Over the past weekend I was able to interview my grandfather about the financial planning and investing business that he used to own. Most of what he did included helping people better budget their money, helping people with various investments, giving people different ideas on how to use their money more efficiently/wisely. He also did sessions with clients where he would analyze how exactly that individual or company was spending their money and then try and point our better options for what they could do with their funds in different areas. The reason my grandfather started this business was because after he moved from New Jersey to New York, where he did not yet have a job, and he wanted to stay working as a financial planner. With lots of financial planning experience under his belt he decided to start up his own financial planning office.
Starting from scratch my grandfather had to build a clientele somehow. He said he did this by doing things like putting ads in the newspaper, doing radio commercials, writing letters to potentially interested clients, holding seminars, and going to various business expos. He said that the radio commercials seemed to best attract customers at first. He would right these commercials himself and then he would have to get approved by the station. After commercials were approved the station liked my grandfathers voice so much that they had him voice them himself! From this point on, according to my grandfather, word of mouth by happy customers was what helped his clientele to grow.
Something that best helped my grandfather sell his business to clients, he said, was simply listening to what their problems were. After finding the problem my grandfather could then give people recommendations on what would best help them. This caused people to truly trust the process because they knew that my grandfather cared and knew what he was talking about.
The last question I asked my grandfather was, “What is your advice to those who are interested in starting their own business in the future?” He said one of the most important things is to be sure you know what you are getting into, and to know for sure that you want to do it. If the passion is not there your business will most likely fail. He said that it is by no means an easy endeavor, so you must be prepared. Furthermore, he brought up the statistic that within 18 to 24 months most new businesses will close, so once again you must be sure that you have a passion to start this journey. Finally, he said be sure to use the resources you have at hand, for example others you know who are successful business owners. He said if you heed their advice it will be helpful to you and could lead to more success in your business venture for the future.
BoweryJE22
Your grandpa sounds like a great guy! I like the part about trust, because if you, as a company, can instill trust in your clients they will be willing to spread the word and bring others to you.
Seems like honesty is the best policy in any sales position. Your grandfather is very wise in advising entrepreneurs to be passionate as well, something that certainly should be incorporated in a personal sales setting.
Thank you for sharing your story! Sales requires relating to people on a deep level, and your experience is a testimony of that.
I think it is so cool that you were able to grab this wisdom from your grandfather to share with us! It is really encouraging to see that even someone who has experience in the traditional sales world understands that just listening to his customers is the best thing to do. Also, thank you for asking him what advice he would give to us as young entrepreneurs and business people – we all need to remember to find something we are passionate about and go for it!
What a great opportunity for you to chat with your grandfather and gain from his wisdom! I think his point about happy customers selling for you once you get started is important. Customer success is a new trend that has so much weight in the selling process. Keeping customers happy will guarantee their good word to others and their continued business.