If you read the sales books, you've learned about Consultative Selling. Some people call it Question-based Selling. You'll find several approaches to it, and some of them even give you good advice. However, there is one huge gaping hole in all of them. It is a flaw that is so immense and so significant that if you over-look it, you will certainly fall right into it and fail. And, that's not all – very few people know how to fill this hole! Let's look at how it plays out in the real lives of financial professionals:

Scenario 1. You sit down with the Tuttle family and say, "Let's get right to it." Then, you start asking probing questions. How is Mr. Tuttle likely to respond to you? Is he going to say, "Thank heaven! Someone is finally asking me probing questions!" No. He's probably going to see you as moving too fast, too far, and getting pushy. Your goose is now cooked.

Scenario 2. You ask Mr. Tuttle an open-ended question and he begins to give you a long and winding answer. As is your habit, you begin to formulate your next question and line up your recommendations. In other words, you stopped listening to Tuttle's answer. Your goose is now cooked.