They Burn Mortgages, Don't They?

Rarely Seen in California (land of the 50-year
mortgage)


SONNY GOLDFIN reports that United First Financial is a powerful way to attract and RETAIN clients. By helping your clients pay off their mortgages in 1/2 to 1/3 the time, you help them enter retirement without the burden of a house payment. You also save them LOTS of money over the life of the loan without making very many changes in their day-to-day spending. This is a value added service which will make you a hero to your clients and virtually ensure that they won't want to change advisors. Check out the possibilities.

A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN?

A while back, MATT ALEXANDER sent me an email concerning the difficulties faced by advisors when they either want to choose their first broker-dealer or when they desire to change their broker-dealer.

Rampant litigation, burdensome regulations, and paranoia on both sides has turned the courtship dance between broker-dealers and their independently-minded reps into a complicated tightrope act. Researching broker-dealers, while essential to forming successful relationships, has become a real drag.

Enter BDfinder.com .

This is a very well-thought-out website which utilizes a 30 point screening questionaire to assist you in finding the perfect BD for your own style. I tried it out last night and was impressed- it takes away a lot of the burden. Like a dating service, BDfinder.com narrows the possibilities, making it easier for you to find "the one."

CALIFORNIA FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS: Getting What's Theirs?

As I reported yesterday, Jeff Allyn of Scott Cole and Associates in Oakland, California
tells us that we are starting to see the first wave of lawsuits regarding overtime for financial professionals here in California. And, as you are all aware, California tends to be a trendsetter-for the good or for the bad. Expect more big cases involving legitimate overtime and expenses. If you are California-based professional and feel you may be owed for overtime or expenses, you can get a plan for action by contacting Scott Cole and Associates.

SCOTT COLE & ASSOCIATES, APC
The World Savings Tower

1970 Broadway, Ninth Floor
Oakland, California 94612
Telephone: 510-891-9800
Toll-Free: 877-367-6477
info@scalaw.com

DO YOU HAVE A PRODUCT ,SERVICE, OR BLOG YOU WANT FEATURED?

It doesn't cost anything to have me look at what you have. If you are a financial professional with a great idea, interesting website, or a new marketing technique, please email me at: advisorresource@aggies.com. Send me a sample or link, and I will take a look at what is exciting to you and do a write-up if I think it is on-the-level and useful to the readers.

Also, if you see something here that you have tried- I want to hear about your experiences- good or bad. Post your comments or email me.

The purpose of this blog is NOT to sell advertising, but to find things which will make it easier for all of us to make more money.

Attention California Advisors..

This was passed along to me by a former co-worker who now works for an employee rights law firm in Oakland. Interesting stuff ... I predict that California, as always, will set a precedent for other states. If you are a California financial services professional and want to know more, contact Scott Cole and Associates. Toll free (877) 367-6477.



SCOTT EDWARD COLE, ESQ.
MATTHEW R. BAINER, ESQ.
KEVIN R. ALLEN, ESQ.
CARRIE S. LIN, ESQ.
SUSAN L. JORDAN, ESQ.
_____________________
JEFFREY C. ALLYN
Marketing Director
Writer’s E-Mail: jallyn@scalaw.com _____________________
SCOTT COLE & ASSOCIATES A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
ATTORNEYS & COUNSELORS
THE WORLD SAVINGS TOWER
1970 BROADWAY, NINTH FLOOR
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 94612
Telephone: (510) 891-9800
Facsimile: (510) 891-7030
____________________
SCA Web Site: www.scalaw.com
August 30, 2007
re: Newsletter on a Financial Advisor’s Right to Overtime Pay
and Reimbursements for Business-Related Expenses.

Dear Advisor:

Among employee rights attorneys, there is little dispute that California financial services representatives are entitled to overtime pay, so much so that companies like Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and UBS Paine Weber have each paid out tens of millions of dollars in settlements, well in advance of trial.

In addition to these past settlements, numerous other brokerages and financial or life insurance companies have been slapped with overtime pay lawsuits, at least four of which are now being handled by our law firm. If it surprises you that financial services representatives have, for years, been denied pay to which they are entitled, consider that:

· California law presumes that all workers deserve overtime pay – unless their employers can prove otherwise; and

· The standard for proving an exception to the overtime laws is far more difficult than many employers (or workers) realize.

Also consider that, along with overtime pay, financial services representatives are generally entitled to reimbursements for business-related expenses – expenses that can really add up. In fact, workers’ realization of just how much money is being lost has resulted in a virtual explosion of litigation over the past several years.

If you have worked as a financial professional in the past four years and would like to discuss your experiences with us, we encourage you to contact us at (510) 891-9800, toll free at (877) 367-6477 or by e-mail at info@scalaw.com. You should know that confidentially discussing your rights with us creates absolutely no obligation on your part and that past successes cannot guarantee future results.

All good relationships are built on a foundation of fairness. Level the playing field at work.
Very truly yours,

JEFFREY C. ALLYN
JCA:tdvz Marketing Director
Scott Cole & Associates – Making the Law work for Workers

Kinky Friedman and The "Texazen" of Marketing

"I admit to drinking it, but I did not swallow."
- "Kinky" Friedman, when asked why he had drunk a Guinness beer in a moving vehicle in Dallas, Texas on St. Patrick's day.

by Tammy de Leeuw
Financial Advisors Netzone

I lead off with Kinky Friedman, a true Texas original. When it comes to off-the-wall, way
beyond the box marketing and self-promotion, no one does it better than the original Texas Jewboy.

Kinky is an interesting case study on many levels. In 2006, he managed to scrape together enough signatures to get himself included on the Texas gubernatorial ballot- no mean feat for someone who advocates relaxed marijuana laws, has stated that he is pro- gay marriage, and is seldom seen without a gigantic (real Cuban, by the way) cigar between his teeth.

That Kinky managed to charm the big old buckle of the Bible Belt enough to get the needed signatures and over 12% of 0f the vote is a tribute both to the inherent contrarian spirit of Texans (being one myself, I know this to be true) and Kinky's understanding of sales and marketing principles. Kinky Friedman managed to avoid the common sales and marketing mistakes most financial professionals make. Let's look at Kinky Friedman, the entrepreneur for a bit to find out what makes his empire tick.

A Kinky New Strategy-Looking At Common Mistakes That Derail Advisors

1. Not Being yourself- While I am not advocating you stick a baseball bat-sized stogie in your mouth and wear a black cowboy hat, I am suggesting that you be genuine. Are your clients seeing the real you or some caricature of a professional you dreamed up? Do you come across as warm, caring, down-to-earth, and empathetic? Do they see you as a take-charge professional with a message to which they need to listen? Are you witty and clever? Then, without being crude or non-professional, bring that side of you to the fore.

Kinky Friedman has never been accused of false humility. Can you say the same? Are you good at what you do? - Then don't grovel at your prospects' feet and offer to crawl over glass when they show the least resistance. Even prospects you consider to be naive have a way of seeing through phonies. Without being bombastic or condescending, let your clients and prospects know that you are the real deal.

2. Not listening to your clients and prospects- During his unsuccessful, but vastly entertaining campaign, Kinky Friedman hung out a lot with his would-be constituents. Spending time in bars and dance halls may seem unproductive at first blush, but for Friedman it provided the opportunity to LISTEN to the people. Doing so, he gained a genuine understanding of what their concerns and needs were. Kinky asked a lot of people a lot of questions to get a feel for what was meaningful and important to them. He had his own agenda, but never allowed that agenda to dominate the conversation.

All too often, advisors are so busy thinking about what the next thing out of their mouths should be that they miss everything the client is trying to tell them. Research shows that one of the deepest human needs is the need to be heard. Are you listening to your clients and prospects? Do you listen to your employees and value their suggestions?

Do you employ the skills of an active listener? If not, you should buy yourself one of the many good books on developing good listening skills and read it. Practice active listening techiniques on your friends and family and ask them to critique you.

When meeting with clients and prospects ask questions, lots of them, and not with a view to boxing in your prospect to make a sale. Most of you have read the question-based and spin-type sales books. These are NOT the kinds of questions about which I am speaking.

Michael Lovas, a sales trainer and president of ABOUT PEOPLE , says that question-based selling, while a step in the right direction, is still lacking.

"To truly help your clients by using a consultative approach, you have to learn how to listen in a totally different way. This is not easy. It's like learning to inhale in a different way. It's like re-learning your golf swing. It is essentially taking an unconscious activity and bringing it in to your consciousness, then changing how you do it. And the rewards are amazing,"says Lovas.

So, determine your client's agenda and ask questions in line with that agenda and not your own.

3. Be a flexible thinker: One of Kinky Friedman's most well-known campaign slogans was: "Why the hell not?" In keeping with his character, Friedman wasn't trying to be vulgar or shocking- just realistic. In Kinky's world "why the hell not?" simply serves to remind us that most limitations are self-imposed. If you think something won't work before you even try it, you are destined to get poor results.

If your marketing efforts have gone flat and your client attrition rate is climbing, can you afford NOT to be open to new ideas? If you dismiss technology and client retention methods and cling steadfastly to old marketing models- are you relegating yourself to the dinosaur herd? It pays to mix and mingle with advisors, successful and otherwise, and learn from their triumphs and mistakes. Imitation is more than just flattery- it is one of the best ways to save time and money when growing your business.

It's Your Own SPAM Fault...

Pt 3 and the final part of my spam series (see archives for previous posts)-

by Tammy de Leeuw
Financial Advisor Netzone

For whatever reason, it seems to be easier for some agents and advisors to crawl up on their high horses and excoriate the person they perceive sent them spam.

That these folks actually take the time and trouble to send detailed responses to the purported spammer and report them to the FTC, quoting from their own versions of CAN-SPAM , etc. is mystifying. However, it might explain why they aren't getting enough clients.

In my opinion, unless you are getting loads of unsolicited porno (the very reason for the CAN-SPAM act, by the way) or a company just refuses to take you off their list after repeated unsubscribes, you should be very careful to do any kneejerk reporting.

Why? Because some day you are probably going to want to market your very legitimate, worthwhile product or service via the internet. What a surprise it will be when you discover your own emails are getting bounced further and faster than a Congressman's check.

Why? Because when you report someone as an abuser who really ISN'T an abuser, they sometimes put YOUR name on a black list in retaliation. An advisor I know learned this the hard way when he went to mail out his newsletters to his client list for the first time and found that two major ISP's had him listed as a spammer.

Instead of getting all worked up when you get unsolicited email- why not just put your finger on the old delete button and recognize that your own surfing habits are most likely responsible?

For your own emailing, use a subscribe list. People will still forget they subscribed and rush to complain about you, but at least you have proof you can give to any ISP who blacklists you.
Be sure to note on all correspondence with your own clients that you provide information via email and ask them to set their spam filters to allow your emails to get through.

Be sure to quickly remove anyone who asks you and double check all your lists to make sure they do not appear in another list.

Most of all, realize the internet and email are here to stay and spam is a small price to pay for having information (aka "power") at your fingertips and exponentially increasing your marketing power.

Below I am reprinting a comment from my SUPER PRODUCER Todd made on PT 1 of this series. He just seems to "get it."

ToddV said...

Tammy,

I've never understood why some people get so upset about receiving email solicitations (aka, spam)... They are simply the 21st century version of the things that we've been receiving in our mail boxes since mail boxes were invented... It is especially puzzling that anyone in financial services would complain as we, by definition, are all solicitors of one sort or another...

I mean, seriously, the only reason that we call it spam is because we might not have an immediate need for that specific product/service... But, if we happen to need Viagra, a larger 'member', or a date with a person in a foreign country, the solicitation might actually be of benefit ;-)

This is just the price we pay for living in a free country and those who try to limit free speech in this area may quickly find that their free speech is limited too (in ways they never intended, like not allowing us to prospect to anyone that didn't contact us first)...

If you don't want spam, don't give out your email address to anyone. The easiest way to avoid this entirely is to have one email address that you use to communicate with 'friends' and another that you use to register for stuff on the internet (you can use people like yahoo, aol, msn, etc as they offer 100% free email accounts).

August 11, 2007 8:37 AM

Help Your Clients Burn Their Mortgages! Anyone Heard of This?

10-year Financial Services vet and entrepreneur SONNY GOLDFIN from New Jersey sent me some interesting information on a new value-added service you can offer your clients. After talking to Sonny at length I was convinced he is not a bandwagon-jumping sort of guy and is the kind who can see emerging trends. Has anyone else tried this?

If you are interested in finding out more- email me at advisorresource@aggies.com or post a message and I will have Sonny send you more information. Below is a letter from BrokerBanker.com founder BrianTopor regarding United First Financial's Money Merge Account.

Dear Friends:

As an experienced mortgage originator and Founder and Publisher of Broker Banker Magazine and BrokerBanker.com and CAMB member, I’ve come across every imaginable product designed to help mortgage originators generate more business. Some have been great; most have not. I have never personally and/or publicly endorsed any product.

However, I’m endorsing this one!

When I heard about United First Financial and the Money Merge Account, I became so intrigued about the possibility of this product being for real, that the following weekend I drove to Nevada to learn more and meet some of the upper management. After meeting and talking to Jonathan E. Bonnette, President of United First Financial and later meeting Skyler Whitman, Co-Founder, I realized these guys were onto the next “big thing” within the mortgage industry.

Here are some of the reasons I like, endorse, and now do business with this company:

1. It turned my personal “Interest Only” mortgage into a 17 year mortgage, where my family will own our home free and clear without spending additional money each month.

2. The Money Merge Account was piloted with 400 homeowners during 2005/2006 in Denver, Colorado and after a year of use, 98% of the homeowners who started the program were still using it. Plus, on average, homeowners did 20% better than projected!

3. Similar systems have been around and successful for over 10 years in Australia and other countries.

4. This Money Merge Account program is an amazing prospecting tool. What client wouldn’t return your call after you leave them a voicemail saying you have a new program that may help them eliminate 10-20 years off their current mortgage, without refinancing and without spending more money each month!

5. This program is also a competition eliminator!. Have you ever competed for a mortgage and you and another guy were offering similar rates? With this program, now you can tell the client you're competing for that you can also put them on a program that will have their house paid off in only 15 years (or whatever the number actually is) rather than the traditional 30 years your competitor is offering ,and BLAM!, that deal is yours!

6. Mortgage originators selling the Money Merge Account product are also reporting that when they get into numbers with their clients to run an Analysis... they're finding re-finance opportunities in about 1 in 5 loans. This gives you another opportunity to save money for your client.

7. I knew that when mortgage originators helped just a few past clients cut their mortgage in half (or whatever the actual amount is), those people would tell all their friends and family that their “mortgage guy” just shaved X amount of years off their loan and without any out-of-pocket expenses. I knew mortgage originator’s phones would soon be ringing off the hook with new clients from referrals.

8. I also like that mortgage originators can run their clients numbers, with an Money Merge Account analysis software provided to them, and based on their clients income and expenses, estimate how many years the Money Merge Account will knock off their client’s current mortgage before they purchase the Money Merge Account.

9. I also like that you need a HELOC in order to use the Money Merge Account and that mortgage originators could definitely help their clients obtain one.

10. After personally spending hours scouring the Internet, I found no bad press on United First Financial. Only great comments. The only time you will read something bad is when someone is guessing how the Money Merge Account works or suggesting their own ways of saving on mortgages. I never heard or read any negative comments from someone who actually purchased and is using the Money Merge Account. I’ve only read great comments.

11. The Better Business Bureau has processed "0" complaints in the last 36 months on United First Financial. This is really great since they now have over 6,034 homeowners using the Money Merge Account program as of 6/28/07.

12. G. Edward Griffin Author of “The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve” has recently endorsed the Money Merge Account with United First Financial.

On his website, he said “I have examined this program closely and am happy to conclude that, not only does it work exactly as the company guarantees, it is entirely ethical as well. So I decided to add the Money Merge Account to the Reality Zone. If you are making mortgage payments, I highly recommend that you check it out. You will be amazed at the huge amount of interest you can eliminate and how much sooner you can achieve true home ownership.”

13. I also love the fact that United First Financial has a 100% Money Back Guarantee and that the Money Merge Account will save the money indicated in the free analysis that people can get before purchasing.

Make no mistake about this product, Money Merge Account is for real; Money Merge Account is here. You can be the hero and save your clients huge amounts of money (and get paid very well) or your competitor can. It’s your choice.

Continued Success,

Brian Topor

Brian Topor

Founder/Publisher of Broker Banker Magazine and BrokerBanker.com

President of HT Powerbrokers, Inc.

Contact Tammy at tammy@afterdarkmarketing.com or advisorresource@aggies.com

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Newsbreak from Spam

I interrupt the "Spam series" to bring you a few bits of news...

MA'S Secretary Puts More Nails in Senior Designations Regulations- we certainly can expect other states to follow suit. Get the scoop- read the bureaucratese for yourself at:http://www.sec.state.ma.us/sct/sctpropreg/propreg.htm.

Interested in Seeing Ed Slott Live in Vegas for Free?- call Tammy at (978) 633-7140 or email advisorresource@aggies.com. I have been given information on how a few select advisors can attend this event without having to pay the usual $750 registration fee. You need to act now because there are only a few "slots for Slott" left.

Max Bolka (www.maxbolka.com) a pre-eminent business coach, trainer, and marketing guru will hold a marketing teleclass in October. Date to be determined, but you need to opt in to my e-newsletter now so I can give you registration details. Max's training will be sure to get you motivated and headed for that elusive next level. advisorresource@aggies.com.

Scott Brooks of www.rollovercoach.com reports that he is getting lots of positive feedback from his Rollover Coach program. Scott's program differs from Ed Slott's and focuses on a different aspect of the rollover arena.

Looking for a few good men and women- A start-up field marketing organization wants to put experienced, savvy, holistically-minded, honest advisors in front of lots of qualified prospects via an unusual niche marketing system. They need agents/advisors in Ohio, New York, Central California, Illinois, and Florida. If you are a person of high integrity who needs to see more people and enjoys the challenges of a start-up situation, email or call Tammy and I will hook you up with the principals. You MUST be an effective and confident speaker and be a flexible thinker as well. (978)-633-7140 or tammy@afterdarkmarketing.com.

The Contest is Still On- I'm still looking for the funniest seminar stories, presentation nightmares, technical snafus, client miscommunications, etc. Need some levity here, folks.

Brief History of the Spam-UVerse

While the idea of using the latest communications medium to bolster one's business is probably as old as civilization itself, modern spam's likely ancestor is the iconic Western Union.

In the late 19th century, Western Union allowed its telegraph lines to be used to send multi-user telegraphs advertising dubious investment opportunities to its wealthy clients. The impetus for allowing this was simply: cash or the promise of it.

It is the temptation of receiving large sums of cash which drives spam, after all, and the idea of allowing one's database to be co-opted in return for increased cash flow is just too much to resist.

In 1978, Gary Thuerk sent the first documented modern piece of "spam", setting off heated discussed across the nascent internet. At that time, the net was mostly a collection of eggheads, students, geeks in basements, and government workers who reacted with appropriate amounts of shock, dismay, and righteous indignation. (It always amazes me that they could be so naive as to think the internet would remain off limits to commercial exploitation.)

Internet veterans quickly labeled these multiple postings "spam", widely though to be a reference to a popular sketch by the British comedy group Monty Python's Flying Circus. (If you haven't seen it, rent the DVD and watch it- it is a hoot.)

In March of 1994, a couple of internet newbie immigration lawyers named Canter and Siegel used a Perl script written by a Phoenix programmer to generate advertisements for their service of doing paperwork for people wanting to participate in the US "Green Card Lottery."

Because there was no world wide web yet, Usenet Net Newsgroups (in which I participated myself ) were the recipient of Canter and Siegel's infamous multi-post.

Entitled "Green Card Lottery- The Final One?, it was sent to at least 6,000 Usenet discussion groups, which was a very large number at the time. I remember seeing that particular post on more than one newsgroup to which I belonged.

While I thought nothing of the post, and simply ignored it, net vets immediately struck back through the first large-scale use of software programs known as "cancelbots", which trawl Usenet and kill specific messages. Punishment was swift for the violation of unwritten Usenet etiquette, and Canter and Siegel wound up with a world of woe. They managed to bounce back somewhat by turning into spammers for hire and writing a book:

How to Make a Fortune on the Information Superhighway : Everyone's Guerrilla Guide to Marketing on the Internet and Other On-line Services.

Using today's standards, Canter and Siegel barely elicit a yawn . What is 6,000 compared to the hundreds of thousands which can now be sent out at once, after all?

Moreover, the green card scheme is tame when you compare it to the e-mails most of us get every day offering everything from pornography to internet gambling to samples of Viagra.

However, Canter and Siegel's gross breach of netiquette drew attention to the internet's possibilities as an advertising vehicle with enormous potential. With the emergence of AOL, which brought the internet to hundreds of thousands in a short period of time, spam was destined to become a new form of urban blight and in some cases, an extremely profitable way of getting one's message across.

Next: Spam defined- What it is and isn't

Opening A Big Old Can Of Spam, PT1

Opening a big old can of SPAM...PT1.

"If spam is an issue, it’s probably because you spend too much time surfing the internet, letting other people steal your email address and pummel you with unwanted messages. The antidote for spam is not just a spam blocker – it’s also the delete button.

Climb down off your high horse, recognize that at least 75% of spam is your own fault, and don’t use it as an excuse to be rude or unresponsive." Jeffrey Gitomer, sales trainer, nationally-recongized speaker, and author of the classic bestseller: LITTLE RED BOOK OF SALES.

by Tammy de Leeuw

Financial Advisors Netzone

Despite the fact that I have sent hundreds of emails advertising this blog site, I have been lucky to have only gotten a couple of negative emails decrying my "spamming." However, those emails were hostile enough to prompt me to address this controversial issue.

For financial services professionals, who are probably the single most spammed professional group in the world, the issue can be a bit tricky. After all, a lot of us want to be marketing savvy ourselves.

As Jeffrey Gitomer points out, those who whine about spam usually bring the situation on themselves. Financial advisors, in their quest for the SURE FIRE SOLUTION TO PUT BUTTS IN THE SEATS, seem to spend an awful lot of time attending "webinars", downloading FREE reports, filling out online forms for booklets, etc.

Perhaps the truly naive believe that such offers are made by some kindly old soul whose mission in life is to help financial professionals become super-successful and popular with seniors. (Uh, yeah... that's why they do it...)

Most of us, however, understand that advertising exists to bring attention to a product or service someone is trying to SELL. When I worked for that company-who-shall-not-be-named, the boss was a big fan of webinars and the attendant spam which was sent out by the thousands to get advisors to sign up.

The agenda for doing such webinars was far from hidden, yet there were always those who whined about the copius amount of email and junk mail they received after they attended.

Advisors- WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

Did you think my ex-boss-whose-name-shall-not-be-mentioned was doing this out of the kindness of his stone cold heart? He did it so he could get your information and continue to operate within the "window" allowed by law.

Ironically, some of the same people who complained bitterly about spam invading their work emails were the same folks who forked over big bucks to learn how to market (read "send spam and junk mail more effectively") to seniors. Crazy, isn't it?

In this series, I will examine the history of SPAM, why one man's SPAM is another man's treasure, why legitimate advertising is NOT spam, what the CANSPAM law really says, and much more.

I will give you tips and tricks and resources on how to reduce the flow of email and junkmail and also how to not miss offers you actually WANT to receive. Using the miracle of the Internet, you might be able to market your own services without getting tagged as a "spammer."

In the meantime, feel free to send me your SPAM stories. By this I mean- send me your favorite offers, most-hated spam, websites you visited once ten years ago which continue to spam you today, etc. Give me any tips and tricks you have used yourselves to alleviate spam.

TD

Pareto Platform On Referrals

Wanted to share another true advisor story, this time from my friends at Pareto Platform. This guy really has some terrific ideas on how to get your clients to do your prospecting for you! I have long advocated this type of relationship-based approach and this serves to illustrate that it can and DOES work when you do it properly.-td

An Advisor on the High Road: How One Advisor’s Consistent Client Service Generates Recommendations

By the Pareto Systems Team

In this article, we profile one Financial Advisor who uses a consistent and well thought-out client service plan to turn his current clients into raving fans, and who received seen a steady stream of qualified recommendations as a result.

Michael started his career with a large insurance firm in 1989, but after eight years he felt stifled by company policies and in-house products. “By going independent, I could represent myself as I saw fit, which was very important to me,” Michael told me in a recent interview.

Last year, Michael met with forty-eight prospective clients, and all but three opened accounts. While this statistic is impressive in itself, even more impressive is that forty-five of these interested investors called Michael first. “Your best clients are your sales force,” Michael maintains. “They are more than willing to send anyone to you if the topic ever comes up.”?

Michael doesn’t spend a cent prospecting; in fact, he says that “getting burned by prospecting early on was actually very good for me.” He considers the exercise a waste of time, energy and money. “I hired an assistant right away, something I considered a good investment, but I didn’t have money laying around for wasting on letters to strangers.”

What Michael has done is given his clients the tools to keep his name “top of mind,” so that it will easily come up in a conversation.

He makes sure that every client receives a customized portfolio binder with his or her name embossed on the cover (“this impresses the client more than anything else and shows that I pay attention to details”) and a three-hole punch for statements and articles.

The most popular section of the binder has proven to be “The Rules of Money,” a collection of common sense suggestions that deals with compounding, the importance of carrying little debt and so on .”Not exactly rocket science,” Michael says, “but people love it.” He has also invested in quality hardcover books for a lending library.

Last year, Michael created a unique wall calendar for his clients, again using the same common sense feel. It includes tax tips during tax season, RSP deadline reminders, more “Rules of Money”, etc. All forty-five referrals that Michael signed on last year resulted from his calendar and portfolio binder.

Here is an excerpt from the conversation Michael and I had:

Pareto: Some people are going to read this and think: “This would never fly with my clients.”

Michael: I went to one client’s house to drop a calendar off, and she asked me if she could have six more.

Pareto: What other events or campaigns make up your marketing plan?

Michael: It’s really straightforward. I make sure that everyone hears from me once a month, and I can tell you that everything I send is ”cheap and cheerful..” A birthday card one month, a 2-page newsletter the next, a magazine, a magnet, a call rotation.

In November, I host a client seminar and they are invited to bring a friend. This is about as close as I get in asking for a referral. The day after the seminar, I send everyone (even those who didn’t come) a summary of the meeting. That way, people get to see what happened, and it brings their guard down a little.

Pareto: What is going to change for you in the coming year?

Michael: I’ll need another assistant to keep up with demand, and I’d like to communicate a little more with all of my clients. Probably email alerts, and a webpage down the road. But I wouldn’t be sending recommendations; I’ll probably send messages that people will read and think, “Wow, I didn’t know that.? Then they’ll forward the email message to someone else.

Michael maintains that his approach to growing his business won’t change. He says that he will continue to invest money into his business and his clients. When I asked him if he expected to see another forty-five referrals this year, he replied:

“Probably more.”

Mail Issue Resolution- NEW EMAIL

My apologies to those of you who attempted to sign up for my electronic newsletter (which will start in September.) There was an email issue which I think I have resolved. If you did or do get bouncebacks, please sign up for the email at:

fanletter@hushmail.com

Sorry for any inconvenience. Also, any story ideas, leads, etc. can be sent to this address.

THANKS!

Lead and Seminar Systems- Vent Here and WIN!

Henry H. tells me that there is a pretty good place to post a report if you believe your lead or seminar service did you wrong. For the many who have contacted me about having had bad lead experiences, you can post a report on this site AND check to see if any company with whom you are doing business is listed in the database. This site is designed for the "bad guys" while I am wanting to highlight the good guys on this site.

http://www.ripoffreport.com

In other news, Tina at Seminar Direct (888-629-1919) tells me
she will give a significant discount to anyone needing seminar printing and prep in the wake of the Postmark Direct meltdown and also for readers of the blog.
Be sure to tell her you are from FAN to get special deals.

A while back, I had a contest for the craziest, funniest, scariest, weirdest seminar story. No one wanted to fess up in print (although I did get a few tall tales over the phone.) so I wanted to try again.

I will be emptying my office closet and giving out some goodies such as Joe Gilliam's excellent CD series "How to Handle Difficult People", a couple of Starbucks cards, some gourmet coffee, and a music CD.

All you have to do to enter is sign up for the new electronic newsletter, which will feature the people, places, and products you need to grow your business, get more referrals, and land the perfect mate (well, maybe not, but then again you never know...)

Simply email advisorresource@aggies.com. Give me your name, email, website if you have one, yada , yada, yada. I will put you on the e-list (which I do not rent or sell to anyone else) and you will get the electronic newsletter and blog digest each month.

Thanks for the support and don't forget to visit links listed on this site. They are the folks who pass muster and who are motivated to help you.

TD

Advisors as Leaders

Another short but sweet article from the fine folks at Pareto Platform online CRM. The more I use it, the more I like it. The knowledge base alone is worth the price. Todd V. is correct when he says for a lot of advisors, feeling overwhelmed is part and parcel of not having a 21st century office. Investing time and money in technology now can yield substantial savings in the future. Please let me know how you have saved time and money in YOUR practices. TD



The Leadership Challenge

By Duncan MacPherson, Co-founder, Pareto Systems

The moment your first client bought into your philosophy and empowered you to guide them, you became a leader, and to me, this is a big deal. Think about it: there is a good chance you are going to be in your clients' lives longer than any other professional they deal with.

You will help put who knows how many kids through college, and the advice you provide will affect several generations. Clearly, you have an important responsibility to your clients. What makes your job even more challenging – and interesting -- is that there is a substantial amount of delayed gratification tied to the solutions you provide. You a€™re not selling something that provides benefits today; you are providing clients with a promise for the future.

The Role of a Financial Advisor

Have you ever really thought about the magnitude of the role you play in your clients' lives? You don'€™t just manage money, you lead people. You manage your clients'€™ emotions and temper their expectations. For some clients, you'€™ve probably even become an important confidante. You are more than an objective and rational voice of reason; you guide your clients through a journey that will eventually transform their dreams into reality. You must occasionally marvel at this responsibility.

Peter Lynch said that successfully investing and managing your own money requires as much stomach as it does brains. When it comes to investing and managing someone else'€™s money, you need ten times the stomach. When you agree to be someone'€™s financial advisor, you accept the leadership challenge.

The Leadership Challenge

As a financial advisor, you accept responsibility for keeping your clients on track throughout the financial planning process, so that they can achieve their goals. For some clients, you literally have to protect them from themselves. Your clients'€™ friends and family members give them advice, and your clients may be tempted to act on these ideas.

Unfortunately, these ideas may sound enticing, but they are often flawed. Unsolicited advice like this can sabotage your well-crafted plan and wreak havoc on your clients'€™ financial futures. If you'€™ve read John Kenneth Galbraith'€™s book A Short History of Financial Euphoria, you know all about how dangerous it can be to €œrun with the wrong crowd. You need to protect your clients from the well-meant but poor advice of others.

You know how dangerous it is when investors start to believe the hype. Galbraith was right when he said, tongue firmly planted in cheek, that €œfinancial genius is a rising stock market. (I have a friend that isn'€™t quite so delicate. He says that €œeven turkeys can fly in a strong wind.)

When markets are good, people can second-guess their advisors and turn to online brokerages. Sadly, when markets shift, as they always do, then the stories inevitability come out about people who had their entire future invested in one company or sector and who watch their financial security evaporate.

You'€™ve read the stories of individuals who felt they had all the answers when it came to money when in fact they hadn'€™t even heard all the questions. You have resisted the urge to say €œI told you so when someone claims to be a victim of circumstance, when in fact they were victims of their own errors in judgment. It wasn'€™t the wind that blew them off course, it was the way the sails were set.

The Renaissance of Advice

Because you hear stories like this, you regularly encourage your clients to look past short-term events, and to focus on long-term outcomes. Sometimes you may worry that you sound like Charlie Brown'€™s teacher. After all, when you plead with your client not to get faked out by the fad of the year, your fail-safe value investment approach is not terribly exciting. Investment success is incremental, and you need to provide your clients with minor mid-course corrections while keep them focused on the beacon.

And there is a renaissance taking place: people are realizing the value of advice. Rather than focusing on what you cost, people are tuning into what you are worth. In the future, I think you'€™ll see fewer people calling you with an idea asking, what do you think? You'€™ll see more people responding to your suggestions by saying whatever you think.

Clients are recognizing financial advisors as leaders, and they are therefore becoming more receptive to the advice you provide. They feel good knowing that you have the knowledge to guide them through the financial planning process.

Accepting the Leadership Challenge

While people recognize the value of advice, they also need to trust the advice they are given. To earn your clients'€™ trust, you need to shift from a management to a leadership mindset. To do this, you need to focus on purpose just as much as on process. Steven Covey advises to €œbegin with the end in mind. When you do this, when you focus on purpose as well as process, your clients will have a clearer sense of why they are with you. They will acknowledge that you are their financial leader, and that you are important: you matter and your role has meaning and purpose.

Leadership can sometimes be thankless, because you sometimes need to protect people from themselves. You keep the fundamentals in place so that clients stick to a core philosophy which will turn their dreams into reality.

Leadership is also rewarding, however, because it is the fertilizer for organic growth. Your clients will only refer friends to you if they know it will reflect favorably on them.

If you provide sound advice and solid guidance, your best clients will become advocates for you, because they know that you will provide the same service to their family and friends. Clients know you will make them look good. Accept the leadership challenge and become referable!

Todd V. Is An OVER ACHIEVER!

Todd V. does it all! (and he had a bad experience with NF COMMUNICATIONS?? No way!!)



ToddV said... (writing about the recent demise of Postmark.com)

Tammy,

This story underlines why I decided to do all of my own postcard mailings for seminars, client appreciation, client info, etc...

I originally decided to take this on myself after having a fairly bad mailing with the former NFCom's seminar mailing service (fortunately, I was able to convince them to give me my money back)

I have my own bulk mail certificate, I use a 3rd party to print the postcards and mail them to me, and I get the names for mailing from a company in Florida that uses someone other than InfoUSA for leads (I also contract directly with TeleDirect so that they handle all of the inbound reservation calls)...

When it is all said and done, I am able to get this done for under 28 cents per invitation... Could I have someone else do it for me? Sure... Would it cost more?? You bet...

However, the main reason that I decided to take this on myself is that I never wanted to be in a position where I wasn't going to be able to do a seminar mailing simply because I was getting shafted by a vendor (or a vendor went out of business).

Todd V

Todd:

You are a SUPERMAN in the financial services arena! I think it is great that you are able to take on such a monumental task without compromising the time you have for other things.

However, a lot of advisors complain to me that they are overwhelmed, frustrated, and not able to put one more thing on their plate for fear of total meltdown.

For these folks (who I think comprise the vast majority of advisors) outsourcing to a reliable, reputable third party is simply the only way to go.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to find and highlight vendors who I feel have done right by their customers. This doesn't mean they never make mistakes or have off days, it means that whatever they break- they move heaven and earth to fix.

That is why I always tout SEMINAR DIRECT. I have gotten to know Tina and Doug Dixon and think they are honest, hard-working folks who really WANT their clients to succeed. Plus, they have been around a loooooooooooooooooong time (no offense, Tina LOL!) compared to most of the other seminar prep companies. They want to take those of you who have been burned by the NF's and Postmark's of the world and make it right.

In fact, Tina says for ANYONE who reads the blog and wants to try Seminar Direct, she will offer extra-special pricing and support. (1-888-629-1919) Just mention Financial Advisor Netzone and she will take you into the fold and make your presentations sp.arkle

Sometimes it is better to pay a bit more and spend your time on something better- like MAKING MONEY!

Water Cooler Talk

Postmark Direct- RIP?

It appears that Postmark Direct, one of the bigger players in the direct marketing business, has closed its doors.

Reliable industry sources tell FAN that Postmark Direct, long rumored to be on life support, is officially dead. FAN attempted to contact Postmark Direct's Houston headquarters numerous times for a statement but no one is picking up the phone there. Our emails have also gone unanswered.

This is bad news for anyone who is currently a client and may have items pending. If you or someone you know is a client of Postmark Direct and is left in the lurch, Seminar Direct is offering you special assistance and superior service to get the job done. Contact Tina Dixon for more information and be sure you mention the FAN blog to get VIP treatment. 888-629-1919.

Posted on Mon, Jul. 23, 2007

Legal Headaches for Allianz and More Bad PR for Annuities

Dan Margolies of the Kansas City Star reports on the massive lawsuit in motion for Allianz.

A massive case over annuities marketed by Allianz Life Insurance Co. will proceed as a class action following a recent ruling by a federal appeals court.

In a one-line order earlier this month, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the insurance giant’s request to appeal the trial court’s certification of the case as a class action.

Some estimates of the number of people who bought the annuities in question from Allianz and make up the class exceed 400,000.

Although the case was filed in Minneapolis, where Allianz is based, it was initiated in February 2006 by a retired school nurse in Lenexa, ..."

http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/201689.html