The credit markets have dried up and even our largest banks are teetering on the brink of disaster. Add in the uncertainty in the stock market and the AIG bailout and you've got a group of panicked investors. Does that mean you can't sell?

No, now is probably one of the best selling opportunities you may ever have in your lifetime. That is, if you know how to handle a very dicey emotion. That dicey emotion is the fear created by uncertainty.

If you're calling people on the phone and asking them to invest with you I wouldn't be surprised to learn you have recently had some rather traumatic ear damage. Imagine your surgeon looking down at you over his surgical mask and asking if you would like him to make another incision without anesthetic. Yipes.

That approach won't work because you are picking the scab on your prospects fear and making it bleed.

When it comes to fear too much fear paralyzes you and prevents you from taking any action. A reasonable amount of fear motivates you to do something to avoid or stop whatever is causing the fear. A small amount of fear is more of an annoyance than something you intend to do anything about.

How that fear is directed makes a tremendous difference in perceived impact. When you ask your prospects and clients to do more of something they already don't want any part of it shouldn't be surprising when you get a negative reaction. You are helping your prospects focus on what they don't want rather than on a way to get out of what they don't want, and into what they do want.

They don't want increased risk and uncertainty. That's exactly what the current financial industry is serving up. You need to present an opportunity to remove risk and eliminate uncertainty. You need to offer an opportunity for a certain future with known outcomes.

When you do your prospect will be all ears and eager to learn more. That's because your offer presents the three keys to selling your financial services when your prospects are scared out of their gourds. Your offer is

• Relevant to an urgent need
• Something they are already looking for
• Essential to their desired future