In the new Expert Insight Interview, our guest is John Stoj, a financial advisor and the founder of the Verbatim Financial. His company stands out with a unique fee structure, which allows them to work only in their clients’ best interests. John’s mission is to use his knowledge and experience to help others plan a brighter future for themselves. Today he will speak about building stronger relationships and selling by listening.
In this interview, we explore:
- Leaving space for listening
- Building trust
- Choosing the right clients
Leaving Space For Listening
A lot of people struggle with listening because it operates on multiple levels, and they often stick only to the most superficial one. Without deep listening, you won’t be able to understand what your client’s real problems are and how you can solve them.
Your clients need space to tell you what they want. If they’ve reached out to you, it means they are interested, and the question is how to get them to commit. The key is to think strategically about when is the right time to stop speaking. The other critical factor is not being afraid of the silence. After you present them with all of the information and stop talking, it is natural for your client to need a few moments to process it. Once they start communicating, encourage them to speak more and more, and help them paint a fuller picture.
Building Trust
Developing trust with your client comes down to listening. It’s about building a relationship, and that can’t happen if you only talk and don’t listen. People will often mention some issues or things that worry them during a conversation without focusing on them. If you listen carefully, you will be able to understand those problems. Then you can bring them up in later communication and discuss some specific solutions, which will demonstrate great respect for your client. They will see that you hear them and look into what is bothering them, which is one of the best ways to establish trust.
If you have regular communication with your client and listen continually, then you may be able to anticipate certain situations and issues that can arise.
Choosing The Right Clients
People are different. They consume information differently, and different things are important to them. By listening, you are determining what kind of person they are and how you should approach them. It can also help you to figure out whether you should work with a specific person.
Not every client is going to be a fit for every professional, and that’s okay. You are trying to help them relieve stress from their lives, but it doesn’t mean you should take it upon yourself. Working with someone who isn’t a good fit will only stress you out and make it difficult to do your job well.
Our Host
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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