Forget the Hard Sell: Some Real Talk About Connections at Financial Expos

In April this year, we at the Fazzaco News team were invited to Dubai to attend a financial summit by FastBull. While this event wasn't technically an expo – lacking the typical exhibitor booths and instead focusing on speeches, product launches, and panel discussions – we still encountered numerous business representatives and sales personnel from various industry companies. Interestingly, every time we flipped through the brochures of the summit's sponsors, we would find several business cards from sales reps of other, similar companies that had been "secretly" slipped in.

Throughout the event, we engaged with people from diverse backgrounds: there were financial students who drove down from Ras Al Khaimah, European expats who have a real estate businesg in Dubai for years, and, of course, many fellow professionals from the financial services industry. However, we noticed that some peers seemed to participate in such events with an overly eager and results-driven attitude. For instance, when they realized we were not traders or potential clients, they would quickly end the conversation to seek out the next target.

This is not an isolated case. Recently, we came across a post on LinkedIn by Moshed Mohamad that happened to express a similar view. He observed at a recent forex expo that many Business Development Managers (BDMs) were too focused on quickly closing deals and overlooked the importance of building genuine relationships. He shared an interestingly similar moment:

"Hi sir.. this my card.. you trader or IB?"

"I'm media."

"Can you do IB?"

"Yes, we can cooperate in some…"

"We only do IB." (Takes back the card and hands me a generic one – support@brokername)

This rapid filtering based on labels neglects potential collaboration opportunities. As Moshed put it, "In this industry, your next biggest partner might not look like a 'client' at first glance." In the financial services sector, the importance of establishing and maintaining strong customer relationships cannot be overstated. Furthermore, salespeople's interpersonal skills have a significant impact on customers' repurchase intentions. Research indicates that retail operations and hard-selling tactics moderate the relationship between salespeople's interpersonal skills and customers' repurchase intentions.

In today's highly competitive business landscape, a company's ability to establish and nurture long-term relationships with its clients is often the key to its success. This is particularly true in the financial services industry, where trust and confidence are critical components of the sales process. As Moshed highlighted in his LinkedIn post, "Expos are not just for selling. They're for connecting, collaborating, and discovering potential." Let's encourage teams to stay open-minded and listen more – every conversation could lead to unexpected opportunities.

Reclaiming the Value of Human Connections

True value often stems from connections that initially seem unrelated. Let us cherish every opportunity for interaction and dedicate ourselves to building each relationship with care. By setting aside the mindset of hard selling and focusing on establishing genuine human connections, we can go much further in the financial industry.