Growing up, I was a pessimist. I don’t why, but I let any little thing get to me and I realized that being negative, scares people away.
That’s why I recommend when dealing with potential clients, don’t harp on the negative that you see with the plan. Always come from a positive view and how your services could go a long way in improving their plan. Plan decisionmakers have egos and no one wants it rubbed in their face that made poor decisions even it was clear that they made poor decisions.
Years ago, a certain third-party administrator (TPA) was going through a very public crisis and every other advisor and TPA out there were making phone calls to this TPA’s clients and al;l they did was sprouting negativity about this TPA. I can’t imagine that these providers got many clients that way because selling is all about what you can do for the client, not how badly the current plan provider is doing. You need to differentiate yourself from the incumbent provider, but it has to come from a positive standpoint.
