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The Ultimate Value
Proposition
Most people in sales are familiar
with the idea of the Elevator Pitch. The concept is simple enough, you board an
elevator with someone who fits your ideal client profile, and for the next 60-90
seconds you have a captive audience. The question once was what could you say in
the next minute that would be compelling enough to have the target of your
efforts suggest they would like to sit down and hear more?
The problem with the elevator pitch
is two fold. One, it is very difficult, particularly in financial services
sales, to say anything in thirty seconds that is different from what everyone
else is saying. You therefore blend yourself into the throng of those promising
much, but offering little, rather than separating yourselves from the noise.
Second, virtually every elevator pitch that I have ever heard consists of a
litany of what wonderful things that you do and how much better you will make
the prospect's life if they just grant you a moment of their time.
Don't get me wrong, the problem is
not in the words that you are saying. The problem is in what people hear. Think
for a second the last time that someone approached you that you did not know and
they offered you something free. Did the offer excite you? The word free is so
over used today, that we are conditioned to believe one of two things:
There must be a catch
It must be worthless
When we seek to engage a client or
prospect, we must keep in mind that everything that we say or do will either;
cause them to open up, cause them to clam up, or have no impact. If I am hoping
to engage Mr. or Mrs. Ideal Prospect, I am only interested in one of those
outcomes. It is also a fact that things in this world happen either by accident
or by design. Since not mastering this skill could cost of millions of dollars
in revenue over our career, I would rather not leave it open to chance.
Step 1 is the Audio Logo. How do you
want to be remembered and presented to potential clients by your bank partners
or existing clients? Follow the KISS principle (Keep it
short and simple) 15 words max. The audio logo has 2 functions,
create an identity and lead to a conversation. My friend Harry Hoynes has
mastered this. When asked, "What do you do?" Harry would respond, "I untie
financial knots." Almost always the response back was either, "How do you do
that?" or "financial knots, what's a financial knot?" With that, he was off to
the races.
This is the test. When you recite
your Audio Logo, does the client choose to engage?
Contrast this for example to a very
common "elevator pitch" "I work with affluent and ultra affluent investors to
design and implement long term financial plans where the risk-return profile of
the asset allocation within the portfolio is in line the client's risk tolerance
and time horizon." Talking over people's heads is not a pathway to their heart
anymore than baffling them with BS is, particularly if your goal is not just to
close a sale, but more to begin a relationship.
Next, we move to the value
proposition. The Ultimate Value Proposition® targets our ideal client and joins
the conversation already taking place in their head. This ability is the key to
the most powerful rapport and trust building skill ever created. The best
analogy of this is Mel Gibson in What Women Want. Because he literally
knew exactly what was going on in their head, he was able to recognize,
sympathize with, and solve their deepest fears and concerns. This is the
connection that we should strive for with our clients and prospects. Perhaps you
are thinking, I don't want to shave my legs, cover my chest with Nair and dive
into a full tub with a hair dryer, just to increase sales. I am with you. Let's
look at a simpler way.
The body of the Ultimate Value
Proposition has four parts:
Desired Outcomes and the Obstacles
to reach them
Agitation
Solution
Benefit
What should it look like? Let's go
back to my friend Harry.
After causing them to engage, "what
do you mean by financial knots?" he would start into his UVP
Obstacles and Outcomes
You know how sometimes the more
money you get, the more problems that come along with it?
Agitate
In fact, I know some people that get
to the point that they almost feel like they would be happy to give up the money
if they could also give up the problems. Of course, even if you did give up the
money, the problems would stay with you.
Solution
Well, what I do is work with a team
of professionals to look at every aspect of your financial situation and after
understanding what it is that you are trying to accomplish, untie all the knots
that are holding you back today and create a roadmap to get you where you want
to go.
Benefit
The benefit is you can rid yourself
of the problems and still keep the money and have a sensible plan with a team of
professionals so that you never find yourself in that situation again.
The biggest benefit for nailing this
core competency with Harry has been the way the bankers positioned him. Many
bankers use the, "he is the guy that does the investments for us" positioning
model. As we have talked about already, this is not a very compelling message.
For Harry's bankers, the process was easy. If someone started to complain about
money problems, the bankers would say, "Sounds like you have some money knots."
To which the typical response is, "Do I ever" or "What is a money knot?" Either
way they could easily segue to Harry's value proposition.
This hits many noble goals:
Engages the prospect
Gives our bankers and prospects a
clear idea of what to refer to us
Eliminates unwanted referrals from
our life
Gives the bankers a perfect way to
position us
Sells the relationship, not the
transaction
So while you might not necessarily
want to be an advisor that unties financial knots…mastering the Ultimate Value
Proposition will help your current clients and bankers put a nice bow around the
gift of the referral they are about to give!