Andy Bounds, award winning motivational speaker and author, will be speaking about how to win more business at the CISI’s Financial Planning Conference in October
Award winning motivational speaker and author Andy Bounds will be sharing his expertise in how to sell more with his presentation ‘Innovative approaches to winning more business’ at the Financial Planning Conference on Tuesday 4 October. He agreed to provide us with a preview.
Thank you for coming back to speak for the second year in a row. Please talk a bit about both your scheduled talks and how they will build on last year’s
Business is hard. Clients can do a lot more for themselves than they could previously. They do not need us as much. They can also get a lot of things free now that they used to pay for. This means our competitors are doing all they can to win business, including trying to take our clients from us!
So we must raise our game. My two workshops will help you do this. I will show innovative ways to win more business – that feel comfortable to do, are quick, and leave the clients saying “thank you” after they sign on the dotted line! I will also share simple ways to influence others – very useful in business; equally useful at home!
Will you engage the audience in any activities, such as the exercise with the different coloured highlights for words used in customer communications?
Yes, there will be lots of exercises – interactive, fun and practical, so people can use what they’ve learned back at their workplace.
Your website says your core belief is: “It’s not what you say that counts. It’s what people do differently after you’ve said it.” Please give examples of what people have done differently after hearing you speak.
There are loads. For example, Barclays won their biggest deal at the time (£2.6bn) after changing their approach to a huge sales pitch. I’ve helped people prepare for job interviews, so they adapt their approach and land the job of their dreams. I’ve helped people better articulate their case for a pay rise (always a popular one!)
But, the great thing about improving people’s ability to influence others is that it works in all walks of life. Some of my favourite emails have come from customers who have made changes so they stopped arguing with their partner, had better relationships with their children …
What are your top five tips for winning more business?
- Keep in regular contact with the people who buy most often from you. They’re your most likely buyers
- Every time you speak to a customer, ask “how else can I help you?”
- At the end of every job, ask what they would like you to do next, to drive their business forward.
- Diarise a time each week to ask your contacts for referrals.
- When writing a proposal, ask the customer what they want you to include in it – you’re more likely to impress them that way.
And your top five tips for influencing with impact?
- People are motivated by what they want, not what they need. So, find out what they want; and then prove you can help them get more of it.
- If you want someone to do something, you have to ask. They will not miraculously suddenly decide to do it.
- Always offer options. This changes "do I say yes?" to "how do I say yes?"
- With benefits, think pain and pleasure. People either want less pain or more pleasure. So, some will want to reduce risk; others to maximise revenue. Ask good questions, to discover their most important driver.
- People are wedded to things they’ve come up with. So ask their opinion. They will often come up with better ideas than you could!
Have you had any particularly challenging clients? How did you handle it?
I don’t have them, that’s because I spend a long time during the selling process making sure we both feel comfortable with each other, before we start working together. So, in my mind, “selling” is not just me trying to persuade clients to buy my stuff; it is also them trying to persuade me that they have got something I can help with, that interests me. So, by the end of the sale, I will know if the opportunity feels right to both of us. If it doesn’t, I’ll stop it there. However, if it does feel right, that is when we agree to work together.
What prompted you to change careers from a chartered accountant to a professional speaker and trainer?
There wasn’t one big thing. It was more a culmination of a few. For example, as an accountant, I always found myself volunteering (or being volunteered) to train people. So, that was clearly where my passion lay.
Then, a job opportunity arose at the company where I’d trained for my professional accountancy exams. I interviewed, got the job, and never looked back. And I absolutely love it!
About the Conference
The CISI Financial Planning Conference will take place on 3–5 October at the Celtic Manor Resort Hotel, Newport, Wales. This is a 'must attend' event for many CISI financial planning members and Accredited Financial Planning FirmsTM. It provides opportunities for personal and business development, quality structured CPD, the sharing of best practice, catching up with friends and making new connections.
To view the full programme and speaker line-up, visit cisi.org/fp16 where you can book your place, along with any specific sessions that you would like to attend.
We look forward to welcoming our new members from the financial planning community to the conference, as well as our existing members from wealth management functions and firms.