While facilitating in a virtual classroom environment can be similar to delivering training in a live classroom, they are definitely two different “animals”. Even the most astute traditional facilitator needs to be aware of the latest technology tools and best practices available to create an engaging virtual learning environment.
The world has completely changed as it pertains to learning and development. Being up to speed on how to deliver the most effective virtual learning programs can differentiate your organization and ensure your financial professionals continue to receive the same top-shelf learning experiences.
Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail:
Reality Questions – Reality questions uncover the facts about the prospect’s existing situation. This can be data, facts, and figures. It can also be their beliefs, perceptions, values, and history. Reality questions are generally used at the beginning of the discovery process to gain background information and factual data. They help to identify relevant information about the prospect’s current reality, such as the planning they’ve already done in the areas of insurance, retirement, etc.
Pain / Gain Questions – Pain-Gain questions expose the prospect’s problems, difficulties, and dissatisfactions with their current situation. They also help to uncover the prospect’s goals, desires, wants, and/or unmet needs that represent potential gaps. Pain-gain questions explore areas the prospect may want to improve. This is the heart of the diagnosis during collaborative discovery. These questions are more powerful than reality questions and serve to lay a foundation for advancement. They help to clarify where a prospect’s actions are misaligned with their intentions.
Magnification Questions – With experience, average financial professionals eventually become very proficient at asking safe reality questions and a bit more confident in asking pain-gain questions. Quite often, an advisor is able to help prospects identify gaps in their current planning. However, the prospect still is not motivated to move forward because there is no sense of urgency. This is one of the single biggest frustrations for a financial professional. The key is learning how to use magnification questions to highlight the potential implications of the problem and create a sense of urgency within the prospect.
Magnification questions help to identify the consequences, effects, or implications of a prospect’s current financial situation. These questions help the financial professional develop clarity and strength of a potential client’s financial problems and the chain of ramifications that can result from those problems. Magnification questions also help to expand the prospect or client’s perception of value in solving the problem.
Sarah Sears
AVP, Product Innovation & Development, LIMRA’s Talent Solutions Group
Sarah is responsible for the strategic guidance of the development and management of products. In her role, she translates research insights into solutions that improve the effectiveness and productivity of sales professionals, leaders and employees in the financial services industry. Throughout her 14 years at LIMRA, she has developed engaging, innovative solutions that make industry research accessible and actionable. Sarah earned a BA in Anthropology and Sociology-based Human Relations from Connecticut College and an MBA from the UMass Isenberg School.