right question, make this come over as a conversation and a genuine interest in your customer and to have first class listening skills. The process is this:

• Prioritise the customers needs, and take one at a time
• Discover the situation around the need
• Turn the need into a want
• Gain commitment

Like any process, you can adapt as you go but it’s important to follow

I timed myself this morning in making our bed. I’ve got it down to 1? minutes and I’m so proud but please don’t tell my wife.

The reason I do it quickly is that it’s simple and rather boring.

Some things in life are really simple. When we do simple things, such as make the bed, we go into autopilot, in other words we automate it so it takes as less of our conscious attention as possible. That way we can focus on something else. We speed up simple processes because they’re boring. Now fact-finding with our customers in a face to face interview is quite simple. Collecting information to populate a form is not difficult. Hard facts are needed to fill in a form most of the time. Once we have the facts, we as fully trained and educated financial advisers, know the products the customer needs and telling is simple too.

Telling is not selling – especially not rapport selling.

Rapport selling fact-finding involves getting into the tricky bit. Not just asking questions to get facts but asking a variety of questions simulating a discussion to open up opportunities with our customer, finding softer information to help us link our products to them personally. Knowing what drives them to do what they do, get them feeling concerned about their shortfall of cover, excited by a goal they had in the back of their mind.

Above all, get them wanting what we have to sell. Turning needs into wants is the tricky bit but the most rewarding for them and us.

So how do we do this?

You need some skills and some process. Skills come in your ability to ask the right question, make this come over as a conversation and a genuine interest in your customer and to have first class listening skills. The process is this:

• Prioritise the customers needs, and take one at a time
• Discover the situation around the need
• Turn the need into a want
• Gain commitment

Like any process, you can adapt as you go but it’s important to follow

That way we can focus on something else. We speed up simple processes because they’re boring. Now fact-finding with our customers in a face to face interview is quite simple. Collecting information to populate a form is not difficult. Hard facts are needed to fill in a form most of the time. Once we have the facts, we as fully trained and educated financial advisers, know the products the customer needs and telling is simple too.

Telling is not selling – especially not rapport selling.

Rapport selling fact-finding involves getting into the tricky bit. Not just asking questions to get facts but asking a variety of questions simulating a discussion to open up opportunities with our customer, finding softer information to help us link our products to them personally. Knowing what drives them to do what they do, get them feeling concerned about their shortfall of cover, excited by a goal they had in the back of their mind.

Above all, get them wanting what we have to sell. Turning needs into wants is the tricky bit but the most rewarding for them and us.

So how do we do this?

You need some skills and some process. Skills come in your ability to ask the right question, make this come over as a conversation and a genuine interest in your customer and to have first class listening skills. The process is this:

• Prioritise the customers needs, and take one at a time
• Discover the situation around the need
• Turn the need into a want
• Gain commitment

Like any process, you can adapt as you go but it’s important to follow

stomer needs and telling is simple too.

Telling is not selling – especially not rapport selling.

Rapport selling fact-finding involves getting into the tricky bit. Not just asking questions to get facts but asking a variety of questions simulating a discussion to open up opportunities with our customer, finding softer information to help us link our products to them personally. Knowing what drives them to do what they do, get them feeling concerned about their shortfall of cover, excited by a goal they had in the back of their mind.

Above all, get them wanting what we have to sell. Turning needs into wants is the tricky bit but the most rewarding for them and us.

So how do we do this?

You need some skills and some process. Skills come in your ability to ask the right question, make this come over as a conversation and a genuine interest in your customer and to have first class listening skills. The process is this:

• Prioritise the customers needs, and take one at a time
• Discover the situation around the need
• Turn the need into a want
• Gain commitment

Like any process, you can adapt as you go but it’s important to follow

what drives them to do what they do, get them feeling concerned about their shortfall of cover, excited by a goal they had in the back of their mind.

Above all, get them wanting what we have to sell. Turning needs into wants is the tricky bit but the most rewarding for them and us.

So how do we do this?

You need some skills and some process. Skills come in your ability to ask the right question, make this come over as a conversation and a genuine interest in your customer and to have first class listening skills. The process is this:

• Prioritise the customers needs, and take one at a time
• Discover the situation around the need
• Turn the need into a want
• Gain commitment

Like any process, you can adapt as you go but it’s important to follow

right question, make this come over as a conversation and a genuine interest in your customer and to have first class listening skills. The process is this:

• Prioritise the customers needs, and take one at a time
• Discover the situation around the need
• Turn the need into a want
• Gain commitment

Like any process, you can adapt as you go but it’s important to follow some structure. What’s more important is that your customer goes along with you. Ask them to join in your journey. Tell them where you’re going to take them. Explain the process in benefit terms so they know exactly what’s going to happen and what is expected of them.

“I’d like to spend some time exploring your current situation by asking lots of questions. I’ll be doing lots of listening if that’s ok as you talk about yourself, your situation, your goals and dreams and the issues you have surrounding your personal finances. That way I’m able to give you the very best service and advice. Is that OK Mr Brown?”

Prioritise needs

Have a priority of needs which, hopefully, your customer has agreed with and actually prioritised for you. Typically this is the reason for them seeing you or being referred to you in the first place. Companies use all sorts of acronyms to help you decide needs and each fact find page is usually devoted to a particular need.

• PIMPSIO - Protection, income replacement, mortgage, pension, savings and investment, other

• PEPSI – protection, earnings replacement, pension, savings and investment

• SLIM – savings, life protection, insurance, mortgage Above all though, the customer decides the priority, not you. And you take one need at a time.

Discover the situation

Fact finds are usually populated with the usual situation type information. Name, policy details, amount of cover, date of retirement, shortfalls of cover needed etc etc. Now you need this of course, but you also need softer information. You need th