurances sorted and their family protected… What it looks like now and what would happen if something went wrong with the current state of insurance cover they had and the way it was structured.

And then once the prospect’s clear on those things… get the prospect to articulate – by asking specific questions in a very structured and a very powerful way – exactly what’s in the way, what they need to do, what needs to change to get it right, what needs to be improved and fixed to make them really happy with the outcome once it was set up properly…!

So he’s Lead the client, he’s Stretched The Gap and finally and most importantly…. Before we go off making promises and giving solutions and telling the prospect what needs to be done and what he’s gonna do…. We're going to GET HIRED! That’s right. He actually gets hired! He uses a sales tool that we call the Corporate Profile and has his prospect commit to having a Strategy prepared. The recommendations Implemented and client only comes on to what we call a Client Care Package that they have the choice of…!

So it’s a 3 Step Conversion Conversation. LEAD THE CLIENT. STRETCH THE GAP. GET HIRED!

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Outcomes

And here’s what the results are now…. There are 3 distinct improvements for planners who follow this framework.

1. He doesn’t do any work for free anymore. He’s learnt a way to have a very different conversation where it’s specific questions and uncovering problems and concerns so that clients identify and articulate what they need (as opposed to being told….)
2. He gets paid for the preparation of the SOA!! We’ve placed a value on his work and what’s even better is that he knows that it was really in his own mind that people wouldn’t pay. He’d been trained over the years that the PRODUCT WAS THE STAR…. Whereas, now we position the advice as the star and we make it valuable. We stop giving away our advice and we actually sell it!! Put a dollar value on it…
3. Because people are paying – they are paying ATTENTION! He’s not just the insurance guy any more… He’s now positioned himself and an expert in that area and a specialist RISK ADVISER and he’s got a completely new way of explaining what he does, how he does it and the way his business works to a point where he actually has clients chasing him to work with him…!

All because he now uses The Conversion Conversation Framework in his meetings…! It’s equated to better quality prospects. Higher fees and therefore more profit…. And also positioned Adam as THE Trusted Adviser and a person to be respected and referred which is a fantastic bi-product

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Lessons

So the lesson here is really simple…. You can either keep doing things the way you always have been…. Selling products to survive, rely on volume and people taking up insurance…. Doing a heap of work and then hope & pray that the prospect will like the price that you’ve come back with…. And doing it all for free…. OR….

You can craft a very different client conversation. One that positions you, makes you valuable and has prospects wanting you and paying for your advice!

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So here's what I want you to do right now.

Firstly, I want you to map out a draft of exactly what you want to offer your prospects. What will your new offer look like? And you can use the Million Dollar Mixing Desk worksheet for that.

Next, I want you to follow the Ultimate 12 Step Client Conversation Formula. It's the 3 Steps before you meet and 9 Steps to have an incredibly powerful conversation with your prospects and have them relating to you and looking to you to help them - really cool.... And thirdly, implement this process into your next client meeting.

Do that, and watch your product and volume need disappear – in fact, you’ll sell more ADVICE for all the right reasons and therefore your product sales will increase at the same time….

Your nerves about selling fees and selling value will just evaporate away cos you’ve now got a killer framework to follow…. You just need to follow the bouncing ball…

And you’ll build a model that’s not only sustainable…, but it’s scalable and is going to be the benchmark against your peers!!!

It’ll change things for you and you’ll be a leader and someone that other planners can look up to. You’ll be the planner of the future!

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OK, This Case Study is The TRUTH. The way it was done is KILLER and Adam is an absolute champion and he’s having so much success now and he deserves it to….

But right now I’m more interested in you!

Does this sound like something that you’d at least like to know more about…?

If you would…, then find the link on this page and hook me up for a 15 minute ‘Situation Snapshot’ Skype call.

On the call I’ll show you:

• How to get crystal clear about what’s possible for you –your income, your impact & your independence
• I’ll teach you the number one thing that’s stopping you from getting what you really want
• I’ll give you a 3 step action plan and let you in on a couple of powerful actions to double your income
• I’ll build you a Customised ‘Profit Pyramid’ to show you how to get to the next level of financial planning business
• And you’ll leave confident, excited & inspired to take your business to a higher level…. FAST!

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Hey, it’s been fun hanging out today. I hope you’ve got some value out of this video and I just want you to know that “if it’s possible for me and it’s possible for Adam, it’s also possible for you too. It’s simply a matter of how…!!”

I’ve got the how! I’ve got the tools and the processes you need…. The only thing missing is YOU!

So hook me up. Let chat and see if and how I can help you too.

Watch out for our next video where I’ll show you how Matt went from cold referrals to being installed into his alliances conversations and was able to turn his referral relationships around for the better.

If you like this video, click the “like” button for me and leave a comment below. I’d love to hear what stood out to you and what your questions are about client conversations and charging fees instead of just commissions on their own.

Take good care – talk soon