The "Preparation for the New Year" worksheets of the Chart Your Course to Success & Business Records are an excellent resource to use to take personal stock in your work habits, skills, and characteristics. Once you have isolated the skills you want to improve, develop a schedule of activities that will give you the expertise you're seeking. Many successful seasoned advisers have used the what, how, when approach to do this. You identify exactly what you want to do, how you plan to do it, and when you plan to get it done. For example, let's assume you want to improve your fact-finding technique.

What (Objective)
To be able to gather more meaningful information about the intangibles that influence a prospect's decision to buy.

How
Use an approved, preprinted fact-finder and develop open-ended, probing questions that successfully get prospects to discuss their risk profile as well as their personal and business objectives.

When
I will study the ON-Trac II "Conducting Win/Win Meetings (Unit IV), my preferred selling system materials, and some of my past completed fact-finders. On each of the next three Friday afternoons, I will meet with _____ and role-play my techniques.

Working with your skills inventory and improvement program may pay dividends instantly. Once improvements have set in, you will notice a drop in the activity per sale associated with the skill or skills you have improved — proof positive that you are working smarter.

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Ohio National is not affiliated with, nor does it endorse or sponsor, any particular prospecting, marketing or selling system.

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