5 Ways to Take Advantage of the Halo Effect in Your Business | 7FAS Podcast | Ep. 259

Have you ever been to a restaurant and the restaurant looks nice, the ambiance is set, the furniture is clean, the wait staff is, you know, done up to the nines. The service is good. You've not even tasted the food yet. The menus are well put together, the place settings are organized. Right. What's your perception based on the atmosphere of the product that's going to be delivered to you? The food, what you're immediately. You assume the food's going to be good for sure because the atmosphere that you're surrounded by is positive. Yeah, that's the halo effect. It creates a perception about what they're delivering to you, the product that they're selling. Before you ever actually interact with that product. There's a. There's a subconscious thing that takes place there.

That's perfect. Well, I want to welcome to our show. I'm Chad Owen, the annuity sales coach. This is Caleb and the Keystein design sales coach. I think we're still working. How many years have we done this and we still don't have a name for you?

No, I've ping ponged back and forth between.

Years, though. Years.

We do need to come up with the official title for you.

So my work title is VP of Agent development.

The guy you can never understand. That's. That's it. You need a translator to hear it, get the heck out of you.

Yeah, sometimes.

Yeah. But you know, we love getting to do this. Welcome to the show. And that's interesting, what you're talking about with the halo effect, because I remember back in the day, because I've been in sales since I was 18 years old and they used to talk about the sizzle effect in the Sizzler. And so they walk out with this. They always have the piping hot cast iron plate with the fajitas sizzling on it. So you hear the sizzle. Well, of course you smell the smell.

Right.

And these people are carrying it out like this and it's that halo effect and you go, man, I should have ordered the fajitas, you know, or you walk into these nice steak restaurants and it got this aging steak right in front of you and you're going, man, this is going to be good.

Right.

So never really thought about that.

You could take the exact same product. Take, take my example earlier of, you know, you walk into a really nice restaurant, great atmosphere, and they come out and they deliver you steak. You take that same steak and you put it in a lesser atmosphere. The perception of quality is going to be drastically different. Even though the Product's the exact same.

So you walk up to a nice steakhouse, you got the steak, you look at, it's great. Then you go up to McDonald's and go, I like a 24 ounce ribeye. And they plop. You're probably not going to have high expectations. Right, right, interesting.

So it doesn't just happen in restaurants.

So that's where. Yeah, that's true. Because if you think about that's how we do ours, our kits.

Exactly.

Our books, our how we present things creates a website. It does. Because you know, they, they meet with all these people before that don't even leave them a buyer's guide, let alone entire kit with a book and everything.

Yeah. So I put together a list of five things that when they're done well, they create a positive halo effect for, for agents specifically. And the first one is simply having a company name and a brand image like a logo design and that type of thing. Because if you're trying to sell at a high level, right. And you're dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars of client funds with your, you know, at Gmail, at Yahoo, at, you know, all these different things and you're an individual agent and you don't. There's no, there is no conveyance. There's a client has no way to perceive that you are actually operating as a company.

I want to turn over 500,000 DOL. What's your email, Bob? Gmail.com. what?

Right.

I mean it still amazes me that people do that. Yeah, it's so easy to get your own domain name. I mean we can help you with that process. We still do, we still help build websites and everything.

Once again, I'm on the field. This guy is the one that has to do all that. But yeah, we do full branding packages.

But yet, but it's necessary. If you look at agents that are writing top production. Right. You know, and when I say top production I'm looking at guys that are writing 8, 8 million plus and especially guys writing, you know, 8 figures a year in production. There is a company name, they're an LLC or an incorporation or something to that effect. They have a brand and they are.

Operating as web presence, social media presence.

Yes. The website was the second one that I was going to, gonna get to. But they have this image that they are more than just an individual selling a product for some third party company.

Well, if you think about it, you just said you're getting into the website. You know, the reality is this is crazy state but like 86, 86% of people that are meeting with someone will look at your website.

Yes. Yeah. So the statistic here that I found, and this was actually the average looking at numerous third party surveys, was that 75% of consumers will actually research a company company on the web before they ever even go in to the physical location to even consider doing business. So if you don't have that and they can't find you and you call a lead or you, you know, whatever, you may book an appointment on the phone, but if you're noticing a lot of churn or a lot of drop off in your appointments, meaning you get a lot of no shows, you get a lot of cancellations, it's probably because you don't have a presence that they can find. So they don't trust it.

Yeah. So we're starting retirement, realize radio. And one of the things I'm looking for is a radio producer. And this guy tells me, he's like, man, you know what, I'm the best of this, the best of that. I've done this for a long time, which, hey, could all be true. But then I went to his website. It's the most generic, outdated website I've ever seen. For someone that claims to be at this level, I'm not saying they are or they are not. That's not what I'm saying. But what I'm saying is this actually made me really hesitate, reaching back out to him because I'm like going, if you're that good in radio production or producing or media buying or whatever it is, wouldn't you have a good media presence? It's kind of like a branding company saying they're great at branding, but then you look at their brands, you're going, what did you get this on? Clip art.

Right.

You know, I remember actually a guy we tried to do business cards with and I'm not kidding, it was clip art. Yeah, that the old word doc, clip art. It was not generated.

I believe.

The way that I like to put it is, does your brand image convey the same level of excellence that you claim to have? You know, a lot of agents out there that don't have any brand at all that claim to be excellent, they claim to be experts, but the lack of or the quality of the one that they have is so poor poor that it actually degrades the image that they're trying to create.

Yeah.

The third one that you, you need to have in place is branded materials. I mean, this is where the Leave behind kit comes into play.

You know, the reason why the Leave behind Kit started.

I do. It was. It was the Halo effect, but. But you didn't have it. It was somebody else.

Yeah. I basically, I went with my office Max folder with my clip art business cards, and I'm looking at, I think it's Fidelity, MetLife, and Schwab at the time, and they had these beautiful folders with the CD ROM in them. They had everything done. I'm going, would I buy from me? And the answer would have been no.

Yeah.

Even though I knew I had a superior product for what they wanted to do, I would not have bought from me. And that's how the whole safe mini kit started.

Yeah. Yeah. And there's agents I know, Chad, that will hear this, they'll listen to it, and they'll think, man, I can't afford that. I can't afford. Afford folders because you can't afford not to produce.

I mean, the thing is, why. And I don't mean I'm not angry, okay. I just get frustrated because any business you start, you start a retail store, you start a plumbing company, you start whatever, you've got to spend money on branding, you've got to spend money on advertising. And why our industry doesn't do that in a hole where it's like a big deal and it's like somebody. I mean, you could say realtors are the same way. But the thing with realtors is they're always starting with, like, Zillow or remax or something like that. So they already going under a company that already has branding. But in our industry, you don't. You're generally 1099. You're starting your own company. Right. So you've got to have your own brand presence. You've got to have that halo effect. And hands down, yeah, I used to.

Tell agents that I thought one of the largest costs to agents or I. And I'm pretty sure that I at one point probably said that the biggest cost to agents is leads and marketing. I've since learned that realistically, it doesn't matter what leads and marketing costs. If you're producing, the biggest cost to agents is not producing.

Yep.

So a 5,000, 8,000, $10,000 branding, you know, package or whatever you want to call it to establish your company. That's a drop in the bucket compared to not writing a million dollars in annuity premium, for sure.

You know, I mean, it pays for itself so quick. I mean, if you have a good brand presence and somebody chooses you and you're even doing $100,000 annuity, and you're getting 6% commission, $6,000. It covered your entire website. You realize how many businesses have to perform well. So most people don't know this. You've heard the term Black Friday, right? You know why Black Friday is Black Friday.

When companies get in the, that's when.

They get into the black. So the day after Thanksgiving, a lot of retail companies, that's the day they get into the black.

It's crazy.

So if you think about that one good branding package where you've got your brand out there, you've got your website, you've got your folders, you've got your business cards, one good sale will take care of that and then some literally for many years to come. I probably do branding. I think the first time, you know what, Eagle Shadow Life and Annuity just had its first rebranding for over 14 years. I think so. And I love it. It's still same concept, but it's definitely updated. And you know, because the first one was a home run, but even I was looking at my logo going, dang, we definitely need to update this a little bit. I probably, from here on out will do it about every three to five years. I mean, it's just, it's so important to have that presence and that sense of excellence. Really?

Absolutely.

I actually will get sales that way. You will? I'll say, I'll say, just out of curiosity, what's that guy's email? And they'll tell me, bob@outlook.com I'm like, huh? No company name is a domain name.

Huh.

And then you go to look at their website and it's non existent or it's horrible, right? I'm like, this guy wants to move $500,000 of your money, you know, and they're like, you're right.

Yeah, it's, it's, it works. You having the pieces in play makes you. And this is, this is actually the way that I perceive it because when you've got these big money managing companies and we all, we all know who they are, they're out there, they have the professional appearance, they're brokers, their advisors, they come in there, they're done to the nines. They've got all the things, all the bells and whistles, all that great look, you having that for yourself, for your company puts you up to par with them, but it often sets you apart from your other agent competition.

You know how I do a lot of my inner circle training, I tell agents how I would have gotten the deal away from them. Oh, so they'll tell Me how? They'll do a presentation, they'll tell me what they're bringing to the appointment, and I'll tell them how I would have gotten that deal. And they're like, oh, my gosh. And I just did that last week. I was training an inner circle agent and he told me what? He just said, dude, if I ever came behind you, I would have that deal so fast. And he's like, what? What? And I started to tell him what I would have done in that situation. He goes, yes, you would have gotten that deal. Yeah. And so, because the reality is not that my way is perfect by any means. I mean, you've got to have your own personality, your own style. But I can. I can pretty much anybody I ever run against, I'm going to find something that you're not doing right.

Yeah.

And I'm going to get the deal. Yeah. And a lot of times it's back to what we were talking about before in the previous podcast is you did not do an income rider when you should have because you didn't do a full complete fact finder.

Right.

But, man, if you don't have the buyer's guide there, you don't have a business card that left behind behind. You don't have a good presentation, you didn't leave the folders and the brochures or the illustrations, man, I'm getting that deal.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. The fourth thing you want to have in place to build that positive halo effect is professionalism for your demographic in the channel that you're meeting them in. So if you're face to face, consider what's professionalism in that local market if you're virtual, what'? Professionalism in their market?

There's a guy right now that advertises how he's done 15 million or 5 million or something in a. In a tank top. I'm like, I really hope and I don't know this guy, I don't know his whole deal, but I really hope he doesn't do his zoom calls in a tank top. Hey, I don't know.

But it makes me wonder what could he have done if he had. If he had just changed that a little.

I don't know. I mean, he may. He may be. That may just be his thing. Sure. You know, it's like somebody saying they hate annuities, but then they sell annuities. And it's kind of like that saying, you don't pay your brokers commissions, but you do pay them. Yeah. So stuff like that.

If you're up in The Northeast, like what is professional in that environment from an attire perspective is vastly different than what we're dealing with down here in central Texas.

Goose filled jacket.

Yeah, yeah.

Not a goose filled down. Feathers. You don't shove a goose in your jacket. But I mean here right now, you're probably going to be wearing a bathing suit that's appropriate for this weather. But I'll tell you what though. I mean, I used to be in Colorado. In Colorado, I used to. I used to wear slacks and a polo shirt, but I'd tuck it in and then I started just getting into. Wait a second. Colorado's kind of, kind of has more of a country feel. Even the city will still kind of have that. So then I went to blue jeans and polo shirt. And now it's pretty much no matter where I'm going, it's blue jeans, polo shirt and boots. And I think I could get away. And most people would be able to get away with this in pretty much any part of the country. There are some things, like you said, the exceptions to where, you know, you're in an inner city like New York. I don't know. Even then, if you're going to someone's corporate office, then you probably would dress up a little bit. Yeah, sure.

I'm waiting for the day that you embroider some lululemon button downs.

No, no, that's, that's, that's vacation attire or church attire or date attire.

That's what I do.

That's not working attire.

I would embroider some button downs. Oh yeah, pass. Maybe not even embroider them. Maybe just wear the button down. That's my style, my beach style shirts.

No, I'm telling you, the logo does a lot interesting. I see people staring at the logo all the time. And so that's, that's a non negotiable for me. I think it really will affect people when you don't have a logo on your shirt. And that goes back to the branding. You gotta have good branding. You don't want to have some cheesy looking logo on your shirt. Yeah, but I. Because unfortunately people are very skeptical nowadays and generally the cable guy comes to your house, he's got the company shirt on. Anybody who's coming to your house, they've got. That's true. So I think that's very important.

And if they don't, you instantly become more.

You do. Absolutely.

The fifth thing that you got to have. Okay. To create that positive halo effect is confidence.

Yes.

My goodness. We talked about this last week.

We'll go back to the restaurant, hey, so how's the fish?

Right.

I'm not kidding. The fish man.

Right, right.

But if they go, man, I've tasted everything on this menu, and it's phenomenal, then I know I got a pretty good.

Or they start asking you questions about the menu and you don't know. Yeah, that's true expertise. But confidence is so crucial. It's so key, because people will sniff out phonies.

They will.

And if you have.

And it's not that difficult to do. No, you can know nothing about a product or an industry. And if you ask questions and like.

You know, or it's making. You know how I'm talking like this, you're not gonna have confidence in that person. Or if you don't have answers readily available. That's why I'm saying learn how to do your own illustrations.

Right.

Because if I'm in appointment, the situation changes. I need to pull up the company right there and change illustrations, then change companies, and I need to be able to do that illustration right away. Right there.

Yeah. So, yeah, you got to have that confidence. And often confidence comes from inside. It's that. It's that internal confidence from within you.

Arrogance.

Right.

Humility is so easy in this industry. When you realize you're dealing with people that their entire livelihood for the rest of their lives is in front of you. You cannot and should not be arrogant.

So appointment I went to that I meet with again this next week. I went. I drove down this dirt road. Manual gate. Drove down the dirt road. It's a shack. We're meeting at a picnic table in this shack. And. And he's worth about $2 million. But he's been afraid to pull any money out because he's afraid of outliving it.

Case in point to what we were talking about last week.

Yeah, that's so good.

Well, if I want to add one.

More thing, as always, always do that. If this better be good.

If you don't have confidence in your expertise or your knowledge, then you need to grow that number one. But number two is, then derive that confidence from. From your character, your integrity.

So how do you grow that? You just stand in front of the mirror and go, you're a good guy.

Yeah, you.

You're nice.

You flex a little bit in front of the mirror. Do the power pose. Do the power pose in front of the mirror. No, you study.

You study, Study. That is exactly it. It has nothing to do with the outward thing. Yes, you do have to carry yourself a certain way. But man, when you study, you study, you study, you do automatically get more confidence. I've seen it many times over. First time an agent has a million dollar sale, it's now a normal thing because they are more confident in their abilities.

Right?

So I hope this helps you guys. You have a great day and of course, happy selling.