6 Compelling Ways to Ask for the Order

Agents and advisors have a skill only a small segment of the population possesses: You have the ability to look someone in the eyes and ask them for money.

It’s still hard for agents and advisors to do this.

The job would be so much easier if the prospect said: “Stop talking. You convinced me! Where do I sign?

Many people “in sales” are great at presenting, not so good at closing. They deliver their proposal and stop talking. The prospect says: “Let me think about it.”

The cash register is silent.”

Years ago, I surveyed financial advisors, asking: How do they close a sale? How do they ask for the order?

Sales is both an art and a science.

The agents need to know when they have talked enough, when to stop talking, when to ask for the order and about how big the suggested order should be.

The Amount

An advisor talking about wealth management is not going to say, “I want all your money,” because that is a big, probably unsuitable ask.

The advisors needs to ask the prospect for the right amount.

What is that amount? It’s enough to show what you can do, but not so much that the prospect is uncomfortable about parting with so much and not so much that there would be any compliance concerns.

Starting to Close

So, how do experienced advisors ask for a client’s order?

Here are six of the greatest answers. You’ll notice that they share four similar characteristics.

They’re questions.
They include the word “you.”
They’re closed-end (yes/no) questions.
The “uncomfortable answer is no.” Put another way: The prospect will want to say yes.

Here are those six great expressions for asking for the order:

Are you ready to address the issues?
Are you comfortable enough with the recommendations to proceed?
What do you think? Can we proceed with the plan?
Can I have your business?
Can you see yourself benefiting from the strategy?
I want to work for you. I need the go ahead from you?

You might have a favorite. Maybe you have an approach that is even better.

Completing the Closing

Once the prospect says yes to moving ahead with a purchase, you need to read the order back, detailing exactly what you are going to do and outlining next steps.

Why? Because all six expressions for starting the process of closing are very “high level.” None of the expressions states, “We are selling (this), and you are buying (that.)”

What happens next?

Fortunately the people I interviewed and gathered data from had answers for this, too.

Here are six things you need to do:

1. Slow down.

Onboarding

You don’t want to win the sale and lose the relationship. This can happen if the onboarding process does not make the prospect feel like a valued client.

Here’s an interesting question: When does a prospect become a client?

Years ago, municipal bonds were popular. It was in the days when yields were high. My manager asked us that question. We thought: “When the prospects buy something. They get account numbers. Now they are clients.”

Our manager thought the first purchase was a transition period and that, to be a client, an individual needed to make a second purchase.

We might have thought the prospect who made the purchase was a client. Our manager said the prospect who made a purchase is now “a prospect who owns a bond.”

We would need to cultivate the relationship, to make the bond owner a repeat customer. Then the bond owner would became a client.