Dan Smaida
Dan Smaida teaches advisors how to apply consulting skills and technology to make meetings better, engage new clients, and grow relationships. Dan has spent 23 years consulting with top financial services organizations around the world. Connect with Dan on LinkedIn . Learn more here .
Articles by Dan Smaida
- Practice Growth
Wholesalers Earn Second Meetings by Changing First-Meeting Signals
After nearly three decades working with wholesalers, you start to notice what actually changes the tone of a meeting.
- Practice Growth
Getting First Meetings but No Second? Change What Happens in the Conversation
. Then the follow-up never materializes. It’s not a prospecting issue. It’s what happens inside the meeting.
- Practice Growth
Getting First Meetings but No Follow-Ups? What’s Costing You the Second Conversation
Most wholesalers assume they need a stronger pitch or better materials. In reality, they’re often losing the second meeting because of the pitch.
- Practice Growth
You Didn’t Lose the Deal — You Lost the Moment That Made Advice Matter
WHEN you offer advice matters more than who you are, why you’re offering it, how you frame it, or even how good the advice is.
- Practice Growth
Advice Isn’t the Problem—Timing Is the Key
It’s because the timing is off. In consultative selling, WHEN you offer advice matters just as much as WHAT you offer. Possibly more.
- Practice Growth
Personalization Was Never Broken, Effort Was
Which is understandable, because for most of their careers, personalization has been something sellers equated with effort.
- Practice Growth
You’re Not Losing Deals at the Close—You’re Taking the Wheel Too Soon
You and the buyer have had good conversation. A few twists and turns. Maybe even a pothole or two you didn’t see coming until you hit them.
- Practice Growth
Prompting Is the New Sales Superpower
Now we’re in the next phase. Prompting is the skill. Because it changes how fast sellers go.
- Practice Growth
Why Spending Hours on Sales Emails Is Killing Your Productivity—and How AI Fixes It
Most sellers still cling to this habit. They stare at a blank screen. They try to write the perfect first sentence. Backspace.
- Practice Growth
Why Your Sales Team Looks Busy—but Isn’t Producing Results
It’s way easier to track how many dials someone made than to examine whether those dials had a chance of working.
- Practice Growth
Buyers Don’t Ghost Because They’re Busy — They Ghost Because They Feel Boxed In
When you say let’s lock something in, the buyer hears a door closing. Humans, buyers especially get real jumpy around closing doors.
- Practice Growth
The Real Reason Advisors Ignore Extroverts and Forget Introverts
They’re responding to your energy calibration, and ambiverts calibrate faster, cleaner with fewer misfires than anyone else.
- Opinion
Why Method Matters for Consultative Advisors
Understanding why consultative method matters provides insight into delivering consistent, defensible advice that clients can trust.
- Practice Growth
How To Help Clients Talk Themselves Out of a Rash Decision
Using the Psychology of Advice to De-Escalate Fear-Driven Financial Moves #psychology #finance #growth
- Practice Growth
The Only Three Steps You Need in Selling
I encourage you to think of selling as literally just three steps. Build a relationship, find the need, meet the need. #advisors #sales #success