Yesterday I was talking to a financial advisor /mortgage specialist from a well known financial organisation, a company who I suspect would have specific sales skills training for all advisors. The discussion started well, good questioning techniques with plenty of open, probing questions, good listening and summarising skills, the advisor was keen and interested in what I had to say. I felt confident in his professional approach and his structured sales trained approach.
He then moved around the sales cycle and started to position different products and interest rates etc. I found myself getting enthusiastic with the range of mortgage opportunities there are on the market just now. Just as I was beginning to feel that this was going to be a positive buyer’s experience, the advisor spoiled it. He told me that all of the mortgage options he had offered, three from three different companies, were all special rates which finished in 24 hours time. He went on to say that if I wanted to take advantage of the options then I had to make a really fast decision.
Organising a new mortgage is not quite the same as purchasing a new pair of shoes in some knock down sale. I was left feeling as though I was being cajoled into making a quick decision and unclear about whether the advisor was telling the truth about the closing date on the offers.
Somewhere in these advisor’s sales training surely it must have come up about giving the client time to reflect and make sure they were making the right decision. For me, his professionalism evaporated into thin air when he started to act like a market stall holder ‘Buy now love, before they all go’.
By Kasmin Cooney | Righttrack’s Managing Director