Love Can Be A Real Relationship Killer

You’re in love.

Your top-performing product is a real looker and you want to show it off.

So, when you get the ‘Whaddya got?’ question you bring out the eye candy and your bulletproof pitch. And it works (some of the time)!

Here’s a scenario that may cause you to think about it a bit more. You are in a department store ‘just looking’. You pass the counter with watches. The sales person says, “ Can I help you find something? You think hmmm – let me see the latest thing so you say, “I’m kind of in a hurry, but what’s your top selling watch? She goes behind the counter and pulls out a watch that you would never buy – not your style and too many bells and whistles. “This one is our best selling by far – it is the latest in technology – I bought one of these for my husband and he loves it– you can’t really find something like this for less than $50 – it’…”

What do you say? “No… but thanks anyway”. (aka ‘gotta jump’ …)

Done, over, hasta la vista baby.

A. Would you go back to that sales person again?

B. Do you think she would have had time to answer a question or two?

C. Would you have appreciated a question or two?

While your product may be good-looking, many advisors today may be wary of short-term flings. They’re looking for their type over the long haul. They want to know how it fits with their investment philosophy. They are not thinking about performance as sole criteria. Changing product means it really needs to be better — for them– and worth messing with the status quo (your watch still works just fine). For many advisors these are deal breakers.

Why do wholesalers often become weak in the knees, and find themselves at a chapel in Vegas when a real looker comes their way? Because good product sells, more than occasionally. And that can be seductive.

But what about those advisors it didn’t work with? Did they make a silent note: Another wholesaler pitching to me, sigh. What if these advisors are more likely to be the keepers – in sickness and in health?

The advisor that is too busy to answer a few questions is probably more interested in hot product vs. relationship. So if you have a hot product, go ahead, be infatuated! But as with any good love story, do the work to make the relationship last.