News

MDRT Virtual Event Day 3: The times they are a-changing

By Sharon Zhong | 10 Jun 2021

Video edited by Azri Bahari

On the last day of MDRT Annual Meeting virtual event, the focus was focus on change. With the world constantly evolving, we too should adapt and make the effort to change. Even a little step to change can offer an alternate perspective.

Remember, “Change is the only constant thing in the world.”- Heraclitus, Greek philosopher, 500 BC

Change your words, change your world

“Accepting that change is at best uncomfortable is important insight when we hold the responsibility of helping others navigate change,” said Phil Jones as he shared how agents and advisers responsible to help people navigate the complex areas of their life. Whether that change is where their client’s money is currently invested or changing what they see as a risk in their life.

“Change is inevitable. So, thinking about how to navigate change, the only thing we can control is not the change itself is how we respond to will react to that change.”

Mr Jones shared how shifting our thinking with using the right words at the right time impacts our ability to achieve the right results.

He shared three critical ingredients that need to go into every complex conversation that will help you understand how to influence anybody:

Curiosity – Being too certain of themselves or their point of view creates uncertainty in the other person. So, show up with curiosity and it will help you understand your customer’s context. Always start a conversation by understanding the context first.
Empathy – Mr Jones quoted a friend, Jon Acuff, whom he described empathy as to care about what the people you care about care about. If you read back your emails to your clients from their perspective, are you able to feel like you’re being cared for?
Courage – Have the courage to ask. “If you do not ask, you do not get or you do not know.” Your ability to ask others for information or ask for business will help you achieve your goal. “Because asking leads to action. Action becomes results.”

The person who is asking the questions is in control of the conversation. “Be the person who's asking the questions, curious questions and pathetic questions, courageous questions. The cycle goes on and this is what differentiates the best from the rest.”

Using a qualitative approach to review your business

While it is important to track the number of people you have met, number of cases closed and the amount of revenue you have brought in, Nadia Wijatno warns that focusing on just quantity isn’t enough. The qualitative side of the business is equally important, and it will help propel your business to the next level.

Change your perspective and review your activity. These questions that you can ask yourself will help you narrow down characteristics of your ideal client:

Are you meeting the right people? Who are the right people?
Do you like them? Do they like you?
Do they share common values?
Do they give you repeat business?
Are they your ideal clients?

When reviewing a closed case, don’t just look at case size. Check in with your client for feedback and ask about what they liked about the process or what they didn’t like. From there, focus on what the client values as important to provide a better experience and satisfaction.

When reviewing a case you lost, pause and think about what could have been done better. Was it something you said? Did not listen clearly or enough? Or were you asking the wrong questions and how to ask the right questions?

Lastly, change your perspective:

What you usually ask	How you should reframe your perspective
Who can I close today?	Who can I help today instead?
Who can I get a referral from today?	Who can I care more for today?
How much sales target do I need to do today?	Whose lives can I impact today?

“I believe asking yourself these qualitative questions will not only help to improve your productivity, but they will also create better client relationships and help improve your satisfaction in the business.”

From extraordinary to excellence

On a mission help others grow and connect, Tomas Ohannessian shared four core values that he has observed from Top of the Table members that ensured their excellence:

Habit – Habits can make or break you. “Super performers are amazing at time management. They do not procrastinate. They have systems and processes in place and above all, they are master delegators.”
Attitude – On top of being happy, confident and motivated, top producers are inspired and that inspiration comes from within, from the mission and vision of the business and life.
Confidence – Top producers are confident because they’re in niche market.
Enthusiasm – Top producers bounce back like a spring whenever they encounter a setback. “They dust themselves off and they move forward.”

The ABCs of building an MDRT client base

Yeoh Cheng Huann shared an increase in referrals begins with expanding your client base and building more meaningful relationships with them.

Explaining how the interlinked system of the A, B and C works, Mr Yeoh said it is important to get each component right to have maximum positive effect in your business. “Acquiring adds names or database. Branding filters the database. Cultivating the right fit clients, helps in acquiring more right-fit contacts.”

Acquiring– The three modes of acquiring are: Hunter, to actively seek out prospects you want. Fisherman, use the attraction game by putting out relevant content where your desired prospects are (i.e. the bait) and wait for the connection to happen. Farmer, essentially growing the relationship with our current prospects, giving the right environmental gain, the trust and confidence is the objective of subsequently having a business relationship.
Branding – Describe your right-fit client, determine what they need or interested in and where would you find them? And lastly, why would they want to work with you?
Cultivating – Split contact leads into four groups, and the group number indicates the frequency of contact. Group one consists of people who are COI (centre of influence) or prospects who are considering proposals. This group should be kept hot hence the high frequency of contact.

To switch contacts from group to group is a challenge, and Mr Yeoh shared that shifting of groups trigger is a combination of both the depth of the relationship and the proximity of business

Branding yourself in the new economy

“In a world where offline is no longer possible, the consumer has to go purely digital.”
John Henry shared how to create more opportunities for yourself by building your own brand identity. By focusing on community and driving value to that community, you can unlock unlimited potential upside.

The offline and online worlds work differently. In the offline world, when one is physically present with the goods, one experience physical temptations. You get to touch, smell and play with the product before purchasing. In the online world, these temptations do not exist. Brands have to build trust and rely on people to trust their brand when they shop online.

“We're in an online world and in an online world, there are only five rooms – Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Clubhouse/or WeChat if it’s China,” he said. So, focus your efforts to produce content for these five rooms.

Mr Henry shared that content you produce should share more about who you are and what you do. "If you go to a party and you don't say anything. People will have a hard time developing an opinion about you," he said

“The key to developing your brand is when people start seeing your face and becoming familiar with your offerings, they become trusting of what you do.” Once they understand what you have to offer, the trust starts building up, and that is how you start building a brand.

“In an online world, customers and consumers are only gravitating towards brands that they know and trust. And in a world where there's a lot of frequency of information, the only way you can build trust is through appearing frequently on these five channels.”