5 Types of Closing for Financial Advisors, Wealth Managers and Financial Professionals

Are you getting a lot of leads (or a healthy amount of them), but just not able to take people to the finish line?

Do you find that you are hearing a lot of excuses from people, such as bad timing, limited liquidity, or lack of motivation to start the relationship with your wealth management practice?

Bad Timing:

• "I’m really interested, but right now just isn’t the best time for me to make a decision."

• "I need to get through this quarter before I can think about my finances."

Limited Liquidity:

• "I’d love to move forward, but I don’t have enough liquid assets available at the moment."

• "My money is tied up in other investments, so I can’t commit right now."

• “I have to sell my company first.”

• “I’m going through a divorce so I can’t commit to anything right now.”

Lack of Motivation:

• "I know I need to do something, but I’m just not ready to make any changes yet."

• "It’s something I want to do eventually, but I’m not feeling the urgency right now."

• “Let’s wait to see what happens with the elections before moving forward.”

Do your prospects tell you they haven’t had time to review your account opening paperwork, need to consult your information with their spouse (who is disinterested in this topic), or are just plain busy with growing their business to want to consider your offering?

If all of these sound familiar, and you’re not able to fully “Close” all the great opportunities coming your way, you can benefit from some sales coaching and training.

The reality is, unless someone is bleeding, they don’t need a doctor either.

Unless someone is fully having major tax issues, they don’t need an accountant.

Unless someone is constantly losing all his savings in the markets, he most likely doesn’t see the value of your financial support.

So the goal of sales training around closing is to help you show your prospects that NOW is the time…not when the timing is perfect and the pain is massive.

Otherwise, you’ll be waiting a long time before you see your revenue grow.

As mentioned, you may benefit from some proven closing strategies that work in any type of sales, and can be effective sales strategies for your team.

In this blog, we’ll discuss five closing strategies for financial advisors.

Before we do, it’s important to note the five P’s of closing, which are general rules around closing.

If you don’t know what these 5 P’s are, please reach out to us!

So let’s get started!

Five Closing Strategies for Financial Advisors and Wealth Managers:

Concluding a successful deal is a crucial aspect of the financial advisory process.

As a financial advisor or RIA, mastering various closing techniques can enhance your effectiveness in converting leads into satisfied clients.

Here are five powerful closing tactics tailored for financial advisors based on a diverse array of strategies available:

1. Tailored Options Approach

Presenting prospects with three to five distinct choices can provide them with a sense of control and facilitate decision-making. By offering a variety of solutions tailored to their specific needs, you empower prospects to make informed choices, fostering engagement and commitment during prospect meetings.

For example: I know you’re busy; which of the following three areas is keeping you the most busy? Client service, hiring, budgeting?

And I’m sure you already know the most basic sales strategy of all, which is to not ask a yes or no question.

You can learn a lot more about best questions to ask during the sales process in wealth management here:

2. Confident Affirmation Approach

Confident Affirmation is one of my favorite strategies. It involves seamlessly transitioning from discussing prospect needs to confidently assuming their acceptance of the proposed plan.

For instance, by stating, "Based on our discussion, I'll proceed to create your risk assessment test, and will begin the accounting opening process.

You can later tell me what else I can include for a bit more information on the strategy we discussed.”

This proactive approach nudges prospects towards a positive decision, leveraging a sense of inevitability and commitment.

3. Parallel Progress Approach

Engaging prospects in a multitasking scenario while nudging them towards finalizing the deal characterizes the Parallel Progress Approach.

For example, encouraging prospects to complete a form or task while simultaneously taking proactive steps, such as creating their profile on your CRM, not only streamlines the process but also increases efficiency.

Another example, "I know you wanted to review the terms; why don’t you do that right here as I fill out some of the notes we discussed today. This approach will save us valuable time and won’t leave you with homework when you get back home."

This collaborative method fosters a sense of progress and momentum.

4. Proactive Plan Approach

Utilizing the Proactive Plan Approach positions advisors as proactive facilitators of a client's financial journey.

By summarizing discussed profiles and outlining the next steps, advisors instill confidence and clarity in prospects.

For instance, "After reviewing all the profiles, let's schedule a follow-up meeting in three hours at 6:00 PM to delve deeper into your concerns regarding A, B, and C."

This structured approach demonstrates attentiveness and commitment to the client's financial well-being.

5. Personal Connection Approach

Read our article in Barron’s about telling prospects your personal “Rocky Story” to gain their trust

Emphasizing a personal connection strategy involves establishing an emotional bond with prospects, shifting the decision-making focus from the product/service to the relationship between the client and the advisor.

By leveraging empathy and understanding, financial advisors can create a profound sense of trust and rapport. Encouraging clients to make decisions based on this emotional connection compels them to evaluate the personal value of the advisor-client relationship, thereby strengthening commitment and loyalty.

Incorporating these diverse and impactful closing strategies into your financial advisory practice can elevate your effectiveness in converting prospects into long-term clients. By adapting these techniques to suit your unique communication style and client needs, you can cultivate lasting relationships built on trust, transparency, and mutual success.

Of course, these are all general sales strategies and not tailored to your personality. At Select Advisors, we believe in customizing a sales training program around your personality. We have written extensively about that in our Kitces.com article. Read the article here!

Not sure how to implement and execute these strategies in your asset management, wealth management and accounting practice? Reach out and we can customize the methods for your personality and your niche market!