Knowledge
Trustworthy Selling is so much more than a sales effectiveness program. It is a dynamic, evolving, immersive experience designed for the modern learner that bridges the gap between needed foundation, retention and the human connection. LIMRA and the Hoopis Performance Network collaborated to create this program specifically for the financial services space.
Every module is steeped in financial services consumer research, so participants understand the need for behavior change and why certain best practices work better than others. In addition, Trustworthy Selling incorporates insights like behavioral economics techniques, buyer & seller psychology and more.Trustworthy Selling teaches us to sell by listening, to advocate rather than pressure, to collaborate and foster for the long term. It gives participants the knowledge and tools to grow from within and the confidence to build enduring relationships. It is built from the voices of the industry.
Empowerment
We recognize that today’s changing dynamics demand more dynamic solutions – challenging to build, and even more challenging to evolve in-step with your market and consumer demands. Organizations no longer need to focus on developing their own solutions because we’ve listened, we’ve learned, and we’ve built the program that answers your needs. Change is constant and Trustworthy Selling stays ahead of the curve with its learning design and systems. The Trustworthy Selling Curriculum is built around the learn – demonstrate – apply philosophy.
Every concept introduced in the program is driven home through adult learning activities embedded in the program. Whether in-person or virtual classroom delivery, participants have the opportunity to try out techniques, role-play language and dialogue with their peers about their business challenges. These learning components drive variety, engagement and a thorough learning experience for the modern learner. The curriculum culminates in a Capstone experience allowing participants to demonstrate mastery of the Trustworthy Selling language and techniques.
Our micro-learning digital content is comprised of three types of videos that provide the “Learn”.
Context Videos: Provide the reason for behavior change and incorporate research and statistics to magnify the issue. They highlight “the why behind the what.”
Application Videos: Provide the skill demonstrations, techniques and best practices related to the context videos.
Language Demonstration Videos: Show the language and techniques taught in the curriculum applied in the field through practical application.
In terms of application or the “Apply” step, the Trustworthy Selling curriculum includes individual and group coaching sessions. These structured sessions are fully detailed for facilitators, coaches and participants in the guides. Through these sessions, participants get a chance to try out new concepts, language and techniques in the real world and report back their results. Coaches are given a list of Assignments or Recommended Action Steps as well as an outline of skills that are to be demonstrated by the participant in each coaching session.
The chassis that the entire curriculum rides on is the Trustworthy Selling website. There, students, facilitators and coaches can find all the resources they need organized by module and segment. Facilitators and coaches can assign specific content and monitor usage. The mobile responsive design allows participants to view content on their smart device while in the field for just-in-time refreshers.
The Trustworthy Selling learning design is adaptive and forward thinking, catalyzing change. Find out how you can empower your field force today with Trustworthy Selling’s learning design.
Transformation
Since its inception, Trustworthy Selling has centered on the premise that “selling is serving”. From our point of view, the industry move to a best-interest standard is a no-brainer. In order to motivate effectively, financial representatives truly need to be on the same side of the table as their prospects and clients and function at all times in their best interest.
This means taking them through a process grounded in a deep understanding of the prospect’s unique situation and educating them on how the products and services of our industry are designed to help them meet their goals. It means taking them through a process that uses simple language to explain complex products to ensure the prospect agrees that the solution being recommended fits their best interest. It means taking them through a process that is transparent and builds trust – motivating the prospect to take action.
As your organization evaluates how you can better serve your clients’ best interests, know that Trustworthy Selling provides a proven process to do just that. For trustworthy financial professionals, The PROCESS is the Product!
The Core Concepts of Trustworthy Selling include Behavioral Economics, Four Facets of Trust and Six Emotional Drivers. These serve as the foundation for better understanding today’s financial consumer.
Behavioral Economics: A body of research that aims to understand how consumers think and make decisions about money. Historically, financial professionals have tried to go down a very rational path with consumers, when in fact they’re usually not thinking very rationally at all. Understanding how financial purchases are different than other kinds of purchases help financial professionals overcome the unconscious mental hurdles in their prospects that are just a natural part of being human.
Four Facets of Trust: LIMRA research uncovered four major components of trust: Benevolence, Integrity, Dependability, and Competence. Financial professionals that can position themselves, their process and their recommendations using these facets, develop deep trust and long-lasting relationships with their prospects and clients.
Six Emotional Drivers: There are six drivers of all human motivation. This means that people strive to satisfy six key needs in their lives. Understanding these motivators help financial professionals position solutions to satisfy emotional needs.
Success
Ten years ago, we imagined a program that would really make a difference in the industry and that would drive real sustainable growth for our companies. We believed that the combination of art and science would be the equation for success. Today, we know it is the equation for success.
Since 2011, we’ve measured the before and after impact of Trustworthy Selling:
- In more than two dozen companies
- In every distribution channel (career, independent, hybrid)
- In the US and Canada
- In life, multi-line, and investment space
- And across the season
With whatever measure we evaluate, companies that adopt Trustworthy Selling experience on average 20% lift from participants.
We assess Trustworthy Selling on four levels of evaluation:
Level 1: Participant and facilitator feedback surveys
This kind of evaluation measures how people liked the training on an emotional level and its value as an investment of time.
Result: 93% of participants say it’s a valuable use of their time.
Level 2: In-program learning
This evaluation looks at skill improvement and how much participants learn from the training.
Result: Every tactical module includes role plays and observer forms that facilitators use to assess skill transfer. Knowledge checks and a final exam check for understanding of key program concepts throughout the program.
Level 3: Behavior change surveys
This evaluation happens 30-days post program. We ask participants to reflect on their adoption of the skills from the program.
Result: Of the 50 skills presented in Trustworthy Selling, 36 are actively in use by participants post-program. The mix of skills activated differs by length of service, telling us that there is something for everyone in the program.
Level 4: Productivity results
This evaluation takes a look at key metrics for organizations – premium, policy count, new clients, etc. We compare pre-program productivity with post-program in the same agency and across attendees vs. non-attendees.
Result: We have completed dozens of these studies tracking whatever metric is most important to the individual company. Most experience double-digit lifts in whatever measure we evaluate.
No other training program can offer this kind of ROI analysis and it’s what allows us the ability to stand by our claims of proven results.