Is your sales desperation driving clients away?

Confidence is attractive. Those who exude inner confidence come across as bolder, more resilient, magnetic and authentic. They pull others in. Desperation, on the other hand, stinks and pushes people away.

Our sense of confidence waxes and wanes, but we need to do everything we can to maintain it at a consistently high level. We must stop ourselves from falling into the depths of desperation.

Losing a client 

“We appreciate everything you have done for us over the years, but we have decided to go in a different direction.”

Nobody wants that message in their inbox or on the other end of a phone call.

Think about the rash promises you made the last time you tried to save a client. It wasn’t your finest moment, was it? Your desperation only validated their decision. They were left asking,

“Where was this effort all along?”

You will eventually lose every client you have. As much as you think you own relationships, you are only renting them.

Being fired by a client throws you into desperation; you suddenly question your value and you panic because you’re not sure how you will replace them.

Avoiding the value trap 

Avoiding self-doubt starts with taking an inventory. Go through your list of clients and ask yourself, “Am I delivering the results they want and need? Are we giving them our best?”

Clients deserve your best effort every day, not just as a last-ditch effort.

Even when you give them your best effort, you’ll still lose clients; however, it should never be because you performed to any standard less than your best.

Expand their expectations to include all the problems you can help solve: compliance, ben admin, communication, etc. Set specific goals and identify action items to address the problems. Make this a part of your progress reports with the client.

Use the action items in place to drive that improvement, and then track the progress. This will result in them being much less likely to engage in conversations with your competition.

Avoiding the pipeline trap 

The “pipeline roller coaster” is unavoidable, but you need to smooth out the high highs and low lows.

When your pipeline is dry, you carry an air of desperation in everything you do. You chase the wrong opportunities, squeeze the few you have too tightly, and cede control of conversations to the buyer.

Your desperation starts to stink up conversations with current clients.

Read more: Where benefits advisors have closed deals

Determine what a healthy pipeline looks like and commit to maintaining that level. Commit uninterrupted time on your calendar every week to keep your confidence high.

There will still be bad days 

Losing a client should always make for a bad day. If it doesn’t, shame on you for not firing them sooner. However, losing a client should never turn into a bad week, month, or quarter. If it does, shame on you for not not having a healthier pipeline.