Language – Issue

December 28, 2015

9 negative phrases to avoid with your clients (& what to say instead)

NOV 06, 2015 | BY LYNETTE GIL

Check yourself, before you wreck yourself, and practice what you’re going to say before making calls to prospects.

It usually plays out in slow motion; at least, it seems that way to you. You’re having a great conversation with a prospect or a client, and you’re thinking, “I think we could do business together.” That is, until a few words escape from your mouth that you didn’t intend to say, and everything turns sour within seconds.

If only there were a time-travelling machine that would allow us to rewind to just before the exact moment that we catch ourselves saying the words that damage our relationship with that client or prospect. We’re still working on said time machine — and building it to look like a Delorean — but in the meantime, SlickText, a marketing company that specializes in texting campaigns, put together a cool infographic with nine phrases that “pressure cook” problems. Visit Website to learn about how to establish good customer relationship and you will also see as a bonus, they also share what to say instead.

These phrases were originally meant for customer service representatives, but they apply to anyone in sales, really. More helpful tips SlickText offers when preparing to make a call include:

Don’t take complaints personally.
Show off your personality. This increases trust, and helps people relate to you and the solution.
Prioritize a solution. Instead of focusing on the problem, work towards results.
Don’t sacrifice your safety. If your gut is telling you something isn’t right, ask for help.
Once the problem has been solved, move past it.

Remember that practice makes perfect and practicing these blunders will help you quickly adjust to different people and situations.

1. Don’t say: “Let me look into that.”

2. Don’t say: “Unfortunately, no…”

3. Don’t ever say: “There’s nothing I can do.”

4. Don’t say: “Let me correct you on that.”

5. Don’t say: “There must’ve been a miscommunication.”

6. Don’t say: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

7. Don’t say: “I have another call coming in, can you hang on?”

8. Don’t say: “I don’t have any record of your purchase/account.”

9. Don’t say: “That’s not something I can do.”

Remember these five tips:

To read the original article and see the infographic, visit the Slicktext blog here.

Astonishing tales of customer service

Why your prospect won’t return your calls

Click here for the original article.

December 21, 2015

The 6 biggest myths about dividend-paying whole life insurance

NOV 09, 2015 | BY PAMELA YELLEN

The belief that only wealthy people can benefit from whole life insurance is an urban legend that needs to be put to rest.

First off, full disclosure: I’m a financial investigator and an educator, not a licensed financial advisor. I’ve spent the last 25 years investigating more than 450 different financial products and strategies.

Of all of those products, my very favorite is dividend-paying whole life insurance. That’s because it enjoys an unmatched combination of advantages, which include safety, guarantees, liquidity, control and tax advantages.

If you sell dividend-paying whole life, you probably hear many of the same objections to it over and over. But my research has shown these objections are based on myths and misconceptions. So here are the six biggest myths about dividend-paying whole life — and the truth about each of them.

Remember that in financial management, where strategies are pivotal in securing and growing wealth, understanding the nuances of products like dividend-paying whole life insurance becomes imperative. Through Selective Wealth Management, individuals can discern the myths from the realities, leveraging comprehensive financial tools and strategies to optimize their financial well-being. Selective Wealth encompasses a tailored approach that considers individual goals, risk tolerance, and financial aspirations, empowering individuals to make informed decisions and navigate the complex landscape of financial products effectively.

Addressing the misconception surrounding high costs is crucial as it frequently dissuades potential investors. Contrary to this belief, delving into the long-term benefits and the potential for dividends reveals that dividend-paying whole life insurance can be a financially prudent choice over time, particularly when considering Life Insurance rates. By dispelling these myths, investors can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted advantages of this type of insurance and its potential impact on life insurance as a whole.

If you don’t sell the product, it may be because you have some of the same objections. Perhaps this will help open your mind…

Myth No. 1: Dividends are “just” a return of premium.

One of the objections you probably hear about dividend-paying whole life insurance is, “What’s the big deal about dividends? They’re just a return of premium the company overcharged you.”

Recall that dividends are paid when the company’s income less its expenses exceeds its projected worst-case scenario. Technically, the IRS defines dividends as a return of excess premium and therefore not taxable.

However, over time, those dividends can exceed the premium you paid in by a significant amount. If that’s the result of “overcharging,” I say, “Bring it on!”

Myth No. 2: The company “keeps” your cash value and “only” pays you the death benefit.

The financial experts often complain that the insurance company “only pays you the death benefit and keeps your cash value” when the policy owner dies.

Technically that’s true. But how do you explain this: I posted one of my dividend-paying whole life policy statements on our website. It shows how if I’d died on the date the statement was issued, my family would have received a check for $381,776, which is a few thousand dollars more than the original $250,000 death benefit and then-current total cash value ($128,361) combined.

It’s amazing to me that so many people — including many experts — hold whole life insurance to a totally different standard than other financial vehicles. For example, if you have $100,000 of equity in your home and you sell it for $250,000, do you expect to end up receiving both amounts, for a total of $350,000? Of course not.

However, as I just demonstrated, a dividend-paying whole life policy can deliver that advantage.

Myth No. 3: The cash value in a whole life policy grows too slowly.

Financial pundits say that your cash value grows much too slowly in a whole life policy. They claim you might not have any cash value at all in the first couple of years.

True for some whole life policies. However, more and more advisors are incorporating riders that dramatically accelerate the growth of the cash value in the policy, especially in the early years of the policy.

In fact, adding these riders to a policy maximizes both the cash value and the death benefit over time.

In addition, adding these riders allows clients to use their policy as a powerful financial management tool from day one.

Myth No. 4: The commissions in a whole life policy are “too high.”

Who usually complains the loudest that whole life policies pay too much commission? Often stockbrokers and money managers. They claim that high commissions are the only reason agents sell these policies.

But the reality is that those same money managers are actually making up to ten times as much as an advisor who sells a client a super-charged policy. Let’s compare: Assume you put $10,000 per year for thirty years into a super-charged dividend-paying whole life policy and the very same amount into an investment account.

According to those financial planners and experts, the agent who sold the policy would earn about $10,000 commission in the first year and a small commission each year after that.

That would be true of the policies many advisors design. But because a super-charged whole life policy will direct much of the $10,000 annual premium into the riders that make the cash value grow a lot faster, that advisor will only make between $3,000 and $5,000 in the first year, not $10,000. They’ll receive a small renewal commission during the remaining years, bringing the total commission paid over thirty years to about $8,500.

Meanwhile, the planner or investment advisor who’s complaining that this is way too much commission will earn a management fee every year of at least 1 percent of the account value (and often it’s 1.5 percent or even 2 percent) which, if the market has moderate returns over the same thirty years, means he’ll earn $100,000 – or more!

Myth No. 5: You should buy term insurance and invest the difference instead.

According to Dr. David Babbel, Professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania…

“People don’t buy term and invest the difference. They most likely rent the term, lapse it and spend the difference.”

Professor Babbel is co-author of Buy Term and Invest the Difference Revisited, published in the May 2015 issue of Journal of Financial Services Professionals.

Although much lip has been given to the notion of “buy term and invest the difference,” I’ve never met anyone who actually bought a term policy, priced the cost of a permanent policy with an equivalent death benefit, and then put the difference into an investment account every month. Here are some passive income ideas that can be implemented by everyone that has capacity to generate a steady income all the time.

It just doesn’t happen.

Myth No. 6: Only wealthy people can benefit from whole life insurance.

This is an urban legend that desperately needs to be put to rest. Did you know that whole life insurance was part of the financial foundation of half the U.S. population around 1900, and one-third of the population in 1950?

It was common for blue-collar and middle-class families to own these policies. There are folks who have these policies who make $20,000 or $30,000 a year, as well as those who make $300,000 to $3,000,000 per year.

Maybe our grandparents knew something we’ve forgotten?

6 reasons why whole life is causing advisors (and clients) to take notice

Dave Ramsey’s unjust war on whole life insurance

Click here for the original article.

November 30, 2015

5 Phrases That Will Kill Your Sales Deal

November 11, 2015 // 8:30 AM

Written by Dan Tyre | @dantyre

Top salespeople are successful because they sweat the details. They probe for pain, help their prospects, and run effective sales calls. They listen closely to what their prospects say, effectively determine the right solution, and ask for help when they need it.

Top reps are articulate, forceful, and direct. And most importantly, they don’t use weasel words.

“Weasel words” are words or phrases that subliminally undermine your credibility. Salespeople sometimes use weasel words to try and appear important, but prospects can see right through them, which undermines your trust and impacts your ability to close a deal.

Word choice on a sales call? Isn’t that a little control freak-ish?

No way. Think about it — every word you say to a prospect is an opportunity to bolster or weaken your credibility, so top salespeople choose their words carefully. Below are the top five phrases that undermine your credibility.

1) “Trust me.”

You might as well put a sign on your forehead that says, “I’m a bonehead.”

This phrase is a colloquialism that calls to mind the old-time salespeople you see in infomercials selling you detergent at 3:00 a.m. on cable. You come off as disingenuous (or even slimy) because you have to ask for trust in a passive-aggressive way. If you’ve already established trust with your prospect, you never need to say this — they will implicitly put stock in your words.

It also comes across as a condescending brush-off. Saying “Trust me” gives the impression that you’re glossing over something, don’t really want to explain the answer to your prospect’s question, or think they won’t understand it. It’s a deflection tactic that will arouse suspicion in your prospects, who will think, “What’s he hiding from me?”

2) “To be honest … ”

Everything that’s wrong with the phrase “Trust me” applies here as well. But saying “To be honest … ” has additional problems.

Your prospects will think, “Wait, what? So she wasn’t being honest in the first 25 minutes of the call?”

Like trust, honesty shouldn’t be something that needs to be explicitly addressed. It should be there from the beginning, and specifically calling attention to the fact that you’re being honest now throws all your other conversations into a suspicious light.

3) “Hmm … I think we can do that.”

Well, can you or can’t you?

It’s okay to be uncertain, but it’s not okay to glide over a question and leave it unanswered. Instead, acknowledge that your prospect has asked you a interesting question (yes, literally say the words, “That’s a great question!”), and let them know that you’ll find the answer and send them follow-up resources.

Don’t undermine yourself by making up a quick answer that might be wrong. An incorrect answer that you give now will be far more damaging to your authority than having your prospect wait a few hours for the right one.

4) “Are you the decision maker?”

This is just flat out offensive! Anyone who asks this question should be dragged out of the sales profession immediately. If your prospect isn’t the sole decision maker, you’re going to make them uncomfortable — not to mention you’re suggesting they’re not worth talking to unless they are a decision maker, which is both shortsighted and rude. This question is a great way to condescend to somebody. Stay away!

5) Any industry jargon or acronyms.

As a salesperson, you’re immersed in your own industry. You’re familiar with all the lingo and inside language. But remember that the acronyms and phrases you take for granted are probably foreign to your prospects.

Don’t get myopically focused on what you know and assume that your prospect is on the same page. You should be able to explain these concepts in a simple way, so do it! Using jargon might make you feel smart, but it’s just going to confuse your prospect.

There’s too much chance in sales to risk screwing up a deal because you chose your words sloppily. Always aim to be open, honest, and forthright, and avoid words and phrases that will endanger your prospect relationships and your reputation.

For the original article, click here.