Good Questions for Selling Retirement Savings Plans

Have you contributed yet?

It’s RSP season again and for some reason, this is when sales people start to get lazy. They know they should be getting a client to acknowledge a problem first before they present a solution (i.e. a product) but for some reason, when it comes to selling RSP’s at this time of year they resort back to a money grab by just asking if they have contributed yet. Oh, I know that is not their intention, but by just asking someone if they have contributed yet, that’s essentially what they are doing. They are hoping the client responds with “no I haven’t but I’d like to right now – here’s my money!"

Fat chance.

Why would someone want to contribute to their RSP? People by solutions to problems, not products so what’s the problem they are solving? They either want to pay less in taxes or they want the sense of security or confidence to know they will be able to retire with enough money to do what they want. So what’s your objective then? Get the client to acknowledge that their current plan is not working well. Have them associate with the pain of not being prepared for the inevitable.

Here are some of the best questions we have heard people ask to get the RSP conversation going:
Sales: How are you?
Client: good, how are you?
Sales: Good – it’s been busy. A lot of clients coming in to discuss their retirement plans and get an update on how they are doing. How are you feeling about your retirement plan by the way?

Sales: What do you think about our displays? (assuming the branch has some marketing or decorations of course)
Client: they are ok – what’s going on anyway?
Sales: Well it’s RSP season and we’re just reminding people about the importance of having a solid retirement plan in place. How are you feeling about your retirement plan by the way?

Others:

    Where are you at with your retirement plan?
    Will you have enough to retire when you want to do what you want?
    How do you find your investments have performed over the past year?
    Tax time again eh? How’s your return looking this year – will you be getting a nice refund?

Transitions

The important thing to remember once you have a client acknowledge that they are not thrilled with their current situation is to not try to sell them right away. Your goal at that point is simply to suggest you can help them and get their permission that they would like to go to the next step in the process. That normally would be a more comprehensive interview where you (or whomever you refer to) can ask more questions, determine the best product for them, present it and ask for the sale. Some examples of good questions to ask to transition to that next step:

    If we thought we might be able to help you feel a little more confident in your returns would you be open to meeting with someone just to explore your options?
    I might have a few ideas on how we can help you reach your retirement goals, do you have a few minutes to discuss those now?
    Do you have time to meet with one of our investment specialists to discuss ways that you can feel more assured you’ll have enough money to retire and do what you want, when you want to?
    We have lots of ideas on how we might be able to get you a better income tax refund this year, do you have time to discuss those now?

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