The Art of Selling to the Affluent: How to Attract, Service, and Retain Wealthy Customers & Clients for Life

If you are involved in selling in any way, you would do well to read this book and use it as your selling manual. The pyramind shaped economy has been replaced by the hour-glass economy. The middle class is disappearing while the high and low ends are expanding. The low end of the economy is price restricted. They must make their decisions based on price and therefore most of their purchases are commodity based. That is a difficult way to make money. Low price is not a sustainable competitive position. No one wants to be middle class anymore. The ambitious want to move up to the affluent. This book is all about effective selling to the affluent. It is well researched, action oriented and street tested. The book is easy to read and contains a wealth of information. There is lots of information, much of it counteintuitive, about effective selling to the affluent. Among the affluent, price ranked last in terms of influencing major purchases. That does not mean that price is not important - it is - but is is linked to perceived value. The affluent did not become affluent by ignoring price. But they focus on the total transaction - the total value. The quality of the warranty or guarantee had the most influence by a large margin. When selling to the affluent, you must focus on building a relationship. They detest being sold. They want to be served and assisted as the move through the decision process. To effective sell to the affluent, you need to change your mindset from selling a product with its features and benefits to concept selling. It is the heart and soul of selling to the affluent. People will always pay more for ideas than they will for products. Concept selling begins with learning about the prospects goals and aspirations as they relate to your product or service. In addition to all the information and advice on selling to the affluent, Matt gives some very good information on how each person can better achieve their own goals. First you need to determine if you work from an "avoidance pattern" or an "achievement pattern". Far too many people work at things that avoid taking direct action toward their goals. The book is well organized, well written and has lots of valuable information. There is a summary at the end of each chapter and action steps that you should take to implement the concepts. The main reason that people do not achieve their goals is they don't take action. Oechsli says that all we do is driven by three concepts, feeling, thinking and doing. We need to reverse that sequence to doing, thinking and feeling. If we do more, we will achieve more. If you want to join the ranks of the affluent rather than being envious of them, read this book, take the actions recommended and you will transform your life.

Many pages are folded in half; I wrote notes everywhere, and highlighted many lines. It had to be a GREAT book for me to do that. "Not only managing the sale, but managing the relationship" cleared up so many things for me. The book gave me a much greater sense of direction. An affluent one.

If I were to follow the rules of a savvy, demanding reader, as suggested in the book, "How to Read a Book," I would have casually read this book, without trying to absorb as much as I can; and opted for the second read to be when I choose to be "one with the author," and act like we are truly havng a conversation. But this 215-page book has more information in it that anybody, or at least myself could expect, that there's no way I would lightly read it. Besides writing throughout the margins, I took t least 8 full pages of copious notes on this first read. And I am sure that I not only will re-read this book, I will become one with the affluent, as a direct result of applying the lessons in this book. Here's some of the many quotes that I appreciated: "If you or your company is targeting major purchase decision makers, regardless of the products or services involved, your income depends upon your ability to get in sync with the major decision-making process of your ideal affluent clientele." "When selling to the affluent, you don't simply manage the sale; you manage the relationship." "Offering the lowest price has the least influence on whether the affluent will conduct future business with you." "Face-to-face communication is .. the richest medium of communication possible. It engages all five senses and includes everything about your appearance, mannerisms, and speech matters." "...move beyond believing that the affluent are bigger than life or that you need them a lot more than they need you. The relationship you seek is one where you need them and they need you." "It has been said that,'You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.'" "There's an old saying that 'price is only a consideration in the absence of value.'" "Solving a client problem is obvious. Resolve it quickly and to the client's satisfaction, and it directly impacts repeat business and referrals." There are three elements in this book that I was surprised by: 1. Although the Ritz-Carlton Service credo was mentioned many times, as the standard by which the affluent make their purchases, I had to surf the net to find out what that credo actually says. I was surprised that the credo was not as in the chapter that discusses how to design your own business credo. 2. Perhaps because this book was published in 2005, I was surprised by the suggestion to send so many emails. This has now been replaced with sending SendOut Cards. 3. While I was so "stoked" by Chapter 8, "Becoming Even More Magnetc: Internet Savvy," it was interesting to note that the guidance in this book, on page 132, about "Google Local" is out of date. And, by the time I read this chapter, I thought, "Wow! Could Oechsli possibly offer more gems in the pages left?" The answer is, a resounding, "Absolutely!"

Selling to the affluent is different from selling to any other market. As with any selling, you must know your market; and this book provides you with the perfect roadmap. If you follow and apply the strategies and techniques outlined in this book, and possess the confidence required, you will without a doubt, not only attract and serve the affluent, you will also become affluent.

I have been in the business for 20 years, and have recently been involved in closing the largest, most complex estate planning deals of my career. This is hands-down the clearest, most concise book on the mind of the affluent that I have ever read. The book describes exactly what I have been experiencing over the past 5 years in the industry and with my clients and prospects. For anyone who has at least one "high-net-worth" or affluent client this should be a "Must Read."