Fall 2010: I Carry The Bag

Issue 2 | Fall 2010

HYBRID WHOLEsaling Threat, Opportunity, or Both?

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Keys to Successful Business Planning

All I want for christmas is your job The Anonymous Internal offers some gift-giving ideas

How to Command an audience Great presentation skills will keep you out of the Sea of Sameness

AdAPT OR DIE: SECRET of the Mega-successful Do you have chameleon-like qualities that the great wholesalers have?

ATTN. Wholesalers: You are being Judged What do reps say about you after you leave the meeting?

PLUS Articles ON Year-End Getaways; Road Fitness, Becoming a Knowledge Ninja, and much more. www.icarrythebag.com

g/ n i nn ue a l s ss P al Is e sin urviv u B 11 day S 0 2 oli H

4th Quarter | FALL 2010 ISSUE TWO

Table of Contents

Editor-in-Chief/Publisher Rob Shore

Art Director Lynn Lee

www.lynnleedesign.com

Contributing Writers Mary Allen Peter Arethas Paul Bednar Tim Berry JB Bush Kathy Freeman Godfrey kasina Kip Gregory Scott Halford Kara Newman Ivy Naistadt Diana Rowe DeeAnne White

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Give Yourself the Gift of the Next Great Interview

By Kathy Freeman Godfrey

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All I Want for Christmas is Your Job, But I’ll Settle for…

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www.icarrythebag.com

Inside the Bag: Interview with Jim Jesse

Interested in advertising?

Please visit www.icarrythebag.com or call us at: 949-891-1117 For address changes, bulk subscriptions, media inquiries, general questions or comments call 949-891-1117 or email icarrythebag@gmail.com

I CARRY THE BAGTM is published quarterly

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514 San Bernadino Avenue Newport Beach, CA 92663 tel 949-891-1117

I Carry The Bag is a trademark of Rob Shore dba shorespeak. All content in this publication ©2010 shorespeak and is protected by international copyright law. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

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Hybrid Wholesaling: Threat, Opportunity, or Both?

By Kip Gregory

Holiday Travel for the Business Traveler’s Family

By Diana Rowe

Pass Me the Peppermint Bark

By Paul Bednar

By kasina

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You Are Being Judged

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How to Command an Audience

By Mary Allen

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To subsctribe, visit:

7 Keys to Year-End Inner Peace Become a Knowledge Ninja

Traveling with the Band

By Anonymous Internal Wholesaler

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By Peter Arethas

By Ivy Naistadt

Adapt or Die: The Secret of the Mega-Successful

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Holiday Must-Haves

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5 Keys to Business Planning Success

By JB Bush

Profiles of Great Wholesalers

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By Scott Halford

By Kara Newman

By Tim Berry

Living the Dream

By DeeAnne White

Library of Congress ISSN 2157-1155 (print) ISSN 2157-1155 (online)

Some photos appear under Creative Commons Attribution License: Careers http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcinmoga/ Anonymous Internal Wholesaler http://www.flickr.com/photos/genealogyphotos/ Lifestyle and Balance: http://www.flickr.com/photos/krikit/

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Pack Your Bag: Photo courtesy Carnaval de QuÈbec http://www. carnaval.qc.ca/

Profiles of Great Wholesalers: http://www.flickr.com/photos/papalars/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigdog3c/

Selling Skills: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8698814@ N04/4133879691/

Presentation Skills http://www.flickr.com/photos/anirudhkoul/ Adapt or Die: http//picasaweb.google.com/motiba64

Business Planning http://www.flickr.com/photos/dahlstroms/ A Life Beyond Wholesaling http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattu/

letter from editor Every year at about this time I shake my head in amazement and think

Nine full months of hard work and success are behind us, and most folks I know are in full fourth quarter gear trying to finish out 2010 with a flourish.

With the holidays fast approaching and the 2011 business planning season already in motion, we dedicate this issue to these two topics.

This quarter we are fortunate to have fantastic guest contributors, in addition to our outstanding regular columnists. One of the most prominent consulting firms in our business, kasina, writes a thought- provoking piece on the continuing evolution of hybrid wholesaling and what it means for traditional wholesalers and firms. On the business planning front Tim Berry, the founder of Business Plan Pro, shares his thoughts with ICTB about the five keys to business planning success. Scott Halford uses his extensive experience in the area of Emotional Intelligence to offer us insights into adaptation – one of the success traits of the greatest wholesalers. Finally, Peter Arethas reminds us that we are being judged each time we leave a meeting and offers a look at what the criteria for judgment might be.

This quarter we introduce our readers to Ivy Naistadt; she wrote the book on becoming a natural and confident communicator. Her column is dedicated to making you the best platform speaker possible.

In the spirit of the holidays: Paul Bednar makes sure we know how to offset those celebrations with a doable exercise routine, Kara Newman suggests some must-have gifts, Diana Rowe contributes year- end places to get away and decompress, Kathy Freeman wants to give you the gift of a great next interview, and Life Coach Mary Allen has seven secrets to finding year-end inner peace.

Oh, and the Anonymous Internal has a few insights on gift giving for your internal partner!

As you look ahead to 2011, Kip Gregory describes how knowledge journaling will up your game, JB Bush has a word or two about those goals you plan to set for the coming year, and as you use the last few weeks of the year to contemplate what’s ahead, DeeAnne White asks if you really are ‘living the dream.’

On behalf of everyone affiliated with I Carry the Bag, we thank you for your readership and wish you and yours the very best for the season ahead and the New Year that follows.

In this issue we start a new column, Profiles of Great Wholesalers, which offers a more intimate look at some of the best in our industry.

Our Inside the Bag column brings you a great discussion with Jim Jessee, President of MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. Jim carried the bag for 15 years and shares some important and timeless wisdom gleaned from both his experience in the field and his leadership of a team of wholesaling professionals.

Of course, our regular columnists have also written great articles.

I CARRY THE BAG | FALL 2010 | 33

By Kathy Freeman Godfrey

Give Yourself the Gift of the Next Great Interview With the end of the year approaching, I find that my phone begins to ring with those reaching out to contemplate their career strategy for the next year. Looking forward, whether you might find yourself interviewing internally for your next big promotion or externally to enhance your career trajectory, I’ve outlined the following 5 steps to set you up for the best possible outcome.

1) Identify your objective and preferred outcome prior to the meeting.

Just like a terrific presentation or a great meeting with a prospect, you first need to line up your thinking and strategy for the interview around your desired outcome. Is it to get to the next interview? Do you have a chance to get the job? Is it gaining the confidence of the CEO in order to get the promotion?

2) Create credible talking points around your capabilities and skills.

Create bullet point items that your interviewer can write down, that will make sense for him or her as strengths in someone they would want to see take advantage of their opportunity. Many people believe that a good interview means primarily developing a good relationship with the person with whom they are meeting. Are there commonalities like similar colleges, hometowns, or favorite sports teams? While these components are important, you need to remember that once the aura of the pleasant conversation wears off, and the interviewer has met with several other candidates, you want him or her to be able to reflect on the content that is behind the personality.

If you have made a point of presenting your strengths and capabilities in a clear and concise fashion that will ensure they get transcribed to paper, those strengths will jump off the page long after your personality has faded from the interviewer’s mind.

3) Be specific in the support details for your bullet points. Think of a memorable but succinct story that visually sets you apart from colleagues.

One of the characteristics that is always certain to win you attention in an interview is

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the ability to think out of the box. Someone who can look at an age-old problem with a new perspective that proves successful is a huge plus, so reference an example for that strength, share a story that will illustrate this capability and simultaneously demonstrate the depth and memorability you desire. As an example, everyone hates to cold call but everyone needs to build new relationships to thrive in sales. If you share a visual of an email letter of introduction that you created and leveraged consistently in your market, a letter that was directly responsible for bringing in a substantial amount of new relationships and new assets, you will have further substantiated yourself as a contender for the role.

5) Close on yourself. Don’t forget that interviews are tests. If you don’t close the interviewer, they won’t have confidence in your ability to close with the client.

It’s such a small piece of the overall interview, but how the meeting ends can often be the most important and telling component of the session. While it takes good questions and thoughtful answers for a solid interview, the most important question you can ask is the one at the end. The following is just an example of an opportunity to sum up the meeting without being too aggressive or putting anyone on the spot:

“Are you comfortable that my capabilities would be an asset to your team or to this role, or are there any hesitations or reservations that I have yet to address?”

Your intuitive ability to read their answer and body language will tell you what isn’t being said.

4) Be a contributor to your audience’s best interests – what are their needs and what are they trying to accomplish? What can you give back to them whether they choose you or not?

Leadership today struggles with ongoing changes and challenges that they have not faced in previous years. Prior to the interview, put yourself in their shoes. What is it that you know, information you’ve gleaned, a relationship that you’ve developed, a business lead you can pass on, or even a strategy that you can share, that will show them that you are a business partner capable of thinking beyond your own world and for the betterment of others and your firm. This approach is sure to set you apart.

As you make your way into 2011, take a moment to rethink your career goals. If interviewing either internally or externally appears to be on the horizon in the coming months, think ahead to ensure you have put the very best foot forward. Since there’s only one shot to make a good first impression, and there’s not a more important focus than your career, take the time to prepare and give yourself the gift of a great interview. Best of luck!

Kathy Freeman Godfrey is the President of The Kathy Freeman Company, a retained executive search practice she opened in 1992 to focus her work exclusively within the investment industry.

Since that time, she has completed hundreds of assignments working with premier firms across the country in asset management, wealth management, service provider organizations and investment technology. Functionally, Kathy works with senior sales and marketing executives where she can leverage her extensive assessment process to ascertain for her clients, best in class talent for their firms.

All I Want For Christmas is Your Job, But I’ll Settle For… It goes without saying that the unsung heroes of any successful year in wholesaling are your overworked and undercompensated internal partners.

Before you decide that this is a diatribe about how we think that we should make more money, or have the luxury of playing golf twice a week during the summer, these are simply a few thoughts on how you can focus your holiday shopping on what we really want.

To be clear, we don’t always expect you to do something outlandish. Although, if we exceeded 100% of our territory’s annual sales goal, and I don’t happen to be a lazy, incompetent slacker, something worth bragging about to our friends would be nice.

Besides, sometimes we return the favor.

Having the best year of your career? Did we kill it with the launch of a closed-end fund or exceed our sales goal by enough that you’re being recognized at the National Sales Conference? Then we really hope that you are going to shell out a few extra dollars (Rupees, Yuan, or shares of GLD), and know us well enough for the gift in question to have some meaning. A Cartier watch would be great, but it’s not something we are realistically expecting. A custom made suit, or other bespoke apparel, from places like www.customsuitsyou.com are a good start.

Tickets to see our favorite sports team are also a safe bet. If your Internal is female, tickets are still good, but spa packages or the latest in designer, work-appropriate handbags would also do the trick.

Not a career-making year, but still pretty good?

Wine is a great way to say, “Cheers, your efforts were appreciated!” If you want to be a little more personal, you can check out a variety of “Of the Month Clubs” at www.

amazingclubs.com. Choose anything from Beer, Cigar, or BBQ Sauce of the Month Clubs. This monthly gift installment, if you were unaware, is a great way to motivate us to run those few extra hypothetical illustrations or compose the handwritten thank you notes for which we will let you take credit.

The ever-increasing hectic pace of balancing work and extra work, dating co-workers, drinking with co-workers until we start working again, and still having time to feed the dog, do the laundry, and go grocery shopping is a little overwhelming. Increase our quality of life, and you will simultaneously generate higher productivity from us. An outsourced concierge service may sound expensive, but you would be surprised. For as little as $39.99 a month, Red Butler (www.redbutler. com) can take care of those little errands, so long as your Internal can afford the Leer Jet he requested at 4:30AM. (Offer code “GAPLR” for an exclusive discount) But who are we kidding? CASH IS KING! Too busy finishing your business plan for next year to shop? Don’t fret! We accept all forms of cash, AMEX Gift Cards, or Bearer Bonds.

AMEX Gift Cards, just in time for New Year’s Eve. The subsequent bottle service and limo that he afforded us resulted in a special thank you note. When he awoke on New Year’s Day, while we were just about to finally pass out, his inbox rang out “You’ve Got Mail!” At HER suggestion, my travel companion posed for a rather scandalous photo shoot that evening, which she insisted we send him immediately as a way to say, “Thank you, we think you deserve this!” Needless to say, he was delighted with his digital thank you card…until his wife saw the e-mail and called me to verify that it was a joke I had played on him, and that he was not having an affair with a 23 year old!

Oh, wait, we didn’t have a killer year in sales?

If you don’t want the next twelve months to have a run rate like the prior year’s, then you should probably send us something!

I did say something about returning the favor, right?

I once had an external partner who wanted to make damn sure that I had a fantastic time on vacation with my “travel friend.” He went out of his way to find out where I was staying and he overnighted me $500 in

The Anonymous Internal Wholesaler, M2M, began his career as a Financial Advisor.

Working out of an Independent Division Firm in their NYC office. M2M was recruited to his current employer just before the last Bull Market ended. Anonymity was decided upon so that he could write bluntly and honestly about the views of Internal Wholesalers, without fear of offending External Partners, or reprisals from Managers referenced.

I CARRY THE BAG | FALL 2010 | 55

7

Keys to Year-End Inner Peace (Yes, it IS possible)

By Mary Allen CPCC, MCC With a few months left in the year, the finishing line for 2010 is in sight. (((Breathe))).

But, let’s get real… fourth quarters typically ooze with hard to ignore year-end stressors.

You’re either behind on your sales goal or the pressure is on to keep your #1 ranking, right? The holiday season demands more entertaining and more client events, so there is even less “productive” time available.

Throw in added family commitments, a few annoying relatives, and a dash of holiday shopping, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a stress-induced heart attack. As if your job wasn’t challenging enough.

But, this year can be different for you.

Just because 99% of your colleagues will get caught up in the pressure to perform, gain 25 pounds, lose a few more hairs and have needless arguments with spouses because they’re running on fumes, it doesn’t mean you have to follow suit.

Use these 7 keys to help you navigate the year’s end with greater inner peace.

1. Be Clear. Decide right now that you’re going to have the most productive and peaceful fourth quarter ever. What are your top objectives between now and December 31, 2010? You may have already written down business goals, but what about the rest of your life? My most successful clients also make health, family and personal growth a priority. Envision your healthy choices, quality family time, and grounded presence in challenging situations. If you can see it, you can live it.

Set yourself up for your strongest finish yet.

2. Turn Pressure into Inspiration. When we resist challenges, we feel pressure. When

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we take on challenges with gusto, we get inspired – becoming more focused, creative, and resourceful. Rise above the normal stressors and take on the fourth quarter like an Olympic athlete. Confident. Clear.

Centered. And inspired to give your best!

3. Make Exercise a MUST! If there is only one quarter you commit to exercise, make it this one. Remember, just 12 minutes of cardio a day is enough to dramatically affect your well-being. Not only will it guarantee time for yourself, it will positively impact your bottom line. Exercise stimulates the brain, making it easier to focus, increasing your productivity, and allowing you (and your brain) to be even more available for your clients. You’ll have loads more energy and reduce stress.

In addition, you’ll counterbalance the additional calories consumed at all those extra parties. Commit to exercising 3-5 times a week; you’ll be glad you did.

4. Indulge in Massage. You know you deserve it, and 60-90 minutes of massage works wonders in rebalancing your body, relaxing tense muscles, and giving you time to shut off your busy mind. Schedule three massages for yourself, right now. Do this before the rest of the year is spoken for.

That’s one for October, one for November, and one for December. Don’t already have a masseuse to call? Ask friends for referrals. Making self-care a priority pays extraordinary dividends. See for yourself.

5. Shop Early. Right now, make a list of all the clients, family, and friends you want to acknowledge this year with a gift.

Wine for wine-lovers. SkyMall catalog for “hard to buy for” loved ones. Gift cards for everyone else. Looking for something

more personal? Buy digital photo frames and load them with “magic moments” in minutes.

6. Expect History to Repeat Itself – With a Smile. As sure as cats meow and dogs bark…your “criticizing” relatives will be, uh…“critical.” Expect them to be who they are, and who they are “not.” When Uncle Frank starts pontificating about the glooms-day economy, and he can’t seem to hear anyone else’s point-of-view – you could allow your blood to boil. Or, you could smile and say, “Ah, there goes Uncle Frank being Uncle Frank.” Don’t waste precious energy fighting the reality of others’ behaviors and personalities.

7. Get Support. Breaking old patterns of stress can be challenging on your own.

Tap into the expertise of others to find solutions, perspectives, and ways to meet your objectives with ease. Top producers don’t do it all themselves. Dozens of resources are a phone call away. Managers, colleagues, and coaches are waiting to support your success and your inner peace.

Commit to each of these simple keys starting now. You really can experience “year-end inner peace.” And, it sure beats stress and suffering.

Mary Allen, CPCC, MCC is author of The Power of Inner Choice, host of Conversations with the Masters, and leader for workshops and retreats, including the Inner Peace Immersion Retreat (4 days) and Awakening Beyond Achievement (1-day events in five cities).

Mary is available for one-on-one coaching – mary@lifecoachmary.com.

I CARRY THE BAG | SUMMER 2010 | 17

By Kip Gregory

Become a Knowledge Ninja If managing time more efficiently is your New Year’s resolution, here’s a proven approach that won’t cost you a penny. Imagine having a single place where you could catalog and organize all the snippets of stuff you need to perform your job, without having to search for or create it… something you’d have instant access to any time you wanted: killer sales ideas, talking points on products, an inventory of your firm’s value-added content—you name it. That kind of tool could make you a “knowledge ninja” in the eyes of your advisors, and easily put hours of selling time back into your week.

Now suppose you could create that system in five minutes or less, with software you already own and use every day… would you invest the time to learn how?

The tool I’m describing is called a knowledge journal—a file for cataloging anything from best practices to conference notes to whatever else you might refer to regularly. Over the years, I’ve taught thousands of wholesalers and advisors how to use a knowledge journal to conquer two common enemies of effective time management: information overload and unnecessary rework.

You can build and maintain a journal in Microsoft Word by following a few simple steps…

1. Create a new document.

Call it “My Journal.doc” and save it on your desktop so you’ll know where to find it.

2. Start collecting important information in the document.

Make a short list of key things you want to keep , then type, insert or copy and paste that content into your journal file. For example: • Your business plan or marketing calendar • The best sales ideas you’ve heard over the last six months • Web sites that cater to wealthy client niches and how to use them.

3. Add and format headings.

Type a brief heading describing each journal entry (insert 3 or 4 blank lines after each heading for easier reading). Click on each heading you add, then press and hold Ctrl + Alt + 1 simultaneously on your keyboard. The text style of that line will change from “Normal” to what Word calls “Heading 1” (you should notice the size and font type of that text change).

4. Insert a table of contents.

Building a table of contents (TOC) from your headings is what makes your journal such a powerful information management tool. Through the magic of hyperlinks, Word’s TOC function allows you to jump instantly from the TOC to any section within the file just by clicking on the heading listed in the table. Then you no longer need

to scroll through pages of notes to find a specific idea.

To include a TOC, move your cursor to the beginning of the file (pressing Ctrl + Home simultaneously on your keyboard is the fastest way to get there). In Word 2007, go to References and click on Table of Contents in the Table of Contents group, then select one of the built-in TOC styles. [In Word XP, on the main menu select Insert, then Reference, then Index and Tables. A small window will open on your screen; select the tab labeled “Table of Contents,” then “OK.” Instantly, Word will create a TOC that includes hyperlinks to each entry and the page number where it’s found.]

5. Keep your TOC up-to-date.

Whenever you add new content to your journal (i.e. given a section a heading and assigned the Heading 1 style following the steps described above), put your cursor anywhere within the existing TOC (which will have a gray background). Then press F9. A small dialog box will appear. Select “Update the entire table.” Word will adjust your TOC to reflect the additions you have made.

While it may take you a moment to digest these instructions, believe me, they are worth learning—and once you understand them, sharing them with your advisors. We use this approach regularly to help client companies and their wholesaling teams catalog and share the bright ideas that get exchanged at sales meetings so they actually get implemented after everyone’s back in the field. If you want to learn how, email me at kip@gregory-group.com.

Time and knowledge are two of a wholesaler’s most precious assets.

Make a commitment to journaling in 2011 and you will leverage both to maximum advantage!

Kip Gregory is the founder of The Gregory Group, a Washington, DCbased consulting firm that helps wholesaling organizations and their distribution partners improve sales productivity and profitability by unleashing the power of resources they already own. You can reach him at kip@gregory-group.com or connect with him via LinkedIn at http:// www.tinyurl.com/link-to-kip. © 2010 Kip Gregory, The Gregory Group. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

I CARRY THE BAG | FALL 2010 | 77

with Jim Jesse of the ‘80s and the early part of the ‘90s actually remind me of what we’re going through today. After the crash in October of ‘87, there was a period of time when trying to convince anybody to invest in equities was very difficult. Fixed income investments became the rage with individual investors.

Also in the early ‘90s, wholesaling involved more “hand-holding” with advisors; which is consistent with what our field has been doing for much of the 2000’s .

Each quarter our Inside the Bag column talks to senior leaders in financial services distribution to get their views on the state of wholesaling. Our primary requirement for the leaders we interview is that they must have carried the bag. This quarter we are speaking with Jim Jessee, President of MFS Fund Distributors, Inc. ICTB: Where and for whom did you carry the bag? And how far back do we have to go, Jim? JJ: I wholesaled for MFS in the wirehouse channel in the Carolinas and Georgia for a 15-year period from 1987 to the end of 2001. Prior to that, I was a group representative for an insurance company, selling into the bank marketplace.

ICTB: How do you compare wholesaling circa the ‘90s, when we had the run-up of the Dow from 3000 to 9000, along with consumer interest in mutual funds that was skyrocketing?

JJ: In the second half of the ‘90s we hit a period where the equity markets were pretty crazy. We would have advisors and individual investors question why a fund was “only” up 30 or 35 percent for the year! But I would say the latter part

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What was different then is that the broker dealer firms did not offer much in the way of platforms. It was primarily the individual advisor making the security selection. They would choose which growth fund or value fund they were going to recommend to clients. Today one of the big changes has been the growth of advisory platforms and understanding where you’re available, how you’re available, and who your main competitors are on those platforms.

Lastly, from the mid-’80s to mid-’90s if you were speaking at a public seminar, you probably spent a significant part of the time explaining to investors just what a mutual fund was and how it operated.

ICTB: I remember that it wasn’t just the investor base, the public customer base, which needed that education. Depending on your channel, your advisor needed that education, too.

JJ: Definitely. Similarly, over the last couple of years I think there has been a little bit of re-education we have had to do, not so much with advisors, but with the public.

When they hear about hedge funds in the financial press, and some of the problems that have occurred

there, we needed to make sure they understand the difference between a ‘40’s Act mutual fund and a hedge fund.

ICTB: FundFire did a story about how wholesalers represent products to advisors, whether they’re pitching those products on a performance based discussion platform or on an investment process based platform. What’s your attitude on that?

JJ: For the last year we have spent a lot of time within our field formalizing the consistency we have in describing our investment process to clients. In fact, we’ve traveled the country and worked with each wholesaler to make sure he or she was comfortable explaining our investment approach. We rated them and actually gave an award at our field force meeting to the division that had the highest aggregate scores.

The institutional client, to some degree, often foreshadows what’s going to come through the retail marketplace. Institutional buyers want to make sure they understand very clearly what the manager’s investment process is before they even consider the results of that process.

It can get really challenging when you have an asset manager that owns or uses a series of different boutique managers that could all potentially have different investment processes. In that case it’s a lot harder for their field force to describe multiple sub-advisors that they may use, because each one could have a very different investment process. At MFS it’s fairly straightforward because we are an organic company by nature - with a centralized global research platform that is used by all of the investment teams.

ICTB: This past summer Horse’s Mouth and kasina reported on their FA Vision about advisors and ‘advocates.’ They indicated that wholesaler advocates have financial intermediaries that do business with the firm and would strongly recommend the firm’s wholesalers.

According to this study, 49.2% of respondents said they would be an advocate of MFS, which places you in the number one position.

What are MFS wholesalers doing that leads to this strong advocacy?

JJ: Thank you, because I was obviously very pleased to see that result. I strongly believe in the difference a great wholesaler can make. From all the talk in our industry about asset manager decision-making being centralized, and perhaps that the relationship doesn’t matter, I still think a great wholesaler does add a lot of value.

We have done a lot of surveying of advisors where we ask them what is impactful to them and what they want from their relationship with MFS. One of the things that we have heard is that advisors have a great interest in wholesalers helping them build their business. This could be new client acquisition, or simply giving them ideas to better service their existing book of clients. Passing along industry best practices is also highly valued.

We spend a lot of time with our field making sure that we’re doing those things thoughtfully. Many times this comes down to a smart wholesaler, just watching and observing what their best advisor teams are doing - and then sharing those ideas with other clients. So, it’s not necessarily a brochure, or value- added presentation that’s got to be created out of a corporate marketing department.

The other consistent request that came from the survey is

that advisors definitely want the wholesaler to have a more global perspective about industry issues.

They would like the wholesaler to have a view of what’s going on in the industry and be able to have a thoughtful conversation regarding industry trends. As an example, today there are lots of questions about the future of the fiduciary standard potentially being applied to the broker-dealers. We continue to hear talk about 12(b)(1) reform, and the impact on various share classes. We are trying to arm our field with a perspective of some of the larger industry issues, so that when people do have an interest in those things they understand what the key points are and what our view is on them

have a team covering DCIO and a small RIA effort. Add that to the insurance sub-advisory business, and we’re at about 98 right now.

We’ve tried to maintain good consistency and continuity in our wholesaler coverage of the advisors. There are times when changes have to be made, so I’m not implying that our territories and the personnel haven’t had occasional adjustments, but we tend to have a longer tenured wholesaler than most of our competitors. We have intentionally not made dramatic overhauls to the field which would mean rebuilding longterm relationships. We have many wholesalers that have been in the territory with us for over 20 years.

The other person who comes to mind is not exactly a traditional mentor relationship, but my brother Tom had started wholesaling with MFS two years earlier than I did. He was covering Virginia and D.C., so we were peers. He and I spoke nearly every day. He was somebody that I’d bounce ideas off of and hear what was working for him. Although our personal styles were a tad different, we had a very similar philosophy towards the core elements of doing the job successfully.

Lastly, MFS has tried to avoid lots of product-focused sales campaigns.

We have a good range of funds and I don’t really see the need for us to go out to our field and say, “Folks, it’s Tuesday. Let’s all go talk to our advisors about the Value Fund today.” Ultimately we don’t care if a client is going to buy our value fund, utility fund, an international fund, or a fixed income fund. We need to listen to what the advisors are doing and then figure out what we’ve got that may fit. And I think that’s served us well.

ICTB: What is the total number of wholesalers in your shop?

JJ: If you add up the banks and independents, plus the wires, there are about 72 individuals. We also

ICTB: Who was your most influential mentor?

JJ: I’ve been fortunate. My first several sales managers were all very good, but there are two people in particular that come to mind. One is Dick Gandy. Dick was one of the original wholesalers hired by MFS back in the early 1970s. He was the person who brought me into the business and was definitely somebody that I learned an awful lot from. I still find myself thinking a lot about the lessons that he passed along.

ICTB: What is an item (or two) that resonates from each of your mentors?

JJ: Dick reinforced to me the respect and importance of the role of the wholesaler, and the impact that you could have on clients when the job is done properly. Inevitably there were lots of distractions, and the certain amount of negativity that existed in the branches- which is probably typical in any type of sales operation. He stressed how important it was to be positive and forward-thinking, and to help advisors do business.

I cringe when I hear somebody say, “Well, he’s ‘just’ a wholesaler, she’s ‘just’ a wholesaler,” because I was taught that it was a highly respected and highly important job.

And I still believe that very much today.

Also, I never heard Dick talk about the financial rewards of the job although I’m sure he did quite well.

What he did talk about was more of the value of what we were doing every day to help clients, and to me that was a much more effective long-term motivator than the idea of what my income could be..

With my brother, it was the consistency of how he did the job, of doing it right day in and day out.

That’s a major difference between the “great” and the “not-so-great” wholesaler. There are periods of time when nearly every sales person can be very effective, but the below average wholesaler doesn’t consistently perform at that high level every day. This is a job where every single day you’re being evaluated. You can’t have an off day, so with Tom I think the consistent approach and process he took about being in the territory in front of advisors was a very important lesson.

ICTB: As you think about how our industry will change and adapt over the course of the next five to ten years, how, specifically, do you think the wholesaling landscape will change?

JJ: Generally, I do think the wholesaler business is going to become more institutional, in terms of the complexity of the conversations and the knowledge of the portfolios. We’ve certainly seen it move in that direction in recent years.

Also, there will be a lot more complexity going forward around the income solutions. The accumulation stage is frankly easier in some respects than trying to figure out how to get the money out. The great wholesalers five to ten years from now are going to be very good at understanding the different sources of income, the sequencing of accounts, and the appropriate types of investment vehicles.

The best wholesalers need even stronger processes around which they run their business. Yes, I had to be organized 20 years ago, but I wasn’t competing against 20 people calling the wirehouse branch manager trying to get in and do a meeting that day. The marketplace is so crowded today that as a wholesaler, if you don’t have your territory rotation scheduled out for the next two to three months, you’re not going to get into the right branches and advisors . It is critical to establish a very strong process around running your business, how you work through the territory, how you service existing advisors, while at the same time bringing in new clients.

Finally, what further separates the great from the not-so-great, is that top-performing wholesalers have a very good ability to work in a team selling environment. That’s the other thing that came to mind when you asked me what’s different about the business today. You could have argued it was somewhat of a “lone wolf” mentality 20 years ago.

You’d go out and you’d do your job and hopefully you’d get the trade, but today there are many people from MFS that could be interacting with that advisor. It’s not just you; it’s your sales desk partner, it could be somebody on our DCIO team, or one of our variable insurance people working with an insurance wholesaler at another firm. There are many touch points to the relationship. I think wholesalers that can operate cohesively in a team selling environment - and what I mean by that is sharing information, being responsive to what the other members of the team are doing - are going to be the people who do really well. I don’t think the “lone wolf,” at least with a large, complex organization like MFS, can keep up.

ICTB: The insights that you’ve offered to our readers are significant. On behalf of I Carry The Bag subscribers, thank you.

I CARRY THE BAG | FALL 2010 | 99

By Diana Rowe

PACK YOUR BAG

Holiday Travel

for the Business Traveler’s Family

Many wholesalers take the holiday season to finally decompress from the demands of the job. Yet moving from business travel to a family vacation mindset can be difficult.

This holiday season, you should leave your matter-of-fact travel logic behind. Kick back and enjoy the ride with the family. The best approach is to select a vacation destination not associated with your business travel, so you won’t be tempted to stray, even mentally, into work.

According to the 2010 ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) Research Family Survey earlier this year, Orlando, Florida followed by Las Vegas, Nevada remain the top two destinations for the past eight years. These two destinations are offering remarkable rates never before seen. Others that topped the list include San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. In addition to the above-mentioned cities, here are my top 6 picks for your holiday travel; all include accommodations fit for families and couples, from luxury hotels to condos.

Winter Wonderlands More than slot machines and showgirls, Lake Tahoe (www.skilaketahoe.com) is perfect for families who love to play in the powder.

Located on the California/Nevada border in

the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the larger ski areas – Heavenly Valley, Squaw Valley, and Alpine Meadows – boast 70 percent of terrain for intermediate and beginner skiers.

If downhill skiing isn’t your game, Lake Tahoe also offers snowshoeing, tubing, ice skating, dog sledding, sleigh rides, and guided snowmobile rides. Just had a career year?

Celebrate by staying at the new Ritz Carlton Highlands. (www.tinyurl.com/RitzTahoe)

swans, you’ll huddle together in front of a crackling fireplace at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Make your first early morning wake-up call a wolf-tracking quest, courtesy of the Yellowstone Association Institute.

Along the way you’ll see geysers, mud pots, mountain and valley views. Plan a side ski trip to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (www. jacksonhole.com), and you will have a full plate of family fun.

Québec City (www.bit.ly/QuebecCityWinter) is the world’s snow capital. For a late holiday getaway you, too, can experience the world’s largest winter carnival in beautiful Québec City (www.carnaval.qc.ca/en). From January 28 to February 13, 2011, the family-friendly, festive atmosphere spans 17 days, including a slew of activities for all ages such as music, dancing, colorful shows, snow baths, night parades, snow slides, giant foosball, outdoor movies, snow sculptures, shows, sleigh rides, skating, and an ice palace. Mix in a historic city that is sure to please families and travelers of all ages.

Beach Breaks No passport? No problem in Tropical Paradise a.k.a. Hawaii. One of Frommers.com’s best picks for family hotels or resorts is the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa, Oahu, (www.bit.ly/alohaHI) for their Rainbow Express, Hilton’s year-round daily program of activities for children ages 5 to 12. On the Big Island, check out Kona Village Resort (www.konavillage.com), a parent’s dream with custom programs for tots to teens at no additional charge. With dinner seating for children, Mom and Dad can even enjoy a romantic dinner for two.

Pictures truly underestimate the wintery beauty of Mother Nature at Yellowstone National Park (www.nps.gov/yell), beginning with classic transport via Xanterra Parks & Resorts snowcoach. After a day of snowmobiling or watching wildlife including bison, elk, moose, coyote, and trumpeter

Mexico’s Riviera Maya (www.rivieramaya.com) is family-friendly and flip-flop ready. This 75mile Caribbean coast is one hot vacation spot with its combination of all-inclusives (Real, Riu and Barcelo), high end (Fairmont Mayakoba) and boutique hotels (The Tides). Add in the nearly unlimited activities, from snorkeling continue on page 12…

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>

>

Pass Me the Peppermint Bark

By JB Bush

Ah, the holiday season – my favorite time of year. Multiple parties with friends and family, filled with fantastic food and drink, all of which leads to laughter and the dreaded expanded waistline. At some point during the festivities there comes that moment, whether it be New Year’s Eve, a Friday afternoon in December, or in the middle of a holiday party, where the previous 12 months roll by in your head, like a movie with you in the starring role, playing back all of the good and not-so-good moments of the past year.

As we wrap up our respective 2010’s and look forward to the New Year, we will go to the table of life with good spirits and good intentions. We begin with high hopes and a blank script, along with a desire and a commitment to craft a better ending than this year’s movie. It is a time of unparalleled optimism as most of us begin the selfchatter of what we will do differently in the coming year and jot down our New Year’s

resolutions, while we reach for our last piece (we promise) of peppermint bark.

Some of you are familiar with how the script plays out - you hit the gym a few times in January, diligently read and apply the lessons in I Carry the Bag, drink your 8 + glasses of water a day, rearrange your sock drawer, buy the Berlitz tapes to finally learn Italian. Fast forward to April: you need your GPS to find the gym, 8 glasses of water a week sounds impressive, that sock drawer has become a collection area, and the only Italian word you know is Buon giorno.

What do we need to do differently to make these desired behaviors stick? With our busy schedules, we can’t simply snap our fingers and make it true (although I like that idea). The key is to know where you want to go and map out how to get there. People with clear and concise written goals simply accomplish more, in a shorter timeframe, than those that don’t have their goals

mapped out.

You know all the sayings: fail to plan, plan to fail; a good plan today is a better than a perfect plan tomorrow, etc. The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them or ever consider them as believable or achievable. For many, the risk of “dweebhood” in carrying around a list of written goals becomes just another excuse.

Writing things down makes things happen.

My common thread in all matters both business and personal that relate to change is that the approach needs to be simple, specific and sustainable. Personally, I like bucket-goal setting in three primary areas: business, personal and family.

Business: Before you can set specific goals designed to increase your business success, you need to know what you mean by ‘success.’ What does “increased business success” mean to you? Is it achieving or continue on page 12…

I CARRY THE BAG | FALL 2010 11 | 11

Holiday Travel for the Business Traveler’s Family continued from page 10…

Pass Me the Peppermint Bark continued from page 11… exceeding your actual 2010 revenue/ sales figure by 10%? Is it adding X number of new sellers? Would you like to increase the percentage of sales from existing sellers/accounts vs. new sellers/accounts?

Personal: This is the bucket for you and only you. This represents the investment in self, the proverbial sharpening of the saw. Are you interested in perfecting a new skill (presenting, negotiating, speaking a new language)? Do you have an athletic goal you want to achieve (personal best marathon, lose a few pounds, lower your golf handicap)?

Quit smoking? Become a mentor or a Big Brother/Sister? Is there a classic convertible you have your eye on?

Family: There is a classic story of the teacher giving a lecture to his students about Rocks, Pebbles and Sand (www.bit.ly/rocks-pebblessand). The net of the story is that we need to pay attention to and nurture the critical things in our lives, the rocks in our lives. The relationships we have with our kids, parents, siblings, friends, and significant others demand the same commitment and focus as our business and personal categories.

Want to be a better husband/wife/ brother/sister? Get closer to your kids (have you missed too many dinners at home this year)? Need to check in with your parents more often? Have a friendship you would like to rekindle?

If this all sounds like too much, simply think quality over quantity.

In our mindset of keeping it simple, specific and sustainable, choose no more than three goals for each bucket. Go crazy; brainstorm and write down everything that comes to mind in each category. Then invest some thought, identify the goals

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that are closest to your heart, and prioritize your list down to those goals you can get passionate about.

Lastly, write your Specific Measurable Actionable Realistic and Time-bound (S.M.A.R.T.) goals in the present tense. Allow yourself to assume success to transform the goals from simply words on a page to a roadmap to keep you hyper-focused in the New Year and strong in the face of the inevitable obstacles you will meet.

Wishing you and yours a healthy and happy Holiday Season - may your 2010 script have a storybook ending!

“The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.”

and diving to cultural Mayan experiences, and your holiday will exceed expectations.

Kiawah Island, South Carolina is known for its spring and summer, but there’s sunshine aplenty in the winter without the crowds. This tranquil island getaway, known as the “Pebble Beach of the East Coast,” is located on an inviting barrier island less than 30 miles from historic Charleston. National Geographic Traveler called it the second most romantic beach in America. Voted the Top Family Resort by Travel + Leisure Family Magazine, stay at the 5-Star Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort (www.kiawahresort.com). Add a day trip into historic Charleston to complement the perfect family or romantic getaway.

For the business traveler taking his or her family on vacation, deals are available if you’re willing to search. Comb the web and compare online deals with packages offered through your local travel agent.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

JB Bush has more than 20 years of success in senior management and executive sales positions with established companies as well as start-ups. He has successfully navigated the complexities of nearly every type of sales challenge.

By leveraging his expertise as a build-out and turn-around strategist, paired with his belief that training should be fun, JB arms his clients with solid education, sales-ready messaging and the confidence that they can win. He is a sought-after keynote speaker and trainer who can deliver highimpact results by maximizing and leveraging his clients’ investment in the ValueSelling Framework and Essentials, a series of leading edge web based training modules on essential sales skills. jb@jbbush.com

Diana Rowe (dianarowe.com) is a Denver-based writer inspired by the sheer adventure of traveling. For more than 13 years, Diana has published and/ or edited hundreds of print and online articles for various industries including: travel (business and leisure), tourism, golf, rodeo, technical, business, technical, and commercial. A member of SATW (Society of American Travel Writers), her travel articles can be read in Business Traveler, Corporate & Incentive Travel, Yellowstone Journal, JohnnyJet.com, The Broadmoor Magazine, GolfViews, Motorcycle Rider News, American Cowboy, Examiner. com, and TravelingMom.com. She shares her passion of travel for business and pleasure on several blogs including www.

TravlingInHeels.com

What’s in Your Bag?

Profiles of Great Wholesalers

Steve Schneider is a top performing Vice President for HighMark Funds – an $8 billion investment manager with over 90 years of experience. He has been their wholesaler in the NoCal/PacNW region since 1998.

Age? Proud to say 57. It’s what has helped me considerably. I started in this business in 1982 with EF Hutton.

So I somewhat understand what the reps go through on a day-to-day basis, and I am very sympathetic in both good and particularly in bad times. When we meet I don’t have my HighMark hat on. I get to know the reps on a personal level, and I think because maybe I’m a little bit older and have been around, that gets me some credibility.

How long carrying the bag?

Since 1996 What kind of bag is it?

An old-fashioned Samsonite black leather case. It’s pretty beat-up!

Automobile? 2007 Infiniti M35

were really hurting through the last three years, and since I was a rep I really understand what the reps have gone through. I’m trying to get them to refocus on good old-fashioned customer service with their own clients, getting them to focus in on how to market themselves again.

Most-listened-to iPod song?

Jimmy Buffett, “Margaritaville.” In fact, I went to Houston recently and met Jimmy Buffett.

How do you work off stress?

That’s a problem. I listen to music.

I saw Geoff Gitomer about a year ago and he really stressed music as kind of a stress reliever. I attempt to exercise but I don’t do it very well. I try to do a lot of walking.

Geography?

Northern California, Washington, and Oregon

Favorite industry publication to read? That’s a great question because I read almost all of them, or I get almost all of them. Because it’s weekly and it’s timely, Barron’s.

Favorite travel location in your territory? Seattle.

Last book that you read?

Who’s Got Your Back by Keith Ferrazi.

Smartphone?

Blackberry. Although I’m not big on technology, and I know I’m really in the minority. I believe in the old handwritten thank-you notes. I don’t do a lot of e-mail. I’m just oldfashioned.

Hotel loyalty?

Marriott. Gold status for now; probably will make platinum in 2010.

Channel(s)?

All of them. Historically we have been more independent, regional, and bank. Over the last year or two we’re beginning to focus more on the wirehouses

Favorite haberdashery?

I get most of my clothes at Joseph Bank’s because I am so hard on them. That and I take extra-long suits which they offer.

Favorite hobby?

Besides family, I would say golf (12 handicap) and wine (Cabernet).

They’re pretty much tied for the top.

Best year in production?

2010 is shaping up to be the career year…so far. I’m going to back to traditional client service. People

Pet peeve?

People not following through with what they say they’re going to do.

Family 411: Married with three sons. A 20 year old and twin boys who are 15.

Alma Mater?

University of Iowa, MBA and BBA. Death row final meal request?

A good old-fashioned steak, medium. Baked potato, lots of sour cream, no butter; broccoli with cheese sauce. And a bottle of nice cabernet.

Life after wholesaling?

Some sort of charity work. Habitat for Humanity or something along those lines. But that would be years away. I’m a huge believer in charity, and I give to a number of charities on a monthly basis. I

promised myself to do that a few years ago after having success in this business. I really believe in giving back, it brings more passion to the workplace when we are able to do that.

Words to live by?

Nick Murray, “We all have 24 hours in the day and what do we do with it?”

Best advice you’ve received about wholesaling?

Care about the clients that you’re calling on first. Find out what they’re about. Because at the end of the day it’s a relationship business that becomes personal.

To what do you attribute the secret of longevity at one firm?

It has to do with my upbringing in that loyalty is very important in the workplace, and it goes both ways.

The company has been loyal to me.

The grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence. In order for me to be credible, or for any of us to be credible, we can’t hop from firm to firm every two years and then go into a rep’s office and say, hey, I’ve got the best product out there. At the end of the day it’s not so much about product, but it’s about that relationship.

The HighMark Funds are distributed by HighMark Funds Distributors, Inc. To determine if the Funds are an appropriate investment, carefully consider the Funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. For a prospectus containing more complete information, including fees and expenses, call 1-800-455-5609 or visit www.highmarkfunds.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

I CARRY THE BAG | FALL 2010 1| 313

14

Traveling with the Band

Takes on a Whole New Meaning…

By Paul Bednar

Wanna know the scariest phrase you can say this time of year? “The holidays are upon us.”

The stress level for most people is off the charts during the holidays. Stressful events range from planning family gatherings to clearing the yearend slate, including managing your budget for all the extra holiday-related expenses. Add to that being on the road during the busiest travel days of the year and let’s face it, the holidays can be anything but happy.

So how do the challenges of the holiday season intersect with the fitness of a road warrior?

When the stress piles up, one of the first things we tend to let go of is the one thing that can help us the most – our commitment to our own well-being.

Do any of these sound familiar?

• Your boss is pushing you to exceed your annual goals. You cancel your early morning run and replace it with a breakfast meeting.

• Your partner forgot to pick up that extra present for your second cousin twice removed. You skip your yoga class and stop at the mall instead.

• Your neighbor has a few questions about his financial options. Instead of getting to bed early, you stay up late talking to him about end-of-year alternatives.

We all have at least one “fitless frenemy” who likes to encourage a lack of discipline. “You’re at the gym all the time – a second glass of eggnog isn’t going to kill you.” Sound familiar?

How about this holiday season we turn the tables? Let’s give the fourth quarter a new spin on holiday stress. Remember, having a full calendar is no excuse for letting your

commitment to well-being take a hit.

Last quarter I promised to tell you how to transform your hotel room into a gym without weighing down the luggage scales. Here’s the answer: Pack a workout band with 25-35 pound tension.

Bands can provide a phenomenal workout in your hotel room. No gym membership required.

The band can be purchased at any fitness store and will take up as much space in your carry-on as a shaving kit or makeup bag.

Bands allow you privacy to workout in your room so you can turn up the music or watch the news of your choice instead of a poorly-lit, barely ventilated, claustrophobic hotel workout room.

Follow these routines using the bands for 30 minutes, and you’ll never leave home without them again.

Hotel Band Work-Out Begin your workout with 5 minutes of jogging in place or doing jumping jacks to get your heart rate up and your muscles warm.

Repeat each of the following moves 15 times.

Rest for 1 minute, and then repeat until you have completed 3 sets. When you can complete these sets without effort, then increase your repetitions by 5.

1) Open a closet or bathroom door in your hotel room. Wrap the band around both doorknobs (under, then over). Stand facing the door and step back to create tension in the bands.

Holding your arms against the sides of your body, pull on the bands – forearm and palms facing up - in a backward motion to mimic rowing a boat.

2) Next, turn so your body faces away from the door. Lift the bands so they rest at your sides but keep them at chest level. Extend your

arms forward with your forearm and palms facing down. This is called a chest press.

3) Remove the band from the doorknob. Step on the band with both feet and raise the handles to your sides as if you were going to jump rope. Move your forearms in an upward motion to complete 3 sets of bicep curls.

4) Stand in the same position but extend your arms outward from your sides to complete a lateral press.

You can increase the difficulty of exercises #1 and #2 by adding squats (lower your body to a sitting position and ensure that your knees are not extended past your toes.) For moves #3 and #4, make the loop larger to increase the tension.

Need a bonus move to counteract Mom’s holiday cookie you just couldn’t refuse? Position your back against a wall and slide to a sitting position. Hold for 30 seconds. Build up to a hold of 90 seconds. (You can even do this one while waiting to board your plane.)

To end your workout, cool down by walking the length of the hotel hallway for 5 minutes.

Not only will this routine help you enjoy your holidays, it will get you ready for that beach vacation in February!

Paul Bednar is a managing director at Windstone Capital Partners and travels the western United States. He is currently juggling life on the road, a new baby, and a training schedule for the Silverman Triathlon in November. You can send him an email at 2ndwindwealth@ beachbodycoach.com

I CARRY THE BAG | FALL 2010 1| 515

Hybrid wholesaling

Threat, Opportunity, “Hybrid wholesaling” will continue to grow as a strategy. It makes too much sense not to – for firms and for advisors. Asset management firms have found that new “hybrid” approaches to wholesaling, which meld the traditional roles of internal wholesalers with those of external wholesalers, have ramped up profitability. While hybrid wholesalers (hybrids) cannot always capture 100% of the opportunities that their external counterparts do, their lower cost can make their overall cost/benefit attractive. Also, opportunities that may be too small or dispersed to warrant an external may be profitably served by a hybrid.

The growth of hybrid wholesaling will have implications for both firms and wholesalers themselves. Firms should seriously consider how to use hybrid wholesaling to their advantage, and wholesalers – whether external or internal - should consider how hybrid wholesaling can benefit their efforts.

We need to start by defining hybrid wholesaling. We take a broad view of this term and view hybrid wholesaling as any wholesaling strategy that falls between the normal definitions of external and internal wholesalers.

At most firms, the primary distinctions between internals and externals are in the amount of travel, means of communication, and focus area.

Whereas externals are on the road most of the time, communicate primarily face-to-face, and focus almost exclusively on sales, internals typically have little to no travel, communicate via phone and computer, and perform many service activities. Taking those as parameters, hybrids can be thought of as wholesalers who travel between 15% and 40% of their time, have flexibility about when they travel, take on aspects of both externals (in-person meetings) and internals (phone calls and e-mails), and both sell to and service financial intermediaries. Most hybrids also utilize technology extensively to juggle the multiple tasks they need to do.

Second, for some externals, the hybrid role may be an interesting career path to pursue, to cut down on travel and achieve more optimal work/ family balance. As technology evolves, externals may find that they can still serve many advisors with whom they have built relationships very effectively, even as they transition to a hybrid role.

Lastly, think about whether externals are incorporating hybrid concepts into their work. Are they effectively using technology to serve advisors remotely, insuring efficiency? For example, do they really need to be faceto-face with all advisors, or will videoconference, phone, or e-mail serve the same objective at lower cost? Do they know what other sources their advisors utilize to gather the information they need? Do they understand how advisors utilize mobile devices, applications, and web sites to access information they need? Are they sharing high-quality online content with advisors using an iPad™? Are they an advocate for their firm’s Web site, and do they know their firm’s e-mail strategy vis-à-vis this advisor? With less focus on travel and more on using technology, many hybrids are focusing on these key questions – but externals can achieve the same objectives by reorienting how their time is spent. The key question to ask is: do externals really know, and have they asked, how their advisors want and need to be served?

It is important, however, not to think of hybrids as one single thing.

Each firm’s hybrid wholesaling program is unique – some hybrids focus on remote geographies and some on specific distributors, some work independently and others work on teams with traditional external and internal wholesalers. The one thing that is certain is that the future will hold more hybrid wholesalers. This fact has implications for existing wholesalers, as well as for the firms themselves.

Considerations for Wholesalers For wholesalers themselves, the advent of hybrids should spur some serious thought.

External wholesalers, who may otherwise view hybrids as a threat to their job security, should first consider how they could benefit from having a hybrid in their territory and how they could work together. Certainly, there are potential efficiency gains from working with a hybrid, but ideally both parties can collaborate to drive team objectives. Perhaps a hybrid partner could call on second-tier advisors at firms and help to manage follow-up communications.

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For internal wholesalers, the most obvious consideration regarding hybrids is whether the hybrid role is a desirable career path to explore. A sales executive at a small asset manager tells the story of an internal wholesaler who, while interested in career development, did not want to become an external wholesaler because relocation and increased travel were unappealing. The president of the firm, interested in retaining a valuable member of the sales team, suggested introducing the hybrid wholesaling model. “Hybrids let us increase our bottom line, service the financial advisors and provide career pathing.” In addition to being cost-effective, hybrid wholesaling offers an avenue to internal wholesalers who may not want or are not ready to be external wholesalers. Not all internals who

kasina

, or Both? desire to become hybrids actually achieve this goal, so it is vital that they ascertain for themselves whether this step is achievable.

Even if an internal’s firm does not have hybrids (yet), there may be ways to explore some of the concepts of hybrid wholesaling by engaging in limited travel, taking on a particular territory or opportunity, accompanying externals on advisor visits, or ramping up sales – as opposed to service – activities.

Wholesalers who are already in the hybrid role need to recognize that they are trailblazers. As such, there are a few key questions to ponder as to whether they can help their firm optimize the use of hybrids. First, do the metrics that they capture make sense in relation to what their job entails and what their clients expect? If not, hybrids have the opportunity to help the firm optimize these metrics. At a recent lunch I had with a hybrid friend of mine, he explained that his firm sets targets for him on meetings and calls. However, some advisors want a meeting, some want a call; many now want just e-mail. “However they want to learn about our products, I want to provide it in that manner – meeting, call, e-mail, smoke signal – whatever works.” He clearly felt that the measures in place for him were driving behavior that, in some instances, differed from what he and his advisors considered optimal.

capitalize on the best opportunities.

Lastly, hybrids should be helping to identify a pipeline of other likely hybrids at the firm. Since the hybrid role is still fairly new at most firms, those best positioned to understand the intricacies of the role and the skill sets necessary to succeed in it are hybrids themselves.

Implications for Asset Managers In kasina’s recent report, Excellence in Distribution: Hybrid Wholesaling, 58% of surveyed firms utilized hybrids, a number that continues to grow over time. Furthermore, 43% of those firms that do not currently have hybrids consider it likely (a greater than 75% chance) that they will add hybrids in the next three years.

Of the firms that do not yet have hybrids but are considering adding them, 20% indicated that hybrids would mostly replace internals in their staffing plans, and 10% of these firms said hybrids would take the place of externals. Meanwhile, 70% of firms responded that hybrids would not be a replacement, but instead would serve a new, distinct role in their organization. Of the firms that already have hybrids on their team, 79% intend to increase the size of their hybrid staff in the next two years; evidently hybrids are not just a fad. If anything, they are apt to become more prevalent.

Clearly, firms plan on moving in the direction of more hybrids; the average sales force today consists of only 10% hybrids, but firms themselves indicate that a more balanced force that nearly doubles the representation of hybrids makes more sense.

Second, ask what hybrids are helping to teach the rest of the organization about how the hybrid model can and does work. Be an evangelist to open up the hybrid opportunity to others.

Third, ask whether the firm is fully leveraging its client relationship management (CRM) system and segmentation to make the best use of the hybrid role. Managers acknowledge the important role that CRM analysis plays in crafting and managing territories. One firm that uses hybrids specifically to retain assets supports its hybrids with a “robust analytics effort that mines all active contracts and gives them actionable information about which advisors are most likely to move away from [the firm] in the near future.” Another manager says that “client segmentation and a non-channelized sales process optimize the productivity and efficiency of our sales efforts.” As with externals and internals, hybrids need the support of analytics to know how to prioritize their time and

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Hybrids are attractive to firms for a number of reasons. First, they are immediately less expensive than externals. Secondly, from a productivity

I CARRY THE BAG | FALL 2010 1| 7 17

standpoint, hybrids can actually out-produce many externals relative to their compensation. Even when the production-to-compensation ratio is roughly the same, hybrids can be assigned to territories or opportunities that cannot be profitably served by a higher-cost external. Therefore, there are multiple instances in which hybrids make economic sense.

For firms that implement hybrids, the change tends to impact all wholesalers. Territories may change, focus firms and segmentation may change, wholesaler team composition may change, and questions may arise regarding compensation equity, definition of roles (who does what), and how to measure success. While these changes may seem scary to a wholesaler or to managers, leading firms are moving ahead and benefitting from a variety of hybrid approaches.

For some firms, merely replacing higher-cost externals with hybrids or allowing internals to travel on occasion and effectively become hybrids may be enough. However, kasina recommends three models of hybrid implementation that firms can utilize to leverage hybrid wholesaling: • The Opportunistic Model: Hybrids are used to plug temporary gaps or address new opportunities such as a vacant external position, retention of assets, or a new geography.

• The Spinoff Model: A team of hybrid wholesalers is used to pursue a new channel or segment, such as registered investment advisors or DCIO, remote geographic regions, or “second tier” advisors.

• The Team Model: Internal, external, and hybrid wholesalers are part of a sales team that manages a territory in which advisors are segmented by profitability level and service preference.

there are two areas that necessarily become less clear cut, compensation and metrics. Costs of Compensation, a study by kasina, found that hybrid wholesalers averaged 47% of the total compensation of external wholesalers and 69% more than internal wholesalers. On a dollar basis, hybrid wholesaler compensation comes much closer to internal than external wholesaler levels, despite the fact that most managers claim that their hybrids act much more like externals than internals.

Metrics can be tricky with hybrids, and managers need to set up hybrids for success. Hybrids who are managing a geography with some established relationships, or reaching a second level of higher-value advisors, will be hard-pressed to provide the expected level of attention and service to more than 250 advisors. Hybrids who are developing a new channel by cold-calling or who are part of a team that provides sales and service support will be able to handle 650 – 800 advisors.

You get what you pay for, or, at least, you get what you measure. Since hybrids tend to perform both sales and service activities, measuring and rewarding them for both of these sets of activities is critical. Many firms hold hybrids accountable for meetings and calls, in addition to sales results. One firm we spoke to measures in-person and virtual meetings according to whether they contain a presentation or document review.

Defining what differentiates a sales meeting from a service call helps managers assess whether desired cost-efficiencies are being achieved.

In summary, firms should consider hybrids for three key reasons: 1. They make financial sense in a lot of instances, particularly those models we discussed above; 2. Advisors/clients continue to evolve, and the flexibility that hybrids provide allow them to adapt to the changing concerns of their clients; and 3. Hybrids can be a career path for key, talented employees.

Steven Miyao and Lee Kowarski founded kasina in 1999 to create a company that has a positive effect on employees, the environment, and the community.

Hybrids make sense not just for firms, but for their advisors/clients.

Hybrids have flexibility built right into their jobs and they become very adept at using it. This allows them to serve the many varied and changing needs of advisors very well “on the fly.”

Advisors as a whole appreciate this flexibility. More than ever advisors are crunched for time, and they are scrambling to see clients and build their businesses. While they appreciate in-person visits from wholesalers, more advisors indicate a preference for phone calls or e-mails. In kasina’s recent FA Vision study, advisors ranked telephone support and online support by wholesalers 8.11 and 7.69, respectively, on a 10-point importance scale.

In-person visits were rated a distant third at 6.04. Two other trends that contribute to advisors’ preferences for remote contact are that they are online more than ever (an average of 23 hours per week in 2010 versus 19 hours per week in 2008) and more mobile than ever (with over 53% using mobile devices to access content away from their office, not including e-mail). Clearly, scoring face time with advisors is getting harder, which makes the time ripe for wholesalers who leverage technology to get their messages across.

Since hybrids are effectively a mix of the internal and external roles,

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kasina is a trusted advisor to leaders of the asset management industry, and innovates distribution and e-business by introducing the industry to revolutionary business ideas such as: hybrid wholesaling, profitbased sales compensation systems, social media, and behavior-based segmentation. kasina’s global clients number over 100, and represent over $8 trillion in assets under management. kasina provides industry-specific data analysis and research, personalized consulting engagements, Industry Roundtables and FA Vision service.

bonus: from the reps desk

You Are Being Judged

By Peter Arethas

Fact: Earlier this year a man named Simon Cowell was offered over $100 million per year to judge aspiring singers on a television show. He turned it down.

Fact: The top five former contestants from this same television show earned a combined $45 million last year according to Forbes magazine.

Fact: As a wholesaler, you neither will be asked to perform cover songs in front of an opinionated British guy nor will you receive a nine-digit annual compensation to render the constructive criticism.

Now most advisors are not rude like Simon Cowell. They’re not going to bluntly tell you to improve your pitch, adjust your style or never come back. Their questions will often go unasked until you leave their office. But rest assured that once you’re gone these advisors are discussing your performance among their peers and are rendering a judgement that either will lead to many future sales or to being voted off their product grid entirely.

said, you have two options. Option 1: Be on time.

Option 2. Be courteous. If you’re running late, it’s never a relationship altering issue unless it’s habitual. Where it really becomes problematic is in how you handle that delay. A simple phone call or e-mail 30 minutes before the schedule start to our meeting is fine. Offering the opportunity to reschedule is a nice touch.

Calling five minutes before the appointment time or later simply isn’t advisable.

So out of respect to a “Fusion”-style presentation here are three times during the sales process that you’re being judged with three questions

How will you treat my assistant? - Be nice. You don’t have to be the gregarious, life-of-the-party guy or girl. Just be friendly and courteous. For example, many wholesalers that visit us have tools called cellular phones. Some of these space-aged gadgets even allow the user to answer phone calls and access electronic mail. If you’re waiting for us, feel free to use it. But may I recommend that you ask for permission or step into the lobby. If you conduct your business while respecting my team I will respect you.

Do you have an agenda? - You don’t need to have an iPad generated visual masterpiece, but you do need to have a plan. A plan does not mean a review the new VA rider or the new mutual fund sales brochure. What it does entail is interaction based on a prepared set of probing questions about our practice. We see many wholesalers. We know when you’re prepared and when you’re winging it.

As the president of a boutique broker-dealer and a former wholesaler, I have had the luxury of hearing both the discussions between critical advisors and the presentations of the aspiring wholesalers. It is with this unique perspective in mind that I can assure you of two additional facts concerning your role as a wholesaler: you are on stage and you are being judged.

that I’ve found myself thinking about during wholesaler presentations: Pre-appointment Will you be on time? - Seriously, I get it. I realize you have more than one appointment a day.

I realize Chicago traffic during construction season can wreck havoc on a schedule. With that

Appointment Are your conversations self-centered or advisor-focused? - Here’s a tip that was violated by a wholesaler earlier this year: avoid the urge to talk extensively about your companysponsored sales meeting held in an exotic port-of-call when we’re stuck in the middle of a Chicago winter. It’s not a common mistake nor is it a matter of envy, but it is a good illustration of zero value. Don’t talk about yourself, listen to your advisor and hopefully both of you can pay for your own vacations.

continue on page 25…

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How to Command an Audience

By Ivy Naistadt Does this sound familiar? You walk into a room of 30 or 40 advisors. You’ve given the same presentation countless times before and are geared up to give a solid talk today. Yet, in the back of your mind you have the nagging feeling that before you even open your mouth to speak, your audience is predisposed to thinking, “I’ve seen and heard all of this before” or, “I hope he or she will hurry up and get through this thing so I can go to lunch.”

If you are determined to set yourself apart from the wholesaling competition and be successful in today’s marketplace, it is critical that you are a powerful and engaging speaker.

By following these five tips the best speakers and presenters employ to Command an Audience, you will stand out whether speaking to an audience of 1 or 1000.

Great speakers: 1. Create Compelling, Concise Messages The most powerful and persuasive communicators use three highly effective tools to create communication that is clear, concise and impactful. First, they define their objective, specifying the result they desire or the action they want taken as a consequence of what they’re communicating.

They limit their message to 3 or 4 big ideas, keeping it simple and straightforward.

Lastly, they create a well-organized structure that is easy and logical to follow: A clear beginning that asks a question, poses a challenge, or shares an anecdote used to tee up the topic, a middle that is balanced between data-driven information and anecdotal support, and a clean ending that gives the audience a clear direction of what to do next.

2. Develop Authentic Delivery Styles The most commanding and engaging speakers

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are authentic. That is, they are their natural selves with more energy, not an imitation of someone else they think they should be. This is important because people trust someone who comes across as genuine. If you don’t adopt an authentic speaking style, you run the risk of your audience sensing you slipped on an artificial persona for the occasion and turning off to you.

3. Tell Stories Good speakers understand that telling stories engages listeners on a visceral level. They know that people remember a well-told story related to a point they have heard for a long time.

You will command your audience by making a point, supporting it with a well-crafted story or example, repeating the point, and then sharing what you learned, discovered, or changed as a result of the experience.

It takes some effort, but learning the basic principles of good storytelling sets you apart and is well worth it.

4. Build in Rehearsal Time It’s Murphy’s law. Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, most likely at the worst possible time!

We all make mistakes, but if you can’t recover you risk damaging your credibility. One precaution you can take is to build in rehearsal time. Whether you are giving a speech or presentation, rehearse out loud. Everything sounds great when you go over it silently in your head. It’s only when you speak the words out loud that you realize your ideas are unclear and you need to replace distracting ums and er’s with transitions or change things up for a better flow.

Even experienced presenters encounter technology problems, so they take extra care to check all equipment ahead of time. As a professional speaker, I always schedule a

rehearsal on the actual stage or in the room the event is being held.

Make sure you have a backup plan such as handouts. Then if the technology fails, you can keep going and keep smiling!

5. Embody a Spirit of Partnership Great presenters adopt an attitude that communicates with their listeners, “I am here as a trusted resource you can rely on for the long haul.” Too often, presenters either want to dominate or push a product or idea in the short term for their own interests.

Remember, it’s not really about you. By telegraphing through words and demeanor, “I am here to serve you,” your clients will be saying to themselves, “Now, this is someone I want to do business with.”

By applying and mastering these five key principles, you will command your audiences, connect with your listeners, and set yourself apart from the wholesaling pack by giving stand-out presentations every time you speak.

Ivy Naistadt is known worldwide as an expert in helping clients reach their professional communication potential. As the author of the highly acclaimed book, “Speak Without Fear” (Harper Collins), nationally recognized speech coach and speaker, Ivy has helped business professionals and others deliver successful public presentations for over 20 years. Her diverse client list includes such leading organizations as IBM, Pitney Bowes, The New York Times, Merrill Lynch and Princeton University. She is frequently interviewed on radio, television and has been featured in numerous publications including, The New York Times, USA Today and The Daily News.

To learn more about working with Ivy or to hear a sample of her new audio book, go to:www.JoinTheIvyLeague.com, or email: Ivy@ jointheivyleague.com.

By Scott Halford

Adapt or Die: The Secret of the Mega-Successful wrong and like there is no energy in the room. Don’t let your inevitable discomfort of behaving in a different realm keep you from continuing to adapt. Your goal is to connect with others; you’re not being banished to their behavioral style for the rest of your life. You can deal with a few minutes of a different behavior.

3. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is essential.

Emotional intelligence is the set of noncognitive (non IQ) attributes that predict your overall workplace and life success. EI is a better predictor than IQ and technical expertise. Case in point, we’ve all met and dealt with the really brilliant jerk who we never want to be around. They are book smart, but not emotionally smart.

We all want to be better at what we do. Clients constantly ask me if it is really possible to change to become better. The short answer is yes. The more realistic answer is that it’s not very likely because most people give up on the work necessary to change. If you’ve ever tried to change your body through some non-surgical method such as diet or exercise, you know a fraction of what it takes to change ingrained behaviors. I don’t teach people how to change; I show them something more powerful - how to adapt. Adapt. It’s a verb that says so much and it is the mantra of anyone who wants to be successful, whether you’re a wholesaler, leading a wholesaling team, or in a personal relationship.

Over the last 20 years teaching success behaviors and emotional intelligence worldwide, I have met a lot of people ranging from the complete jerk to the well-intentioned average player to the wildly successful eight digit income generator. There are two things the wildly successful consistently have in common over their less successful comrades.

They know themselves extraordinarily well, and they use that knowledge to adapt to others to achieve maximum impact. They don’t necessarily change. They don’t sell out their values. They adapt. It’s not a play on words. It’s a success strategy.

Here’s how and why to adapt. First, a little disclaimer: if you have a truly bad, evil behavior, you should do the hard labor to extract that particular neural pathway from your brain and get a new one that will work.

You will have to actually change, because most really bad behaviors lead to really bad outcomes. Think Bernie Madoff and you understand behaviors that need changed. That said, most behaviors that are mild to moderate flaws can be managed with a little work and a little adaptation.

1. First, know thyself. To adapt, you have to first know what behavior or trait you’re adapting from. Let’s say you love the adrenalin charge of racing along in a deal and you’ve got a client who is slow and methodical. You’ll be riddled with anxiety if you don’t know that you have a preference to be a fast mover. By knowing your personality and preferred behavioral traits well, you can adapt and avoid appearing impatient, condescending, or irritable.

2. It doesn’t always feel good. When you adapt to others, you may have to operate in an opposite behavioral sphere. You might be expressive and gregarious while they are quiet and thoughtful. Toning down your enthusiasm will probably feel completely

We have an emotional center of our brain (the limbic system) that reacts to every single bit of input. Emotions don’t have reason and they can be very messy. To tame the strong and sometimes bad desires of the limbic system, it needs a good talking to from the pre-frontal cortex (PFC) – the reasoning part of your brain.

It keeps you from choking that emotionally unintelligent jerk. It deems that behavior to be unwise, while the emotional part of the brain would feel great choking the guy.

To be successful, you need to understand what brings on strong emotions for you so that you can recruit the PFC to come to your aid to help you perform the most appropriate behavior, not the one that feels the best. Over time, your behavior may actually change, but it needs consistent daily practice and about 120 days to do so.

In the meantime, understand yourself enough to get around your quirks. Adapt to succeed.

Scott Halford is President of Complete Intelligence, LLC and adapts to audiences and individuals worldwide as a professional speaker and educator of success behaviors, emotional intelligence and influence. He is the bestselling author of Be a Shortcut: The Secret Fast Track to Business Success. His thinking and advice is featured monthly as the Brainy Business Columnist in Entrepreneur Magazine’s online edition at www.Entrepreneur.com.

Also, find out more about success behaviors and emotional intelligence by going to www.CompleteIntelligence.com

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Holiday Must-Have

Finding the right holiday gift, whether for a clien Here’s a shortlist of thoughtful, creative and delic Soiree Bottle: top Wine Aerator: Pop this little mouth-blown glass globe on the top of wine bottle, and it infuses the wine with oxygen as it pours – a shortcut to decanting.

For extra points, wrap this up alongside a bottle of a favorite brawny red wine. Price: $25 at www.winesoiree.com

Bevshots: Amazing, eye-catching prints of your favorite drinks….as seen under a microscope!

Choose from Irish Stout, Piña Colada, Chablis, and many more. Price: $38 each for 11” x 14” metallic prints at www.bevshots.com

Wireless Talking BBQ & Oven Thermometer: Just enter the cut of meat or program a temperature or level of doneness, and the thermometer announces when it’s done…. in one of five languages! Price: $60 at www.redenvelope.com

BottleWise Duo: Perfect for the colleague who vacations in wine country: this wine tote is specially designed to safely store liquids within luggage. Compliant with TSA Regulations.

Price: $69 at www.bottlewise.net

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By Kara Newman

es

nt or colleague, can be a challenge. cious gifts guaranteed to show your good taste.

Ravi Instant Wine Chiller: A lightweight, stainless steel tube that chills wine as it’s being poured, taking it from room temperature to perfectly chilled in seconds. Consider giving a bottle of white wine or rose alongside to encourage playtime with the new gift. Price: $40 at www.vinotemp.com

Bols Genever Holiday Gift Set: Includes a 750-ml bottle of Bols Genever, the quintessentially Dutch tipple similar to gin, and two tulip glasses. Price: $39 at select retail stores.

Cheese of the Month Club: Each month, receive three handcut cheeses from a featured cheesemaker, theme, or region, shipped within a reusable black cooler. Recent months featured “Amazing Alpines,” “Truffle Time,” and “Sensational Stinkies.”

Price: $55 per month at www. venissimo.com

Ice Bottle Chiller: Equal parts wine bucket

Barmaid Set: For those who like a little zip with

and centerpiece, this eye-catching piece keeps wine cold for up to six hours. Price: $25 at www. vinotemp.com

their sip, this handy gadget adds flavored salt or sugar to the edge of a glass with just a click.

Includes two tubes of Fresh Lemon Sugar and Tangy Lime Salt. $35 at www.shop.limetreecove.com/

Beer Pairing Chocolates: This box contains chocolates carefully selected by artisan chocolatier Michael Recchiuti to pair with beer. (Non beerlovers should enjoy the Burnt Caramel Truffle and other confections too!) Collections meant to pair with whiskey and red wine are also available. Price: $25 at www.recchiuti.com

Bacon of the Month Club: A six-month membership sets you back $190, but in addition to a different artisan bacon delivered to your door each month, the gift also includes a little rubber toy pig, a bacon t-shirt, and discounts on suggested wines. Oink! Price: $190 at www.gratefulpalate.com

Kara Newman writes about wine and spirits for publications including Wine Enthusiast, Sommelier Journal, and Serious Eats. She is also the author of “Spice & Ice: 60 Tongue-Tingling Cocktails.” For more, read the Spice & Ice blog, and follow her on Twitter: @karanewman.

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business planning

If you need to get insights about the right way to formulate a business plan, you should go right to a recognized leader in the field. That’s why for the 2011 Business Planning edition we went to Tim Berry. As the Founder and President of Palo Alto Software, Tim’s company produces the definitive software for business planning, Business Plan Pro – now in its 15th version. The following article is nine parts Tim’s insights and one part ICTB contributions.

With a great business plan, you now have a way of taking just an hour or two a month and monitoring what happened to see how it was different from the prior month’s outcomes, which will then tip you off to changes. It reminds you of your long-term goals and how you’re positioning yourself to achieve them. It also tips you off early to what’s shifting and it gives you a system where you can react more quickly to control your destiny and optimize your business.

Business plans are not evil.

The Five Keys

When sales professionals hear the phrase “business plan,” it conjures in their minds something that’s a mandatory one-time use document to get over some hurdle. For wholesalers and their management, it is likely related to getting final sign-off on their annual goal or simply crossing the requested plan off of their to do list. Generally people with that perception don’t like to do business plans, and unfortunately we lose another critical idea: the plan is a pivotal part of managing your business.

1. Set up the review schedule. Palo Alto Software, as it grew from my wife and me to 40-some employees, has always had the plan review on the third Thursday of every month.

Everyone involved knew this ahead of time.

People knew as they scheduled things that on the third Thursday of the month we would be spending an hour or two reviewing plans versus actions.

Let’s use the analogy of steering a car. Say you’re in California and you get on I-5 - that stretch between Bakersfield and Sacramento. It’s so straight that you’re tempted to put The Club on your steering wheel and read a magazine while your car goes up the freeway. In truth, however, your process of steering is constant correction, and that’s what business planning gives to somebody who wants to optimize their 2011 success.

In fact, if you have that first great business plan, then your business planning moving forward gives you the steering process of how things can move differently. Now you’ll have metrics. How many total sellers are in the region? How many top producers versus one ticket wonders do you have? Who are your top prospects?

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2. List your assumptions. As soon as you get rolling with your planning and steering, you’re going to discover that you were wrong. We all are. We’re human. We don’t predict the future very well. As an example, our assumptions said that we were going to land a particular account by September and we didn’t.

Assumptions will have a great influence on the numbers and the context in which we plan for them.

3. Have a clear statement of the strategy.

Strategy is focus. Strategy is what we’re doing and what we’re not doing.

• Identity – Examine your strengths and weaknesses. What are you good at? What are you not good at? What’s your best strength?

do they need? How can you reach them?

• Focus – It’s not possible to be everything to everyone. As a result you need to bring focus into your wholesaling practice. Perhaps you excel at portfolio construction and market analysis. Maybe you are a practice management specialist.

Focus on those reps that connect with your focus.

4. Every plan must have concrete, specific, and measurable milestones. Plans should include dates and deadlines, which is very different from all the arm-waving to bigger, grander goals. The milestones are about the actual business activities. Think of it as a practical list of the more important business activities, showing for each activity who is responsible, projected start date, projected end date, expected budget, and expected sales results. Then make sure you track the plan vs. actual results for every item. Look for patterns that will help you improve performance.

5. Get dirty in the data. Every plan needs to examine the actual numbers that drive the business: year over year sales, number of sellers, number of accounts, target prospects, etc. Arguably, this is where the real insights of the plan start to take shape. It is from these numbers that we can review and keep track of successes and/or steering corrections.

“Good business planning is nine parts implementation for every one part strategy.”

Tim Berry

• Market – For whom are you aiming? What

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You are Being Judged continued from page 19…

Will you be a consultant or a commercial? - A consultant asks thought provoking questions and looks for opportunities to improve my advisors’ businesses. A commercial dictates a rapid stream of memorized bullet points and hopes something sticks to someone.

My advisors and I want wholesalers that are consultants. They’re rare but they’re the ones that receive nearly all of our business.

Will you close? - Perhaps this question comes from the wholesaler in me, but I want to meet with wholesalers that are not afraid to close.

Know your rotations and ask for that follow up meeting the next time you’re in our area. Ask me which advisors deserve their attention and assistance. Ask me for referrals at other firms.

Most wholesalers are excellent at working with current “A producers”; however, the best wholesalers differentiate themselves by finding another wholesaler’s “A producers” and converting them to their own. They rarely accomplish this in one meeting. It’s those fourth, fifth and sixth appointments where meetings start to morph into relationships.

Post-appointment Will your sales and service teams live up to your promises? - This is a tough one because your delegating responsibility and relying on the performance of others that you may not manage. While their performance does not directly reflect upon you, it can affect your sales results.

Will you follow up? - This is an easy one. If you make a promise, large or small, will you deliver?

You would be surprised how often this concept is violated. Trust is built on your ability to respond to this question.

Do I like you? - This is the most common one. I cannot tell you how many advisors will openly admit that they chose a particular product simply because they liked the wholesaler. I’ve heard it so many times from so many advisors that “likability” should be part of a wholesaler’s training course. Unless your rider or product is so uncompetitive that it ruins your advisor’s fiduciary responsibility to a client, you’re really never out of the ballgame. I realize it’s not universal, but it cannot be ignored because

many times the good relationships will win the coin flips on product selection.

Once again, you are being judged by multiple advisors on a daily basis. Successfully answering questions like these may never lead to a $100 million salary, but they could assist you in your quest to add another $100 million to your territory’s production.

Peter Arethas is the President of American Trust Investment Services and the Founder of WholesalerBriefcase.com. Peter earned his M.B.A. from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate of Business where he graduated in the Top 10% of his class and received the John N. Nicholson Fellowship for both academic years.

He obtained his B.S in Business Economics from Indiana University. Peter began his career as an assistant stockbroker in the Chicago financial district which led to roles such as Financial Advisor, Investment Manager, Vice President, External Wholesaler and Broker-Dealer President. He can be reached at: peter.arethas@ wholesalerbriefcase.com or on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/peterarethas/.

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26

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattu/

By DeeAnn White

Living the One day I asked a wholesaling colleague of mine how he was faring on the road. He wryly replied, “Living the dream.” It made me smile, but it also made me think. Was I living the dream? Was I living where and how I wanted to live, or had the job served its purpose and outlived its excitement for me? At the time, Brett Favre was in the news for his ever-changing decision about retiring from football. I saw a parallel that I couldn’t deny.

In much the same way that athletes must make a decision about when it’s time to leave their sport, wholesalers must make a similar choice about when to leave the bag behind. Wholesaling is an all-consuming job with the average career lasting only five years, strikingly similar to that of an NFL player. We’ve all seen once-great athletes stay long past their prime, and we’ve also seen members of the wholesaling community stay past the time that their energy, passion and enthusiasm have gone.

However, there are the elegant few that just seem to know when it’s time to walk away.

I’ve known colleagues that have transitioned effortlessly away from wholesaling, but I didn’t understand it at the time. I was still enjoying every minute of a fascinating job in a fascinating industry. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would ever want to leave.

I now understand that their secret was having a plan that excited them as much as wholesaling did. For many of them,

Dream?

wholesaling was simply a means to an end.

It was a way for them to get to the place that had captured their imagination. For instance, there was the wholesaler in L.A. that saved diligently so that she could stay home with her children once she was married and had a family. Next, there was the wholesaler who planned to retire early from wholesaling so that he could follow his passion and coach high school basketball. There’s also the wholesaling manager who purchased a ranch which is waiting patiently for him to begin his second career, the wholesaler who spends weekends at the golf course shaving another stroke and a half off of his handicap to begin entering qualifying tournaments, and the former executive who bought an olive oil company abroad and is writing her first book. The inspiring stories go on and on, but the one common thread is that they all knew what came next for them.

As you begin your 2011 business planning, do you know what comes next? Perhaps it’s time to begin painting a vivid portrait of what life after wholesaling looks like for you and to set the wheels in motion. Do you want to choose a second career based on a passion you had in college, a passion you didn’t follow because you thought it wouldn’t support you properly? Have you always wanted to live in another country, but you wanted to raise your children in the States first? Second homes in other countries can be renovated on family vacations, and location independent second careers such

as writing, photography or web design can often be started on the side (with your principal’s approval, of course).

The most important question to ask yourself is whether you’ll wait until retirement to live the dream, or will you proactively decide to walk away at the top of your wholesaling game? It’s a question only you can answer, but wouldn’t it be brilliant to have the framework in place, and the freedom in hand, to leave on your own terms whenever you think it’s time?

DeeAnne White is a girl adventurer, writer, traveler, American expatriate and lover of cricket, golf, wine, Jimmy Choos and life.

She’s been interviewed by JetSetCitizen and featured on 44 Creative and Adventurous Bloggers You Should Know. Her articles have appeared in Wisden Cricketer, Sharing Travel Experiences, Velvet Escape and Wellness Billionaire. DeeAnne currently lives in the UK, where she’s writing her first novel, planning the next adventure, learning French, and relearning how to stay in one place for more than a weekend.

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Just another great tip I picked up at Wholesaler Masterminds‌

Sweet new laptop, Johnson!

Wholesaler Masterminds specializes in peer group and individual coaching for wholesalers and managers. Our laser focus is on practice management ideas that allow our clients to realize their career, income and personal goals.

Contact us today for a complimentary discussion: 949-891-1117

www.wholesalermasterminds.com 28