Clifton Warren's Blog

New Realities of the Market Place

Clifton Warren — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:32:44 +0000

ASIC has introduced new laws for mortgage brokers and finance professionals this now means that the ball game has changed. The professionals are going to have become much better marketers and focus will be the ability to prospect and build a client base. The best prospecting system for professionals is the one that allows you to market from your comfort zone. The toughest for all professionals is prospecting, that is finding someone to tell your story to. Most are fine once they are in front of a prospect the hard part is getting there.

The other factor is time, it is very easy to get caught up with processing existing business, handling customer problems and doing paperwork; however despite all of this new business is the lifeblood and in the era for finance professionals it’s going to get tougher. The most effective kind of prospecting is focused prospecting that allows you to build your client with referrals. This works well as you can work from within your comfort zone using your existing networks and contacts.

New Prospecting White Paper

Clifton Warren — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:36:46 +0000

You can download a new white paper High Touch Prospecting from my site http://pii1.com/articles.php

The 21 century services provider

Clifton Warren — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:07:39 +0000

Three key success factors for financial service providers, insurance brokers and mortgage brokers are:
1. Having a good reputation
2. Maintaining excellent customer relations
3. Marketing skills

This means that to thrive and not just survive as provider of services you must become customer centric. Everything about your company and the way it does business has to be about the client. The starting point is understanding your client base and the type of business that you have.

This lays the foundation for developing a strategy to enable you to maximise your strengths.

Walking the talk

Clifton Warren — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:02:36 +0000

I drive an Mitsubishi Outlander their top range model, it comes with a 5 year warranty and road side service. The other day I noticed that driver side seatbelt was making a funny noise and not full retracting. I drove to my local dealer for them to look at it.

The service said I have some good news and bad news, first the seatbelt is faulty and its covered by the warranty, however the bad news is that the car not roadworthy because if you have an accident the seat belt will fail. I signed a waiver form to drive the car home which is only 5 min’s away.

The next day I received a call from Mitsubishi customer service advising me that there are no seat belts for vehicle in Australia and they will have to shift one from Japan but we are not sure how long this will take. However since your vehicle is covered under warranty, we have arranged a vehicle rental for from Avis and the towing of your vehicle from home to the dealer until it can be fixed.

Now that is great customer service. What examples do you have of great customer service?

The best salespeople are great propsectors

Clifton Warren — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:50:02 +0000

Let’s face it sales prospecting is hard work most sales people do not enjoy prospecting and try to minimise the time spent in this area. Having a good sales prospecting process will help stack the odds in your favour and make prospecting more enjoyable as your become more efficient and achieve a high return on your time invested.

I suggest a 3 step process consisting of prepare, Align and engage. In future post I’ll share techniques on how you can master each of these areas to make prospecting more enjoyable and profitable.

Clifton Warrren

One of the Best Prospectors that I’ve Ever Seen

Clifton Warren — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:00:39 +0000

Recently I was at McDonald’s having a quick snack, as I approached my chair an elderly gentleman approach me and ask me if I would like to make a donation to save something, I did not catch what it was because I quickly waved him.

This kept working the room, as McDonald’s is a fast food place most people eat fast and get out, so this guy had plenty of prospects. I watched him work the room for 15 min’s approaching each person with a 30 second presentation before asking for a donation. I estimate he had a 60% strike rate.

What are the lessons? First he was working a place where there was a steady turnover of people, second they had money, third he did not take rejection personally.

I’ve trained hundreds of salespeople of the years but this guy was good. Prospecting is hard work especially when you’re cold calling but you can stack the odds in your favour by making sure you fish where there are fish and just keep working the room, the law of averages will take care of themselves.

clifton warren 2010

Leaving money on the table

Clifton Warren — Wed, 26 May 2010 05:46:09 +0000

I travel regularly and I am amazed at how upmarket hotels continue to leave money on the table. They have a captured market from business people, yet they charge outrageous prices for internet access, very basic business centre facilities and average places to eat.

Companies like Regus provide a day use of office facilities with free wireless, for a small monthly fee. If the hotels were smart they would create a similar service that will draw in locals, keep the traveler spending money in the hotel and when booking are down, have another income stream.

Perhaps hotels don’t understand what business they are truly in.

Clifton warren 2010

Make sure your frontline staff are equipped to deliver

Clifton Warren — Tue, 04 May 2010 02:03:44 +0000

Recently I visited several health clubs to enquire about a membership for my son, in each case the staff member at reception referred to the membership consultant “Salesperson” who wrote the prices down for me on a piece of scrap paper, and they did not have nice handwriting. One consultant had chipped nail polished.

After a long search I met Sally, she was a big lady and certainly did not look like she was in the industry, but was very professional. Instead of the scrap paper I was presented with a nice folder and Sally provided several options based from my answers to a few questions.

I signed with Sally on the spot. These health clubs spend big bucks on TV and newspaper advertising to get people to the door but their staff blow it with poor skills.

What middle managers can learn from successful “C” level executives

Clifton Warren — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 23:49:55 +0000

I recently on my way to a clients office I ran into a old client who is a senior executive. We chatted briefly and he said please call me so that we grab a coffee.

During the past few months I’ve seen a number of middle managers who were once rising stars, now become unemployed in many instances it was no fault of their own, however they are now trying to build a network working crises mode of searching for a job.

This brief exchange started me thinking; I coach middle managers who looking to move to the next level there some lessons to learn from ”c” level executives. Continue to build your networks and reach out to people when things are going well it will assist you in your rise to the top and improve your search for new opportunities.

On the lookout for real talent

Clifton Warren — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:53:11 +0000

Employers are now thinking about the talent that they will require over the next 6-12 months as the economy starts to pick. Right now there is a over supply talent available, so employers are able to be selctive as to the requirements they need.

If you’re a job seeker:

Get you CV updated
Get some help with the layout and design
3-4 pages is ideal

For Employers:

Think carefully about key skill requirements
Create performance measures
Put together a job description
Plan 3 -4 months ahead to start your talent seach