Select Advisors Discovery Questionnaire
Based on our InvestmentNews Article on Expediting Growth
Let us show you your path of least resistance to growth
(Because we are VERY impatient!)
Why Sales Coaching?
Research by the Sales Executive Council shows that no other productivity or marketing investment comes even close to coaching in improving a professional's performance pertaining to growth. Yet, financial advisors spend thousands of dollars on expensive websites, brochures, technology platforms, search engine optimization, blog writing, and peer group discussions to grow their practice.
The end result? Many advisors growing at less than 10% annually, or even worse, throwing in the towel, laying off talented planners from their team, merging with advisory firms unwillingly, giving up their hard-earned independence, or being bought out prematurely.
A sales coach brings in an outsider's perspective inside your firm, providing a third party, unbiased viewpoint of your team and how you operate as sales professionals. He or she also compares you to the industry benchmark of growth, which is comprised of years of research and observation of best practices in sales strategies within your particular industry.
With a full understanding of what you're doing right and where the potential weaknesses are, a good sales coach will be able to work with you and your firm to bridge the gap and help you become extremely competitive to win and maintain more business.
How do you select a sales coach?
A sales coach is ONLY, repeat ONLY, as good as the coach behind it. If you have respect for the person coaching you, and want to emulate his/her style and approach to growth, you should hire that coach. If the coach irks you, or their style is unrealistic, trust your personal judgement.
At the same time, a sales coach should differ in their strategy from yours. Otherwise, you would be repeating the same pattern of growth, which is most probably not as ideal as you'd like.
Another way to see if you want to work with a sales coach is to see how fast they have grown their own sales coaching practice. If someone is a good sales coach, they can also sell their own business! If they have been in business for 10 years as a sales coach and still working with only 10-20 advisors, that's not a good sign. (Since launching 3 years ago, Select Advisors currently works on an ongoing basis with advisors whose collective AUM is $70 billion!)
What are the credentials you should look for in a coach?
Some factors you should look for in a coach are:
- Their track record within your own industry
- If they will be the person actually coaching you. Typically, most sales coaching firms will pass you on to a junior sales coach who barely knows anything about your industry, and was previously a pharmaceutical sales rep or real estate agent. If you will be passed on to a junior sales coach, you want to find out what is the selection process for becoming a junior coach at this firm
- The education and schooling of the coaches
- The way they carry themselves. If you were a potential client, would you select this person as your financial advisor? Why or why not?
- Are they ethical?
- Do they understand the investment industry on a very technical level?