14 Critical Wholesaler Strengths – How Do You Measure Up?

“How do I compare to other wholesalers?”

“Do my actions and behaviors place me in the ‘best in class’ category?”

“What are the mile markers I should use to gage my development and success?”

These are all questions that we get at Wholesaler Masterminds® Coaching.

Here then is your list of 14 Wholesaler Strengths that belong to best in class great wholesalers.

How do you measure up?

Knows how to find the decision maker: Depending on your channel/product this may be obvious.

But in today’s advisor environment spending time with the wrong folks (“You should really be meeting with Linda as she screens our _________ products”) is both frustrating and a time suck.

Quickly navigating the labyrinth of advisor teams to get to the right decision maker is critical.

Properly prepares for the appointment: Too many wholesalers think that appointment preparation simply means stuffing the briefcase with literature and downloading the boarding pass.

Great wholesalers understand that the homework that they do in advance of the appointment will directly correlate to the success of the appointment.

Successful homework helps melt the icicles that generally hang over an advisor appointment.

Which means doing your Advisor Recon work.

Quickly builds rapport: When it comes to important pieces of wholesaler DNA, the ability to get along with a wide range of personalities is near the top of the list.

That process starts with the ability to build rapport as quickly as possible.

In that 30-60 minute block of appointment time, how well do you authentically and genuinely start (build upon) a relationship with the advisor?

And the words authentically and genuinely are critically important because advisors have terrific wholesaler bullshit detectors.

Displays emotional intelligence by empathically listening: The lesser wholesaler is only listening for one thing – for the advisor to take a breath so that they can start (resume) their pitch.

To listen emphatically means that:

• your body language is open and welcoming.
• you are not interrupting – you let the advisor do most of the talking
• your interest in the advisor’s thoughts is verified via eye contact and nodding
• you use verbal responses such as “I see” and “I understand”
• you label the feelings the advisor expresses such as “I can see how that would make you angry”
• you ask open ended questions

You know when someone is really listening to what you say – and so do clients and prospects.

Conducts quality advisor meetings: Do you wing the advisor meeting, or do you know the path that the meeting is supposed to follow?

Quality meetings:

• are accompanied by an agenda
• have time defined segments/time blocks
• are controlled by the wholesaler
• are not easily sent off course
• end right on time and honor the advisors schedule

Can every meeting go by the book, no.

But plan the meeting assuming that it will.

Knows the competition: A mandate that is as old as our profession, and yet so often poorly executed.

Great wholesalers understand:

• the competition’s prospectus/contract
• their marketing strategy/position
• how they position their value add

You can’t fully understand your strengths until you fully understand your competitor’s weakness.

Checking in during meeting/trial close: One, long, run on sentence. That’s what some wholesaler pitches sound like.

Determined to convey as much of their knowledge in the allotted time, they froth at the mouth with data – and in the process lose the advisor.

A key component of the interplay between wholesaler and advisor is the ability of the wholesaler to check in and trial close.

“That was a ton of information I shared, does it make sense?”

“Are you getting an idea of where this might work for your clients?”

“How is my solution measuring up to the solutions that you have been using?”

Three examples of ways you can be certain that you are landing your intended message/information and not simply dumping data.

Handling objections and curve balls: In a perfect world your advisor appointment would go according to plan.

But every appointment is subject to unforeseen objections and curve balls that can’t be predicted.

Your ability to deftly handle these potentially uncomfortable moments separate you from the wholesaler pack.

At the top of the list (and need we still say this?) is to never fabricate an answer.

The great wholesaler knows that there is more relationship capital to be earned by promising to uncover the correct answer, and getting back to the advisor, then there is concocting a half baked answer.

You need to know a hell of a lot to do this job well, and you don’t need to know everything.

Tee up your team [internal, scheduler, admin]: When the time comes for you to explain the who you are and what you do to the advisor, make it a point to introduce the players on your team.

This pre-positioning will allow you to:

• set up your internal as your territory co-pilot and allow them to do the job of handling advisor calls when you’re out on appointments
• let the advisor know that you have a scheduler on your team and to expect future calls from her/him when the time for the next meeting nears
• position the role of your admin (if applicable) in your practice

Great wholesalers have a well-oiled team and help advisors know how to leverage that team.

Articulate Your PVP-Peerless Value Proposition®: If you are only product and service you are not enough.

In order to stand out from the Sea of Sameness you need to have a recognizable brand that defines who you uniquely are.

Plus you need to figure out how to position your PVP in the mind of the advisor during the appointment.

The very best wholesalers manage the appointment in such a way that they get their complete product message across and allow the advisor to see the value of their Peerless Value Proposition.

Sell consultatively: If you are a wholesaler who:

• asks more and better questions
• helps position your products as tailored solutions versus one size fits most
• actively listens to the advisor
• provides industry/sector insights
• helps solve advisor issues/challenges

then you are selling consultatively.

Closing/move the sales process forward: Wholesaling is for closers (to paraphrase Blake).

Your job is to make sure the appointment ends on an ‘up-tick’ – with a plan in place that moves the sales process forward.

Conversely, too many appointments end with a dull ‘thud’, wherein you have no established path that suggests the advisor will produce any business.

Always be closing.

Effectively and efficiently follow up: Great wholesalers know that your job with that advisor doesn’t end when you shake hands and walk out of their office.

What will you do to stay in front of the advisor for the next 6-8 weeks until you see them again (because you did Forward Schedule, right?).

Putting in place a Systematized Follow-up Process allows you to know what is supposed to happen, when it’s supposed to happen, and who is responsible for making it happen.

Demonstrate gratitude for the business: The advisor owes us nothing.

As such, demonstrating sincere gratitude for the business should be second nature.

Yet we have had discussion with wholesalers who never make ‘thank you ‘ calls, never send thoughtful handwritten notes, and never intentionally look the advisor square in the eye and say, “I really appreciate the support and production you give to me and my firm. Thank you.”

This costs you nothing and has more value than so many tangible gifts you can bestow upon the advisor.

At Wholesaler Masterminds we assist wholesalers and their leaders by leveraging their strengths, and helping to address their weaknesses. Contact us for more information about coaching or live events.

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