Making Decisions versus Choices

Hello Leaders!

I was reading Shane Parrish’s book Clear Thinking a couple months ago and one of the concepts he discussed got me thinking about our planning and sales process. It was the idea of making a decision versus making a choice. (My book notes are at the end of this message)

Decision: Commitment to a specific course of action, linked to behavior, performance, and consequences.

Choice: The act of selecting among available options.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant with a multi-page menu and felt stressed/overwhelmed? Trying to choose between the fish, pasta, and steak…I’ll enjoy the steak, but later will question whether I would have been more satisfied with the pasta, or should have eaten more healthy with the fish… The paradox of choice lasts well after the choice is made! These choices can become easier and more definitive if I make a decision before ever going to the restaurant of whether I prefer to go for taste (steak), comfort (pasta), or a more healthy alternative (fish). Once the decision is made, the options narrow significantly, and I can have the confidence my choice will be more enjoyable and satisfying…after all, no one second-guesses a ribeye over a filet, right!

In our business, beliefs and values drive decisions, and once we have a decision, choices can more easily be made to determine the best path forward. Choices are about options; decisions are about commitment to an action. Mastering this is the heart of the Art of Sales.

The workshops we facilitate at FPP to help advisors learn this art are second to none. We help your advisors learn to effectively navigate the connection points from the fact-finder to the PX to the recommendations that move prospects closer to financial security. Even more impactful than helping them craft effective language, learning the thought process will be game changing in multiple areas of their practices and lives!

Thoughtful and directed questions in the fact-finder will help a prospect create clarity around their beliefs and values. Their beliefs and values are the anchor (FPP #6) for their decision-making. The PX then illustrates whether their current actions match their beliefs and values. From this, you are now able to provide recommendations and alternatives from which they can make an educated choice on how to move forward. Great advisors help people match their actions to their values!

For example:

• If we can help a prospect identify with the belief that “Everything you want in life is 100% dependent on your ability to earn an income and the decisions you make with that income” (FPP #17) then, as a result,
• When we go through the Understanding your Earning Potential and Cash Flow overview pages in the PX (FPP # 13) in an effort to match their actions with their values, we can help them decide that both protecting their income, and balancing their goal and discretionary spending dollars is critical to their ongoing financial security. Then, as a result,
• Instead of choosing whether or not to protect their income, they can choose the balance of term and permanent life insurance, whether to use a level or ARDI structure on their DI, and how much additional they need to contribute to their emergency fund and/or retirement plan.

Let’s find time this summer to make this come alive for your advisors and interns!

Sample Agenda Idea

• Morning with your interns and young advisors with an interactive workshop on the Art of Sales in NM’s planning process.
  • The primary goal is to drive your advisors' skills, confidence, and success. A close secondary goal is, because of the excellent development you provide, to drive their affinity to NM and your office, and drive intern conversions to full-time advisors.
• Afternoon with your GDDs and any others in your office who are working on becoming better leaders (FPP #18). Building their skills and providing tools (FPP #5) that will continue developing their confidence as leaders and maximizing their impact on those they mentor.

Let’s have a conversation about structuring an agenda that would make sense for your needs! If you’d like references to offices where we have done these workshops, let me know and I’ll be happy to provide them.

Read my notes on Clear Thinking (FPP Library)

I will guarantee the impact ~

Think Differently,

Steve