7 Minutes to Better Selling Podcast Ep. 25

Thank you

Hey, welcome everybody to the 7 Minutes to Better Selling podcast

We have an awfully, awfully interesting guest joining us in just a second here

But for those of you who are new to the show, I am your host, Colin Lake

I'm also the president and founder of Developing the Next Leaders. Developing the Next Leaders is this wonderful firm that is focused on helping sales individuals

helping sales teams, and sales organizations love what they do in the art of selling

And it's a lot easier to love something when you're not only doing it well, but you're doing it exceedingly well

And that's exactly what Developing the Next Leaders helps individuals, teams, and organizations do

So from a logistics perspective, although we say we're the seven minutes of better selling

podcast, the live conversations last anywhere between like seven to 12 minutes or so

So just so you know, that's probably what we're in for here today, somewhere closer to that 10

minute mark. And afterward, we go back to the drawing board, edit it, get it down to seven

minutes and put those pearls of wisdom out for the whole world to see. So without further ado

I'm going to welcome our guest, Christopher Fu, on the call or on the podcast

So Chris, welcome. Thanks for joining us. Hey, thanks, Colin. Thank you for having me so much

Really appreciate it. Really honored to be here. Yes, well, we're honored to have you

So Chris, you are a wealth advisor who has done amazing things for a large number of individuals

business owners, and so many other people as a wealth advisor. You also have an extraordinarily successful podcast

So my question, which I'm sure is a question of all the people listening right now, is how do you get to like where you were eight years ago or 10 years ago to where you are today in this in this wonderful position leading so many

Yeah, I mean, that's that's one of the questions I love getting asked. You know, I've been doing as a wealth advisor for the last 15 years, and I always like to think that this job, this role actually chose me

And I say that only because, you know, in my younger years, you know, right out of college, I was bad with money

You know, I didn't understand the value of money, didn't balance my checkbook, would overdraft constantly

Right. And so it's just ironic in what I do now in helping people manage their wealth

And I think it was that experience early on and obviously having great parents teach me, you know, the value of why I need to stay on budget

why I need to keep those things in check so that I can have good credit and build up, you know, the future that I wanted

And so I really feel that it chose me in that sense because it really taught me early life lesson as far as how important finances is and to pay attention to it

So taking that into the role of being a financial advisor you know at first going into the industry didn know much about what the industry was about I got in at a time where most people might think was the worst time to get in But in hindsight looking back I say it one of the best times that I could possibly get in

which was right before the Great Recession in 07. You know, and that really taught me a lot from a standpoint of what wealth really means to people

especially when you see your wealth declining at rapid values. and really had to adapt on how can I be the advisor for people during these times, you know

because I think it's during these times when we really earn our money for our clients

when we can walk them through and guide them through and make them feel secure in the choices

that we've made together and the choices that they've made up until that point

So let me ask you this. Yeah. So let's say it's 2009

We're like in like the real thick of things. You know, the recession's getting worse

Mark had seen things happening that it has never seen since the Great Depression

You're starting this business. How successful were you at connecting with prospective clients and helping them see the value in what you do

You know, I think for me, the biggest strength that I pride myself on is the patience that I have with people. And, you know, I really enjoy connecting with people and just having meaningful conversations

And I would say that's one of the things that has helped me continue to do well in this career is the ability to connect with people and put myself in their shoes

Because right now, this entire year, it's been a stressful year for investors, but it's been stressful for me as an advisor because I think about my clients

I think about what type of emotions they may be going through right now as their portfolios are going down

um and so just trying to make sure that I stay on top of connecting with them making sure that

we're updating their financial plans so that they can continue to feel you know safe and secure

um in all the things that they want to accomplish in the future so I would say that it's it's really

that it's just being patient and and taking the time with people and really getting an understanding

of where they're coming from because as as a financial expert right i i know the things that

we should be doing but for majority of individuals they don't they rely on us so i think we we tend to

maybe you know use our knowledge a little too much sometimes or we need to bring it back and

make things a little bit more relatable for them and make things more understandable for them yeah

Yeah. So I love that answer for two reasons. One is the obvious. I'm patient enough

which shows that I care about the people. So that's a wonderful message that we can all take

with us as it relates to working with our clients. If we truly care about them

that is going to come across just about no matter who you are. And then the second thing is the

patient says, you probably offered and consistently offered lots of questions and platforms for

discussion. Because again, that's what patients in a sales conversation would say to me. And that

of course, is near and dear to our heart on the 7 Minutes of Better Selling podcast is if you're

asking really good questions, you tend to learn the ways that you can actually add value to the

client. Yeah, yeah, 100% agree. And just like you said, I think it also boils down to the questions

that you ask, right? Because that's very important. I mean, if we ask them, you know, how much money

do you think you need to retire I think no one knows that answer But I think it more as far as helping them envision kind of some of the things that they want to accomplish in retirement right What kind of lifestyle what is their purpose what is their why for taking these certain amounts of risk And I think if we can really understand that of our clients

then it allows us to be at their level when it comes to their mindset so that we can make

again, recommendations that are in their best interest. You know, I'll give you one that I heard from a wealth advisor, which I'd love your reaction to it and then to see how you would potentially use it

So a lot of wealth advisors these days are asking questions like, does the volatility in the market impact the way that you invest

and that's a yes or no question. And what we coach those folks to say differently is

how does the volatility impact the way that you think about investing? Just simply putting how

in front of that changes that question like dramatically. And so I'd be interested in your

reaction to that. Yeah. I mean, I a hundred percent agree. You know, I feel like if I were

to ask someone that question, you know, does the volatility impact, you know, you, I would say

probably 10 times out of 10, right? Most people would say, yes, it does. And right off the bat

it might just start off a negative conversation in a way where they might be apprehensive

right? As far as your advice is staying invested. But changing that wording a bit

where it's more of an open-ended question, right? How does this volatility make you feel? Or how

confident now do you feel with what we've been going through, right? It opens up the door for

a lot more other questions that you can really dig deeper because it's more than just volatility

at the end of the day. It's more so how confident do you feel that you'll still be able to either

reach your retirement goals or continue to stay retired or whatever financial goals you may have

And that's really where the bottom line I try to get down to is that confidence level. And if they

don't feel confident enough, well, then what type of recommendations or adjustments can we make

so that I can bring that confidence level up a bit higher from where they were

Because at the end of the day, my job, I feel, is to minimize the stress for my clients as much as I can within my ability to do so

Yeah. Okay, so maybe just wrapping up the thought, because one of the questions I love to ask is

what do you see as the biggest opportunity for salespeople in today's world

I believe what you're saying is the answer to the question. Be patient, ask questions, care about people

You know, am I picking up what you're putting down? Yeah, I mean, essentially, that's really what it is

Because I think it's also because, you know, we live in a world today where we all know this, where information is easily, honestly, at our fingertips, quite literally, right

On our phones, through social media, YouTube, podcasts, everything. There's a lot of information

And I think it's oftentimes very difficult for people to really decide or, you know, figure out what's good information for them that can be applicable in their life

So I think, you know, looking ahead and how to be successful as a salesperson in any, you know, job, I think it comes down to, like you said, patience, but really caring about your clients

And I also want to say is honesty and vulnerability. You know, and what I mean by that is not being afraid to, you know, tell someone if, if maybe

a particular recommendation or investment is not right for them, even though maybe they

may think oh my my friends and I reading on social media that this is a great investment You know it going to hopefully give me a lot of money but based off of your ysis and conversations from what you gather I think you

have to be able to let them know at some times you know that's not something that I would recommend

for you and these are the reasons why so I think that's the other half of it is is knowing when

you know you might need to turn that sale down because it's not in the best interest for the

clients and move them or recommend them in another direction that you know is going to be there in

their best interest rather than getting a sale. Because I think at the end of the day, that's

going to propel you farther in your career than just getting those sales, you know, for numbers

sake. Boy, it's no wonder like you've had the success you've had. I'm going to like, this is

me distilling what I've heard. Patience, that isn't really me distilling. You said that. The

other word I hear like coming out is integrity and not just in what you just said there, but overall

like I'm not going to give you something just because it can make me a lot of money. It's not consistent with, you know, the overall success of your plan. And that is, those two things are

really hard to find in the sales world in particular, in the wealth advisor world today

Yeah. I'm, you know, and I think that's what people really want, you know, to, to be honest

is the honesty. Because again, we, we have so much going on in the world that I think people

yearn for that vulnerability, that honesty out of everyone. You know, I, that's why I love

connecting with people on an individual level, because once I can make that connection, I can

sense that honesty, you know, from them. And that's where the relationship becomes deeper. But if

if I don't sense that honesty, then, then I don't feel like it's worth a relationship

continuing to pursue. So I think being, again, honest with yourself and honest with your clients

and being truthful and just honestly looking out on their best interests, that's going to get you farther in your career than anything else

That's my personal belief. Okay, so two final thoughts and both of them are wrap-up thoughts

One is give us like maybe 30 seconds on your podcast so people can find your podcast

and then tell our listeners where to find you. If they're looking for help with their in particular wealth advisement or wealth management

how would how would they find you so first tell us about you know a little brief overview on the

podcast and then get us into how to find you and then we'll wrap up the call sure sure yeah so my

podcast is called a succession uh spelled s-u-c-c-e-t-i-o-n um and i did that with a purpose uh

success plus connection you know the premise around it is really to have guests and inspiring

guests like how you're doing calling and really passing along valuable information to the listeners

to really find and have passion around what they do and have the belief system in themselves to

really go find and want more out of life. So that's the goal behind it. So I interview a lot

of different business owners, successful individuals, sharing their life stories. And then as far as my wealth practice, my firm is called Maven Bridge Capital. We're based out

of Orange County, California. And you can find us on mavenbridgecapital.com. We're on all social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn

and as well as a podcast succession, it's all on Spotify, YouTube

Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, all the major ones. Yeah, that's great. That's great

And then we'll put this out on our YouTube. When we post this out, you'll see your links will be on there

so our folks will know how to listen in for your podcast because I'm certainly an avid listener

Chris, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you all for spending time with us

and good selling, everyone. Thank you