Do you want to grow your business or do you choose to grow your business?
Troy, a financial advisor in Ohio, claimed to be making constant prospecting calls, but he barely netted $60,000 last year.
"I've taken several sales training courses and am always reading sales books," Troy told me during our first conversation. "I'm not sure why none of it is working for me."
When I asked him about his activity, it was clear that his prospecting calls were sporadic and unscripted. His appointments resulted in a very low closing ratio.
Troy was suffering from the same fate as many advisors.
"If I don't have enough clients," they think, "I need to take another course [or read another book or listen to another podcast]."
If this sounds like you, the truth is that you probably already know enough to have the success you want.
You don't need to obtain more information. You need to take massive, persistent action using the information you already have.
Two Ways of Thinking
In his book Straight-Line Leadership, Dusan Djukich describes people facing this issue as having the wrong "inner stance."
If your inner stance about why you're not moving forward is a belief that you don't know how to get ahead, instead of a belief that you haven't yet chosen to get ahead, you'll keep going to seminars and reading books, and trying out shiny new prospecting ideas, only to be disappointed, instead of taking the action you already know how to take, and that you need to take.
If, on the other hand, your stance is one of taking action — choosing to act on the knowledge you already have — your practice will flourish.
Troy had spent years studying everything there is to study about selling services, but he hadn't chosen to put that knowledge into action. So, while he may have been working hard, he kept doing the wrong work.
Once Troy understood this, his business started to grow.
Your Story
What's your inner stance? If it's a choose-to, action-based stance, not knowing enough is an easily fixable condition. You'll learn as you move forward, finding and applying the information you really need as you go along. Fears will fall by the wayside because you'll be on a mission to make things happen.
If you're not constantly taking necessary required actions, it's because you see your world as a place where it can't be done. If that's where you are, it might be time to get help with your inner stance.
Sandy Schussel is a coach and practice development consultant for insurance and financial professionals. He has served as an MDRT Academy trainer, is on the faculty of the InsuranceProShop and is a preferred mentor with InsuranceWebX. Schussel's scheduling calendar is available here.
Credit: kudos studio/Adobe Stock
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