Most buyers want to do business with people they can trust: Being trustworthy is key to successful selling. Yet, most salespeople who work in the field of Financial Services have been deliberately and calculatedly misled by their employer- usually a Brokerage Company or an Insurance Company. Is it any wonder that only 3 out of 20 people who enter the field survive?

You are a victim of the financial services industry, if you've been told that:

* Plenty of people are making a lot of money in the business.

Truth: About 15% are making a decent living selling financial services, the rest are struggling.

* Most people really need your products and services.

Truth: Most people may need your products or services, but most don't want to buy them. Unfortunately, insurance companies don't teach you how to find the High Probability Prospects that do want to buy insurance now. Rather, they want most of their agents to beat the bushes for the low probability prospects - because they work on commission.

* You have to really want to help people in order to be successful.

Truth: Most people don't want your help.

* You need to become very knowledgeable about the technical aspects of financial services.

Truth: It *is* helpful to understand financial services products. It is much more important, however, to become skilled at Prospecting (a form of Marketing) and Selling.

* It's easier to learn how to sell than to learn financial planning.

Truth: The reverse is true. It's easy to find highly competent financial planners who will work on your cases very inexpensively - because they don't know how to sell.

Salespeople new to the Financial Services industry are usually victimized by some, or all, of these Myths. The result? They work hard, they work diligently - and they sell very little. The neophyte salesperson is blamed for not being persuasive enough, being too thin-skinned, being overly sensitive, or just being lazy.

How do the top salespeople in the Insurance and Brokerage industries survive? How do they succeed in earning six and seven-figure incomes, against the odds? The sales stars that we've studied know how to:

* Define target markets - those willing, and able, to buy from you

* Develop a viable prospecting list: A true prospect must meet defined criteria

* Maintain contact with prospects - without annoying them

* When to make appointments - and to avoid wasting time with 'low probability' prospects

* Make the 'numbers game' work to your advantage

* How to dramatically boost the probability of successfully closing a sale

When you stop being victimized by the Sales Myths perpetuated by your industry, and stop victimizing prospects by perpetuating those myths, you will enjoy real sales success. When you differentiate yourself from your competition, know how to open and maintain real dialogue with prospects, know how to develop mutual trust and respect, and focus your selling efforts only on viable (High Probability) prospects, you can enjoy considerable success. You don't have to work harder; you have to more competently!