Learning how to play to win

The following is based on one of The Covenant Group’s clients. All of the names and telling details have been changed. 

By Norm Trainor

Pushing to ask for the extra business that you know your clients need can build customer loyalty and boost your revenue.

Bernie Malone is a financial advisor we have worked for a number of years. Bernie holds a special interest for me, perhaps, because we are almost the same age and, like me, Bernie got his start in the life insurance business over twenty-five years ago. In those twenty-five years, Bernie had built a successful practice as a financial advisor, serving almost 1,800 clients. Unfortunately, when I first met Bernie, he was having some difficulty.

Prior to my first meeting with Bernie, I sat down and reviewed his history. He was making over $120,000 per year in first-year commissions on approximately 150 sales a year. This meant his average commission was about $800. Not bad, but not enough to put him at the top of his producer group rankings. He was about the middle of the pack and had been languishing in that position for a number of years.

When Bernie came into my office for the first time, he struck me as an earnest, but somewhat haunted man. He smiled and shook my hand, but his shoulders were slumped, his handshake was weak and the muscles in his face were tense and his teeth were clenched.

As soon as we began talking Bernie revealed that he was very frustrated with his situation. Many advisors would have been very happy with Bernie’s revenue, but for him, it wasn’t enough. He was sick of being at the same level every year and felt he wasn’t realizing his full potential. He seemed almost ashamed of his situation, guilty even. He told me that he dreamed of doing bigger numbers like some of his partners in the producer group. He knew he was as a good an advisor as they were. The fact that he had never managed to reach their level of production was eating him up inside. And, to make matters worse, he was having trouble with his administrative assistant, Shirley.

When I asked him to explain his problem with Shirley, he told me that he was afraid he was going to lose her and the thought filled him with dread. In the three years that Shirley had been with him, she had become vital to the success of his business. She was good and he was scared of what would happen if she left.

Bernie told me that she was upset with the stagnation of his business. As an incentive, Bernie was paying Shirley a bonus every year based on a percentage of their first-year commissions. When she was first hired, he had told her that he had plans to increase those commissions every year — increasing profits for both of them. But ever since Shirley had arrived, the commission line had been flat, and now she was unhappy — probably looking for other work.

I knew we had to act fast if Bernie was to protect his current income, let alone grow his bottom-line. I told him to ask Shirley to come back with him right away and the three of us would sit down and come up with a strategy for improving his business.

Bernie and Shirley returned a few days later. Soon after we sat down together I could see that Bernie had been right about Shirley. She was very intelligent, seemed focussed and very articulate. She had the perfect personality for the role Bernie needed her to fill.

At the beginning of the meeting, I asked Shirley to talk about her impression of the business. Unfortunately, she confirmed everything Bernie had told me. She saw that the trend line had plateaued. Bernie just wasn’t growing at all. But Shirley was also able to shed some light on the reasons Bernie had so much trouble. She said that Bernie spent a lot of time in the office and that she did all the service work. She felt that, in many cases, Bernie was not pushing to ask for business that his clients needed. Often she would tell Bernie about a need that a client had mentioned on the phone. But Bernie always came back from his meeting with the same result — a continuation of the same approach he had always taken with that client.

I asked Bernie if this was true and, sheepishly, he admitted it was. When I asked him why, he was at a bit of a loss for an answer. Haltingly, he told me that every time he brought up a new business concept with a client they were initially resistant. Not wanting to jeopardize his existing business with that client, he would back off the new concept and consolidate the easy sale.

I could see what was wrong with Bernie’s approach. With his approach, his business wouldn’t grow, but neither would it shrink. I told the two of them that it looked to me as if Bernie was playing not to lose, instead of playing to win. When I said that, Shirley nodded her head emphatically.

With almost 1,800 clients Bernie was sitting on acres of diamonds. He had the potential to explode his business and push his revenue line through the ceiling. But to accomplish that he would have to change the way he worked, the way he used Shirley and the way he dealt with clients. He needed to completely overhaul his business.

I explained to Bernie that, in order to substantially grow his business, he needed to increase his average sale. And, in order to move the needle on average sale, he would need to shed some of his beliefs about how he and Shirley worked together. Their current methodology was counter-productive.

Next, we looked at how Bernie and Shirley might restructure their workflow with the objective of putting Bernie in front of clients more often. Shirley was a major contributor to the conversation and had a lot of great ideas. It was clear to me that Shirley had a strong voice that had previously been silenced by Bernie.

At the end of the meeting, we had decided that Shirley would set aside three, 1 1/2 hour blocks of time per week during which she would call for appointments. In that time she wouldn’t do service work but would concentrate on getting Bernie in front of the clients with the largest needs. As for Bernie, he made a commitment to asking for a bigger sale and being more confident if he met resistance from his clients.

We all agreed that Bernie’s objective for the coming year would be to generate $300,000 in first-year commissions — a radical increase from the $120,000 he was previously doing, but achievable, I knew, given his client base.

Three months later we met again and Bernie and Shirley were in high spirits. They laughed and joked as they pulled out the file containing their monthly sales figures. I could see that, even if their financial position hadn’t changed, their relationship was vastly improved. But, when I saw their results for the past two months I was blown away. In the first month, Bernie had done 17 sales and $48,000 in commissions. The next month he had done 10 sales for $27,000 in commissions. A total of $75,000 in first-year commissions in only two months. They were well on their way to achieving their target of $300,000 in the next year. It was clear that Shirley now planned to stay and Bernie had learned how to play to win. 

Lessons Learned

• Bernie’s case is a clear-cut example of a financial advisor who was playing not to lose rather than playing to win, a common problem amongst the people I work with. Playing not to lose has some serious consequences that aren’t always apparent to an advisor who adopts this approach. When you play not to lose it feels safe and you protect your income, but it can be psychically damaging and can cost you, employees.
• When he began playing to win, Bernie found that his relationship with Shirley changed. She became more empowered, encouraged him more, helped him stay focussed on his goals and became more of a creative participant in making the business work.
• As Bernie found out, playing not to lose is an enervating strategy — it robs you of your passion for the business and drains you of excitement. However, playing to win is an energizing strategy — you become enthused and finish each day with more energy than you started.
• Playing to win is an energy creator, it puts back more emotion than it takes away. For this reason, playing to win is the only long-term strategy that works.

________________________________

The Covenant Group is referred to by many as the place entrepreneurs go to become Business Builders. They are considered to be thought leaders and have authored the best-selling books, The 8 Best Practices of High- Performing Salespeople, The Entrepreneurial Journey, and The Business Builder.