Life insurance industry elder statesman, Russell Collins, has sent a reminder to all advisers about the powerful role that file notes can play within the sales process.
While some advisers may consider file notes primarily as a compliance requirement, Mr Collins advocates a different approach. Coinciding with the launch of his book, Skills that Succeed, Mr Collins says he attributes much of his success to the way in which he used his client file notes.
In an extract taken from his new book, he tells his peers that “…if I could point to one thing that increased my closing rate to 9 out of 10, it was the file note. This in effect acted as a pre-presentation vehicle and … motivated people to really look forward to our next meeting.”
…the fact-finding meeting is where the biggest sale of all is made – the sale of you!
Continuing on the theme of using file notes as a pre-presentation vehicle, Mr Collins says: “…the fact-finding meeting is where the biggest sale of all is made – the sale of you! … In this meeting, the focus is on asking questions that require people to think before they answer, and when they do answer, they are actually providing the information for solutions to problems which – at that point in time – they they are probably not even aware exist.”
Mr Collins believes that giving clients the ability to review a written summary of their meeting with their adviser, which includes the key points about any possible gaps in their life insurance needs, helps to draw the client’s attention to these potential problems. “Within those major points was all the information I needed to prepare my eventual recommendations for inclusion in my sales presentation,” he says.
Mr Collins emphasises that at the file note stage, there are no recommendations, but only suggestions; and he also drives home the importance of having clients sign-off the file notes as an accurate representation of the fact-find meeting.
“I discovered that when people signed off on those needs – they were not going to argue or raise objections to my eventual recommendations at presentation time because they had already agreed to them in principle.” He continues, “Also, when people said ‘yes’ to my [file notes] summary, it was hard for them to say ‘no’ to my eventual recommendations.”
…the file notes allowed them to make informed decisions based on logic, rather then emotion
While this process proved highly successful for Mr Collins during his long career, he makes the point that each adviser must develop a process that best suits them. In his own case, Mr Collins said he never progressed to the next step in the sales process until he had received written sign-off or verbal confirmation of the content and accuracy of his file notes.
An insight shared with Mr Collins by one of his clients may offer one possible explanation for the reason why his file notes process has proven so successful. In relating how his client would use the file notes in discussion with his wife as a basis for reviewing and making decisions, Mr Collins notes: “He said the file notes allowed them to make informed decisions based on logic, rather then emotion.”
Russell Collins is launching his book, Skills that Succeed, in Sydney on 27 May. Russell says he believes one of the major reasons for the unacceptably high level of underinsurance in Australia lies in the communication skills of many financial advisers…
I was honoured to be asked by Russell to review his book before it was published and he has done a brilliant job. I have spoken with Russell at many conferences and to read his book made all those talks come alive again. In his book Russell gives credit to some of the MDRT greats like Frank Sullivan, Ben Feldman, Bruce Etherington, Guy Baker and his close friend and mentor John Savage for many of his concepts like good file notes, building strong relationships and always putting the best interests of his clients first. Every financial adviser needs to invest in Russell’s masterpiece and use it as a text, as he guides you through the process of asking the right questions so you will always get the right answers. “What do you say after you say hello to the client?” read the book and find out. Whether one is a new or veteran adviser, do yourselves a favour and invest in yourselves and learn from one of Australia’s great teachers of the life insurance industry. Well done Russell and thank you for sharing your 40 years of learning/wisdom which will be a memorable legacy to our great industry. GODFREY PHILLIPS.
Where do we buy it from ?
WHERE DO I BUY THE BOOK
To purchase Russell’s book, please visit his website: http://rics.com.au/
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