Closer Look at CAPS

Closer Look at CAPS™

Communication Awareness & Persuasion Skills-CAPS™ helps Advisors ethically guide conversations to attract, serve and keep more ideal clients. Your advisors and their clients benefit because they will achieve more of the results they want. You benefit because your organization will experience better retention and the improved productivity you expect.

Live Workshop

The CAPS™ Workshop helps you develop and sharpen your ethical persuasions skills to improve your ratio of buyers - to interviews held. It increases the average revenue per sale. You get more repeat orders, referrals and introductions to new prospects. Earn more potential bonuses and commissions you deserve without adding to your workload.

The CAPS™ model is proven to help advisors skillfully guide conversations because you learn how to consistently respond in a way that respects what the prospect is communicating instead of relying on rote memorization. This makes CAPS™ Skills useful in every client conversation and in every personal conversation where the outcome is important.

Live CAPS™ Workshops are provided to classes of eight to ten in a 1 ½ day workshop format. Implementation, coaching and skill reviews are included. Your satisfaction is guaranteed. This is a culture influencing experience that transforms attendees and for that reason we recommend all advisors in a particular region, or office, and their managers take part in the program.

The CAPS™ Overview shows the relationship between the one-on-one ethical persuasion skills advisors learn and sharpen in the CAPS™ workshop to guide productive conversations.

Receiving Messages

Many conversations begin when an advisor receives a message. The large rectangle in the diagram represents the most important skill in the CAPS™ Learning System - the ability to Listen and Evaluate Attitudes. The Diamonds in the Overview describe four “Attitudes” prospects express in conversations where they are contemplating important decisions. Attendees learn to identify each of them correctly and adopt the appropriate communication skill to guide conversations to productive outcomes.

Sending Messages

The TRANSITION Skill is used to organize and plan an initial approach and move from one objective to the next. Many persuasive conversations are initiated by an advisor or recruiter and most successful advisors and recruiters use proven ways to qualify prospects. They form effective Transitions based on observations, referrals, probing and previous conversation.

PROBING means using questions develop insights into each prospect’s unique expectations, situation, concerns, obstacles and opinions. Attendees learn that how they relate to Prospect’s answers is just as important as the questions they ask. They also learn how to overcome Indifference and Objections by using the Probing Skill.

CLOSING doesn’t just happen at end of a persuasive conversation when the advisor asks a prospect to buy. It also occurs whenever he or she attempts to Confirm Agreement with the prospect on the matter under discussion. After “Closing”, he or she learns how to stay connected to the prospect as they guide the conversation to the next objective using a new Transition.

Responding to Messages

SUPPORTING means using agreement to reinforce Acceptance of your solutions. Attendees learn when and how to adopt this powerful communication skill. They learn to offer Support when a prospect accepts a Transition and when they respond favorably to Probing questions.

PROVING skill is used when a prospect expresses Doubt that your product provides a benefit. Advisors must know how to assure him or her that the claims about the product are justifiable. Often, failure to provide acceptable proof prevents further progress in the conversation. Neither the advisor nor the prospect achieves the results they want. Attendees learn how to overcome Doubt using acceptable proof sources.

Attendees are not asked to memorize any scripts. Instead, they learn the three parts of each of Skill to communicate with clarity. This means they can immediately use CAPS™ with their familiar selling systems and tools. Everyone benefits because you can leverage all of the time and money invested in product, compliance, and computer systems training to get better results now and in the future.

Click on the tabs above to look at:

- Incremental Learning Design
- Training Tools are Used
- Implementation Resources

Online CAPS™ Course

ponytail woman on phone When you have successfully completed the CAPS™ Program, you will remember to Listen effectively, evaluate your Prospect's Attitude, and know how to Adopt and Demonstrate the appropriate CAPS™ Communication Skills to achieve your sales objectives.

Most ‘Advisors’ have reason to believe they're pretty good at persuading others to make decisions and successful Advisors have many good selling ideas of their own, but those who are most successful are always willing to consider other proven ways to help them make the most effective use of their time with prospects and clients.

CAPS™ is an ideal program for both the experienced and new Advisor. The communication principles CAPS™ teaches are applicable to everything you already know, or want to know, about selling and practicing ethical persuasion.

So, what are we saying? Simply this... CAPS™ can help you become a more successful Advisor because it will make you conscious of what you need to do to communicate with prospects and clients and ethically persuade them to take appropriate action now to and achieve the results they want.

Incremental Learning Design

This means attendees learn a new skill while practicing others so their knowledge and ability to use each skill grows through practice and repetition.

The skill of Listening and Evaluating Attitudes is taught first and reinforced throughout the entire workshop because it is essential to practicing ethical persuasion and consultative communication.

The next focus is Probing... using questions to communicate.Then, attendees learn about Closing and will continue to practice the Probing skills throughout the time they are learning about Closing.

The skills of Listening, Probing and Closing are introduced first, so that more time and opportunities are available for practice of these essential skills. All of the CAPS™ Skills are introduced in this manner and are demonstrated correctly whenever they would occur in an actual conversation.

This process allows attendees to see and hear examples of the Supporting, Proving, Transitions and Overcoming Objections Skills before, during and after they are introduced as a separate Unit of Training. When a new Skill is introduced, attendees benefit because they are already familiar with some of the ways the Skills are used. This allows them to respond to questions and assignments as soon as they begin working with the Skills.

Tools Used

On-site workshop:

Handbook:contains introductions to CAPS™ Ethical Persuasion Skills and several units of programmed instruction. Attendees are directed to read short segments and complete the programmed instructions at various intervals throughout the program. Attendees benefit because an explanation of the Skill Models enables them to measure their understanding of how they work, before engaging in the interactive Video assignments.

Interactive Video Role Plays: There are approximately 200 opportunities for workshop attendees to respond in the role of the Advisor during the workshop. The first role play includes both Probing and Closing skills. Then the Supporting Skill is introduced, and the previously learned skills will continue to be practiced as the rest of the skills are added.

Product and Proof Sources: In each session attendees will be selling insurance products. These products are used because almost all financial advisors are familiar with insurance. These products also require the Advisor to use Ethical Persuasion Skills to encourage prospects to buy.

Role Plays: Some sessions conclude with Role-play situations. Attendees practice the skills in the simulated environment of a client conversation. They benefit from this practice and repetition. The “What If?” role play is based on the participant’s actual experience.

9 Week Online Program:

Online Handbook: contains introductions to CAPS™ Ethical Persuasion Skills and several units of programmed instruction. Attendees are directed to read short segments and complete the programmed instructions at various intervals throughout the program. Attendees benefit because an explanation of the Skill Models enables them to measure their understanding of how they work, before engaging in the interactive Video assignments.

Both include online and in classroom settings:

- Implementation Handbook

- Interactive Video

- Weekly Coaching Calls

Implementation Resources

A turnkey 21-day implementation and skill review program gets advisors using the skills immediately. CAPS™ Coaching system and tools helps attendees form the habit of listening and correctly evaluating attitudes and using the Skills correctly and in a timely manner.

Every attendee receives an Advisor Coaching Workbook. This tool reinforces CAPS™ and helps the advisor plan and set objectives, record outcomes, monitor and evaluate results. In addition, audio and online skill reviews are provided to reinforce the skills.

A Leader’s Group Coaching Handbook is provided for your management team. You can conduct the coaching sessions in a classroom or via conference call. Group coaching provides participants opportunities to discuss actual conversations, learn from other’s experiences and practice the Skills in preparation for upcoming conversations.

How to meet Resistance: There are some battles that you shouldn't even try to fight.

Customers are growing more and more sophisticated every day. The web is allowing this to happen in droves. I'm not talking about clients simply being able to find product information; That conversation is 12 years old.

I'm talking about a new kind of sophistication.

Your clients and prospects are now getting both opinions and validation from their peers in ways that haven't been seen until now. The web and online communities are allowing people to have really frank and open communication about what to do with their finances. Notice how this carries a lot more weight than just having access to information.

As a field leader, you can help.

You have already done a good job of hiring people for their character and their competence. Your advisors have jumped through some pretty rigorous hoops up to this point. However, even the most seasoned advisor faces an uphill battle when a prospect or client says, "I want to buy this product [no matter how inappropriate] because my friend at work has one, and two people in my network plan to buy one."

Only a person with excellent communication skills can turn around this Titanic.

The good news is that communication skills can be taught to any advisor no matter his or her tenure in the business -- from set-in-their-ways veterans to newly minted advisors.

Rather than trailing behind your clients, lead them.

Increase Sales Today! Call 866-377-7598

Live Workshop