Do you ever have trouble getting a prospect to take action, pull the trigger, and become a paying client? If you're like most of us, the answer is yes. Yet many advisors continue to believe that if they've got the gift of gab they can just wing it during meetings with prospects. No wonder their numbers are down! Remember, even the smoothest talker among us should have a clear script for converting prospects into clients.

The following is a step-by-step approach from the Sandler Sales Institute.

When beginning a relationship with a prospect, start with something like, "Hi! I'm ___________ with ___________. We help people like you to ___________." You fill in the blanks with your name, your company and, most important, the main benefit you provide to your clients. For example: "Hi! I'm John Smith with Acme Benefits. We help our clients in companies like yours to sleep well at night instead of worrying about their health care coverage." You want this introduction to be catchy or memorable in some way—the idea is to get people to want to know more.

The next step is to mention what you do—and what you don't do—to position yourself in the prospect's mind. So you might say, "I'm really a consultant, and my role is to help you make good choices for yourself about your situation. What I don't do is sell, promote, or recommend anything before I know exactly what's in your best interest."

The Sandler Sales Institute calls this step the Up Front Contract—you ask prospects for explicit permission to ask questions. Example: "I'd like to get 15 or 20 minutes of your time to ask you a few questions about where you're at currently, where you want to get to, and what might be getting in your way. Then we can decide if it makes sense to do something further together or not. Does that sound fair?" Let's look at the key strengths of this powerful sales statement:

"15 or 20 minutes." You're indicating this will be brief, that you respect the prospect's time and won't take up much of it. Prospects who have a real need will choose to extend this time frame.

"Then we can decide … to do something further together ..." This implies you and your prospects are going to collaborate—that you won't be begging or bullying them for their business.

"... or not." What prospects hear when you say this: "It's OK to say no." They can relax—you've given them an out if they need it. It also allows you to say no—this helps you screen out poor prospects.

"Does that sound fair?" No one has ever said no to this seemingly innocuous question. And when prospects say yes—congrats! You now have control of the sales process, because the person who's asking the questions is in control, not vice versa.

Proceed with a consultative interview, using a series of questions in a logical sequence to determine three things about your prospects.

Their pain, need, or gap. What's missing, what does the prospect need? Where is the prospect now? And where could she be with your product or service? What lies between the two scenarios?

Their budget. What kind of money has the prospect set aside to address any problems you uncover? And what would be the value of your product or service above and beyond her investment?

Their decision-making process. Who else besides the person in front of you is involved with moving forward? What's their time frame, and what would they need to hear (opens in a new window) to be convinced that working with you would be a great decision for themselves and their firm?

Your skilful use of questions in these three areas will be all you need to determine if you and your prospects are truly a good fit. I assign all of my producer clients to script these questions out and use them on every sales call—only amateurs wing it, and usually they end up checking the want ads for a new job in short order.

If there is a good fit, Brian Tracy suggests you tell your prospects the exact steps she will need to go through to become an active client. Simply say, "If this sounds interesting to you, the way it works is ___________," and then shut up!

The prospect will either agree to proceed to the next step (which might entail a proposal or presentation), or will present an objection. If there is an objection, go back to the interview to determine what her real concerns are. Redefine these in terms of their "conditions of satisfaction"—what they must get from you in order to feel comfortable moving forward. Then restate the steps for becoming a client, then silence.

By the way, do remember: if another meeting is required, you must set a firm appointment—date, time, and agenda—even if by phone, to keep the process moving. No next-step appointment? No sale is likely.

You may think this is out of place here, but you must refrain from doing a proposal or presentation for your product or service until prospects have answered your interview questions satisfactorily. The key concept of this entire strategy is not to do dog and pony shows, but instead to qualify prospects first through questions and get their commitment before you deliver your proposal or presentation.

If you doubt the veracity of that idea, consider this analogy from Tracy: A doctor who would prescribe a treatment plan for a patient before doing a thorough examination and diagnosis is engaging in malpractice. Why should it be any different for you and your prospects?