Winning Battles While Losing Wars
Friday, 27 August 2010 11:07
Don’t waste time trying to prove how smart you are.
A number of years ago, I left my house one Saturday morning with the sole intent of buying a new car. I knew what car, color, and accessories I wanted, and I knew what I was willing to pay. There were two dealerships near my house, both of which had the car I wanted, so I went to the closest one first. I found the car I wanted in the lot just as a salesman walked up to me and asked if I needed help, to which I answered, “Yes, I have two questions and if I like the answers, I will buy this car today.” Now, I am sure he heard me, but hearing is not the same as listening, and for some reason, rather than asking what my questions were, he started telling me about the engine. He insisted that I come to the front of the car where he opened the hood and started pointing out all kinds of things that meant nothing to me. Finally, after about ten minutes of him rattling on about everything there was to know about car engines, I said, “Thank you,” and walked away. I got back in my car and drove to the other dealership, met a salesperson, and asked if they had the car I was looking for, to which he said, “Yes.” At which time, I told him the same thing I had told the other salesperson, the difference being that this salesman asked what the questions were. I asked the questions and he answered both as we walked to the car. After completing all the paperwork, I drove my new car home.
Here’s the deal. I don’t know anything about engines and don’t care to learn anything about them. In fact, that overly chatty salesman could have told me that the engine incorporated sterile fallopian tubes and I would have cared less, how could I have, I wasn’t listening. You see, when it comes to cars, what is important to me is that they are comfortable, with windshield wipers, lights, air conditioning, and a heater that all work, and most of all, they start when I want to go somewhere.
When it needs gas, I put gas in it, when it needs new tires, I go to a tire store, and when it needs maintenance, I take it to a service center. In other words, when it comes to servicing my cars, I take them to a specialist who is honest, dependable, and knows what they are doing.
The moral of the story: the first salesman proved to me without a shadow of a doubt that he knew more about engines than I do; the second salesperson made the sale because he put what was important to me ahead of his ego.
Over the last three years, I have spoken to hundreds of professionals working in sales/marketing positions in the Reverse Mortgage and Financial Planning fields and during that time, I have learned a lot of things, none of which is more profound than the communication chasm that still exists between these two groups.
When I say communication chasm, I’m not talking about the contact aspect of the communication process. After all, there can be no doubt that people on the reverse mortgage side of this equation have done an exemplary job when it comes to reaching out to their brethren on the financial planning side. What I’m talking about is what is being conveyed; in short, most RM people are spending a lot of time telling financial planning people things they don’t care to hear about and as a result, they simply aren’t listening. It makes me think of the lyric in the song “Comfortably Numb” that says “your lips are moving but I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
In the process, far too many RM professionals waste a lot of hard earned opportunities because they fail to explain why a reverse mortgage might be the perfect solution to any number of problems seniors are facing today.
For the most part, Financial/Insurance Advisors don’t know, nor do they care about all the details involved in the makeup of a reverse mortgage. What they do care about is that reverse mortgages can provide features and benefits that can be beneficial to their clients.
They don’t have the time to learn all the ins and outs of your product and that puts you in a great position, because you do know everything there is to know about RMs, which, in effect, makes you a specialist; in other words, your knowledge, professionalism, and dependability are of value to a financial planner whose business is focused in the senior market place.
If I was working in the reverse mortgage field and had a copy of “Reverse Mortgages – What Every Financial Advisor Should Know,” I would go straight to section two: “Reverse Mortgages in the Financial Plan.” Why? Because the first section is about the basics of reverse mortgages, which is something you already know. The second section, on the other hand, talks about how incorporating a reverse mortgage in a financial plan can provide seniors with options that can enhance their financial positions.
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