I Carry The Bag - Summer 2013

I S S U E 13 | S U M M E R 2013 | W W W. I C A R R Y T H E B A G . CO M

2 Wholesalers

Walk out of a bar...

HEY, IT COULD HAPPEN PAGE 23

3 Ways

TO BE MORE PERSUASIVE RIGHT NOW PAGE 07

neGotiation & bodY lanGuaGe tiPs

FOR THE SUCCESSFUL WHOLESALER PAGE 08

shoW Your advisors the love,

OR AT LEAST A LITTLE “LIKE” PAGE 22

Winning from

WiThin

data P o i n ts PaGe 16

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table of Contents

2ND QUARTER | SUMMER 2013

the work Life Balance Myth

by Cynthia Freeman EDitoR-in-CHiEF & PuBLiSHER Rob Shore ContRiButinG wRitERS Kimberly Bordonaro Eddie Finocchiaro Cynthia Freeman Kathy Freeman Godfrey Michael Goldberg Kip Gregory Steve Hughes Dale Irvin Willie Jolley Peggy Mengel Alan Parisse Greg Williams

CREatiVE DiRECtoR Jim Nissen | SW!TCH s t u d i o www.switchstudio.com

06

a Religious Experience while Preserved in a Cucumber

by Alan Parisse

07

Beyond jedi Mind tricks three ways to Be More Persuasive Right now

18

by michael Goldberg

20

negotiation and Body Language tips for the Successfule wholesaler

22

Sticking with the Mission

23

How to Get Prospects to Exclaim, “Damn, wish i was Your Customer!”

by Kimberly bordonaro

16

kasina datapoints

4 | SuMMER 2013 | i CArry THe bAG

two wholesalers walk out of a Bar by dale irvin

24

by eddie Finocchiaro

14

Show Your advisors the Love, or at Least a Little “Like”s

by Kip Gregory

by Greg Williams

10

winning From within

by Peggy mengel

by steve Hughes

08

How Do You turn Social Situations into Business

the 10 Commandments of Superior Customer Service

by Willie Jolley

26

Get Your Career into Shape

by Kathy Freeman Godfrey

aRt DiRECtoR Elizabeth Dam | SW!TCH s t u d i o www.switchstudio.com

to SuBSCRiBE, ViSit:

www.icarrythebag.com

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i CaRRY tHE BaG® is published quarterly 514 San Bernadino Avenue Newport Beach, CA 92663 Tel 888-508-5010 I Carry The Bag is a registered trademark of shorespeak, L.L.C. All content in this publication ©2013 shorespeak, L.L.C. and is protected by international copyright law. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

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

Letter from the editor

when the going

geTs

TOugh... s we go to press on our Summer 2013 issue, wholesalers are staring a unique two headed beast squarely in the eye: • The alleged summer slowdown, wherein advisors are more prone to play hooky than to continue investing client’s assets.

• The pronouncement that the Federal Reserve has the potential to pull back its stimulus efforts – and the accompanying poor (though expected) market reac tion to that news.

So, what’s a great wholesaler to do?

As the adage says, “…get going.”

This is the time to redouble your efforts and keep the territory’s accelerator all the way to the floorboard.

It’s also the time to increase your visibility in the field.

This two headed beast will undo some wholesalers.

It will be a catalyst to future success for others.

We wish you a most productive summer.

Rob Shore Editor-In-Chief & Publisher

as the adaGe saYs, “…Get GoinG”. i CArry THe bAG | SuMMER 2013 | 5

presentation

skills

By b Y LAI N la E n Pa r i s s e

a religious experience

While Preserved in a Cucumber???

“w

… 10 Essentials when Speaking to Diverse Audience ow – did I bomb! The audience acted like I was from another planet.”

The caller was an experienced wholesaler—a fine speaker—who had just given his first speech to a group of advisors—the majority of whom were not born in the U.S. The majority spoke English as a second language.

With another speech to a similar group coming up, he was eager for some coaching. So, he sent me an audio of his presentation. Turns out it wasn’t as bad as he thought, but he certainly didn’t get his usual enthusiastic response.

Why? He made some classic missteps.

For instance, to describe a difficult situation in which some fund managers had taken desperate measures despite an unlikely chance of success, he said “They were in a pickle, so they threw a Hail Mary pass.” The handful of native-born Americans in his audience quickly understood that he was combining two sports metaphors to make his point. The rest of the audience sat wondering how the fund managers he was describing could have had a religious experience while preserved in a cucumber.

If you are called on to speak to a widely diverse audience, here are some pointers to keep in mind:

1. Globalize Your Cultural References: Mentioning the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, David Letterman or Jimmy Fallon will likely result in blank stares. Exclusively referring to American literature, sports, art and even fund managers will annoy.

2. Edit Pictures: If half your audience is of Asian descent, it’s a mistake to have a preponderance of Caucasian models on your PowerPoint slides. If a chunk of your audience is female, make sure you have an appropriate gender mix. When in doubt, err on the side of diversity. Also, include some structures and landscapes your audience will recognize.

6 | SUMMER 2013 | I CARRY THE BAG

3. Remember The U.S. Has 50 States: Canadians – even those who are now U.S. citizens are understandably bothered when a speaker acts like Canada is the 51st state.

Using a Canadian example will help win over that portion of your audience. Caution: Use an example or two, but don’t overplay it or you will come off patronizing.

4. Learn About Them: The audience will appreciate it if you know something about their native countries, sports or culture. The first time I spoke in Amsterdam, I visited their two major art museums and found a way to insert a few images of local art into my speech to make a point. Quite a few attendees commented afterwards how no other foreign speaker seemed to know what country they were in.

5. Watch Your Words: Keep in mind that common words can have very different meanings in other English speaking countries. Presenting to 1,500 people in Great Britain years ago, I said: “he fell on his “fanny.”

Not a good idea. Turns out the word has a much more vivid meaning across the pond. (If you are curious, check out http://www.urbandictionary. com/define.php?term=fanny.

6. Watch Your Gestures Too: A thumbs-up means good or ok to you and me, but to people who grew up in parts of the Middle East and Asia it is insulting and obscene. While the meaning is slightly different, the same goes with the OK sign. A pointed index finger can get you in trouble with Russians and some Asians. Don’t obsess about this stuff but if you know the audience demographic ahead of time, do a Google search or - here’s a concept –- ask someone in the group. “Are there any gestures or terms we Americans use that have a different meaning to people from your part of the world?

7. Practice: Don’t underestimate how tricky it can be to change even a few words in a bit you have said many times. For example, I often cite a statistic about life expectancy in the U.S. in the year 1900. For an international audience, I change it to the “industrialized world.” Not a big change, but remembering to say it that way affects my focus and pacing. The solution is to practice it until it flows naturally.

8. Adjust Your Jokes: Comedians will tell you that what’s funny in Des Moines might fall flat in Manhattan. Take the show further on the cultural road and blank stares are likely. There is even a considerable risk of offending.

If possible, test your humor with an audience member or two before you try it with the full audience.

9. Expect Unfamiliar Reactions: Audience members who are rooted in other cultures will probably respond in ways that surprise you. They may not laugh at a sure crowd pleaser and then howl at something you intended to be serious. For my first speech in Singapore back in 1989, I was asked to do the speech exactly as I had the year before in Atlanta. So I left in a baseball story about Willie Mays and a football reference to Vince Lombardi. Mays meant nothing to them and what was my best bit at the time boomed. Later in the talk, when I showed Lombardi’s picture, however, there was notable stir in the room. It turned out that Lombardi was something of a legend with this group and in the pre-Internet days, many had never seen his picture. They were in awe. Expect the unexpected.

10. Learn Before, During, and After Learn as much as you can about your audience beforehand and adjust your talk. As you present, pay attention to the audience’s response. After the session, if appropriate, ask someone who knows the particular culture about the reactions they saw or experienced. See what else you learn.

Alan Parisse is the first person to come out of the investment business to be inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame. For information on his keynote presentations and his unique training The Speaking Intensive go to www. parisse.com or call 303-444-8080

b y St e v e H u gh e s

Beyond Jedi Mind Tricks:

ways 3 w

to Be More Persuasive Right Now

ouldn’t it be great if you could just wave your hand and then your customers, colleagues, and vendors would instantly agree with your position?

If only it were that easy. However, if you understand how people make decisions and what truly causes them to act, you can dramatically increase your chances for success.

Below are three scientifically verified ways to be more persuasive. But before we jump into them, it’s important to note two things. One, these tactics are effective because they tap into the ways our brains naturally want to operate. When you employ these methods correctly, you’re simply giving the brain what it wants.

Second, you will only be as effective to the degree to which you understand the resistances and issues in the other person’s mind. In other words, if you are asking good questions, getting others to talk, and rightly listening to them, then you will elevate your persuasive powers to a whole new level.

Here they are:

ONE Partiality. All things being equal, people are partial to, and prefer to do business with, those we perceive to be similar to us. An interesting study cited in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 39) found that waiters who repeat customers’ food orders word-for-word without commentary increased the size of their tips by 70%.

Why the increase? Researchers concluded that when a patron orders a meal, she enjoys hearing that order played back to them because no matter what our level of self-esteem might be, we are all head-over-heels in love with ourselves.

We love our clothes, our music, our politics, and especially the food we just ordered.

So when it comes to working with customers and colleagues, you can demonstrate that you understand where they’re coming from by playing back key parts of the conversation (without com-

mentary). They will respond in kind and be more open to what you have to say. They will get a sense that you like and appreciate them.

TWO Peer Pressure.

We may think of peer pressure as something restricted to high school parties (and bad decisions), but we are driven by others’ opinions much more than we realize. And the power of social pressure can be used for good, not just evil. To test the impact of peer pressure on travelers, scientists set out to see if they could change the number of people who re-use towels at hotels instead of just throwing them on the floor (Journal of Consumer Research Vol. 35). The researchers created two different “towel placards” and placed them in various hotels.

One sign simply asked hotel guests to be good stewards of the environment and asked them to reuse their towels. The other sign included this extra line “We have found that a majority of our hotel guests re-use at least one towel during their stay.”

Surprisingly, the second placard generated a 24% increase in the number of people who reused a towel. The original environmental appeal was marginally effective, but the knowledge that most of the other guests were participating is what really moved the needle.

As you go about your business, think about ways you can position your request, or frame your position, so that you highlight your idea’s universal acceptance or use. Your proposal will appear less scary if “everybody else is doing it.”

THREE Promise/

Predictability. Did you know that simply asking someone to predict his/her behavior can lead to better compliance down the road? This has been proved myriad times in scientific circles, but perhaps most interestingly it was validated by political pollsters. In an article in the Journal of Applied Psychology (Vol. 72), pollsters asked potential voters to predict whether they would, in fact, vote in an upcoming election versus just asking them to vote. The voters who predicted they would actually vote showed up to the polls in greater numbers (25% more) than those who weren’t asked to make a prediction. Apparently, it was important for people to “see” themselves doing some action in the future, which made it easier for them to follow through and vote.

In the business of wholesaling, you’re often called upon to get people to do things when you have no formal authority to make them act. Why not harness the power of prediction (or even just getting a verbal “yes”) to set your cohorts on a path to compliance? A way to take this up a notch is to ask them when, or how, they plan to do a particular task and wait for an answer. Then later people will strive to do what they promised or predicted they would do.

There isn’t a genetic component for being persuasive. Anyone can become better at it if they know the right buttons to push and how to push them. The best way to find success with these three concepts is to truly care about the other person and to have their best interests at heart. From that starting point, you’re more likely to generate a mutually beneficial outcome and deepen your business relationships. And while you may never hear the words, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for,” you will stand a good chance of changing people’s minds.

May the influence be with you.

Steve Hughes helps people look and sound smart when they talk. He’s the author of Dazzle Me and he’s been featured in BusinessWeek, NPR, and BBC Radio.

If you or your team needs to be more persuasive, call Steve at 314-821-8700. Or, reach him at steve@ HitYourStride.com. Come on, everybody else is doing it.

(Application of the peer pressure principle above.)

I CARRY THE BAG | SUMMER 2013 | 7

by GreG WilliAms

neGotiation & bodY lanGuaGe tiPs

Successful WhOlesaler for the

a

s a wholesaler, when you negotiate, what’s your negotiation strategy? Do you consider the role that body language and nonverbal communications will play? Do you reflect on how paralanguage will interject and alter meanings of words and conveyances?

There are many moving parts to a negotiation. Thus, if you wish to become more successful in your wholesaling practice, it would behoove you to think about how those moving parts will influence the negotiation.

In so doing you’ll be better prepared in your advisor interactions - and allow you to be more nimble when facing a conversational aspect that you might not have considered.

The following are strategies that wholesalers should consider before engaging with a prospect and/or client.

Consideration Clause: It should be common knowledge that you will never get everything you seek from a negotiation. If you’re thinking, “I remember a time when I got everything I asked for in a 8 | SuMMER 2013 | i CArry THe bAG

negotiation” you should have been seeking more, which means you left something on the table.

When you can’t achieve all that you ask for in a negotiation, ask for “consideration clauses”. A consideration clause in a negotiation is a statement placed in the negotiation agreement that states you’ll receive consideration for a concession made, or other good deed you’ve granted during the negotiation (e.g. the client’s budget is such that you can’t obtain your normal remuneration. As the result of making the concession, you get future consideration, in writing, for an added benefit in the future).

Be aware that some clients will balk at giving you such a concession. If they do, they may be giving you insight into the fact that they only want you to lower your fee on a more permanent basis. This insight will give you more understanding as to how that client’s mindset is focused.

hands: Great insight can be gleaned by observing how someone uses his or her hands when speaking.

A few clues to observe are: a. Steepling (i.e. like a church steeple) - This will usually indicate that the person feels in control of the situation and thinks he has a superior position. b. Rubbing Hands Together – Could indicate anxiety in anticipation of what’s to come. Observe when this gesture is made and what is done with the hands when the situation changes. c. Hands Held Behind Back – Person is giving the appearance of being open with nothing to hide. If possible, glimpse what the person is doing with his hands behind his back. If he’s holding his wrist, fondling his fingers, he’s attempting to be open, but he’s also being cautious.

thank You: Always find ways to genuinely acknowledge the effort that someone exerts when a negotiation has concluded. You want to make them feel that you respect and appreciate them. The subliminal spill-over-benefit will be to keep them more engaged. In addition, if done genuinely, your actions will endear you to them, which will bode well for future negotiations.

Questions: When you pose questions, what consideration do you give to the impact they’ll have on the recipient? In a negotiation, the quality of questions asked has a dramatic impact on the outcome of the negotiation. Thus, the quality of your question determines the quality of the response you’ll receive.

To gain more insight into the state of mind of someone, consider asking questions such as, “In what circumstance did you receive the most fulfilling outcome in your life? How did that come about? What made the outcome so fulfilling?” By asking a series of questions, you’ll gain awareness into sources that have motivated the person to move in one direction versus another, and you’ll also have a glimpse into how you might use the same tactics to do the same.

ConCessions:

ParalanGuaGe: There’s power in language, and the way you convey your sentiments. They determine how you’re perceived. Paralanguage consists of the manner in which your words are projected (i.e. the way you say something, the emphasis you place on certain words, the phraseology you use when speaking and the words you choose to use to represent your thoughts). Be very mindful of the words people use to express their thoughts and the emphasis they place on certain words. By paying close attention, you’ll hear shifts in their attitude.

When you negotiate, there will be times when you’ll have to make concessions on points of contention. In most situations, you should consider receiving a concession in return for one you make; many negotiators state, you should always get something in return for a concession. I differ with that opinion. Instead, I inform clients and those that I coach to consider the circumstances upon which the concession was requested and under what circumstance you granted it. There will be times, depending on the person with whom you’re negotiating, that you can gain more when making a concession by not asking for something in return.

learn to CoPe: You will not win every negotiation.

Winning and losing is a mindset. If you can obtain new insights, learn something new about the person with whom you’ve negotiated, and/or increased your negotiation skills (even if you didn’t win the negotiation), you can still come out ahead. You do so by observing the newfound skills you’ve acquired - and you’ll be better prepared for future negotiations. The only difference between a winner and a loser is her mindset. By adopting a positive mental state of mind, the outcome of a negotiation, be it not as positive as you’d expected, will always contain lessons from which you can benefit.

By learning to cope with unexpected occurrences, you’ll be better prepared to seek the good hidden in the perceived bad outcome of any negotiation.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

Greg Williams is known as “The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert”. He’s a Fox TV News Contributor that comments on the body language and Negotiation Tactics and Strategies used by politicians and others that are in the news. He also speaks at seminars and conducts trainings in corporate environments in which he enlightens his audiences as to how they can increase their perspective of someone’s demeanor, by reading that person’s body language and employing negotiation strategies that give them an edge. Reach Greg at (609) 369-2100 or GregWilliams@TheMasterNegotiator.com

i CArry THe bAG | SuMMER 2013 | 9

by eddie FinoCCHiAro

sTiCking with the

missiOn Work or don t eat

10 | SuMMER 2013 | i CArry THe bAG

e

arlier in the week, I was having lunch with a fellow wholesaler friend of mine, a guy working a W-2 gig but whose firm was recently bought.

Needless to say, when a wholesaler’s livelihood is in the M&A crosshairs, it’s not easy to keep one’s head when everyone else is losing theirs.

Which management team is going to win?

Which sales team? Will we all stay? Who gets re-orged out? Will we channelize? De-channelize? As we compared notes on financial advisors we both cover, my buddy blurted out, “I don’t know how you do it, Finn. You must have a helluva business plan.”

“My business plan,” I explained, “is four words – Work or Don’t Eat.” Three years in to a third-party distribution assignment, I have learned many things.

But, the most important thing I’ve learned is that the boss (namely me) can be a real jerk sometimes. The great thing is, I have no boss.

The worst thing is, I have no boss. Nor do I have an internal, scheduler, CRM, marketing budget, ops manager, chief strategist funneling thought leadership, salary or benefits.

With so much to do and nobody to do it but me, it’s important to build more process into a business and it’s vitally important to make good fiscal business decisions. In 2012, according to Morningstar, equity mutual funds hemorrhaged red ink, seeing net outflows of over $115 billion. In 1099,

eat-what-you-kill-land, you can’t stop investing your harder-earned money to see people even if you aren’t making a lot of it. So here are a few tips that help me run a better, more effective business:

Get out of the CaterinG business It’s YOUR credit card, not any huge corporation. It’s always better to make sure the spend is effective by executing it with targeted groups out of the office. We all know offices where there is a support person in charge of in-office lunches. This person’s job is to expose entire office support staffs to “The Foods of the World” three to four days a week, courtesy of people like you. Grab two or three of your best producers and ask them to invite a worthy producer. For half the cost, you will get four times the impact. If they can’t get out of the office, take a sandwich order, eat at the FA’s desk, and ask for three referrals.

team uP If you must do in-office luncheons, you can either bring one of the Portfolio Managers you represent (most of them will share cost, or even pick up an entire lunch, as long as you are doing business with that manager in your territory). You can also team up with another wholesaler in your territory that has a marketing budget and a non-correlating product, who could benefit from introductions to your

contacts. There are some good guys out there who do what you do, and you know who they are. And they secretly envy your freedom and entrepreneurial spirit.

KNOW WHEN TO CUT AND RUN We all know the “red flags” we encounter when trying to engage an advisor. Words and phrases like, “Support my practice,” “Seminars,” Steak dinners,” and “Sushi” should cause the independent wholesaler to run, but that decision is more complicated than at first glance. Here are the variables I use to make good business decisions: • What is my relationship with this FA (length, volume of business, former colleague, etc.?)

• What is his reputation among his peers?

His managers? Other wholesalers?

• Do I like the person?

• Am I comfortable setting reasonable parameters for business, in exchange for my budget spend?

If I decide that I can make an investment in this producer’s business, I have another raft of questions: • What is my dollar limit, and is it attached in some way to expected production?

• Can we team up with another wholesaler (for mutual benefit, of course) to defray my cost?

• If the FA has assets with one or more of my products, can I get the fund company to defray some of the cost?

If I don’t want to engage on a pay-it-forward basis, I am not afraid to tell an FA, “Look, if you work with me, I’ll work with you, but because I’m an independent contractor, and I don’t have somebody else’s marketing budget, it’s hard for me to justify ‘betting on the come.’ Please don’t be offended, but I am bringing you great investment and practice management ideas which can help your business as well as your clients’ portfolios, and I can’t get you to engage. So please, put the shoe on the other foot here.”

GET TO WORK It costs no money to concentrate on your effort, and if you do, the outcome will ensue. It

costs no marketing budget to make sure that you are seeing the right people, seeing enough of them and delivering a compelling message.

So, finally, here are the things I attempt to do to stick with the mission: • SET ACTIVITY GOALS AND MONITOR PROGRESS – I can certainly have 16 to 20 appointments a week and make full sales presentations to at least 60 advisors, ask all of them for another meeting, a followup call and a couple of referrals to good advisors in the office. That’s easy stuff.

• AVOID LIFE HACKS – Reading stuff like “12 things deliriously happy and successful people do” and “seven ways that a cantaloupe is like your last lunch-and-learn presentation” is a fool’s errand at best. You want to read something? Read the WSJ, study every investment you represent, inside and out, follow the smartest people in our business for thought leadership, and read sales books. Lots of them.

• SPEND MONEY TO LEVERAGE YOUR TIME, NOT BUILD RELATIONSHIPS – Since you are, in essence, a “Gang of One,” outsourcing tasks like scheduling, administration and data mining can be done by others at a minimal cost, and allow you as a wholesaler to do what you do best – see people and deliver solutions.

• DECIDE AND COMMIT – To being the best wholesaler, practice management coach, best-practices clearinghouse, businessman, husband, father, son, citizen, friend, person that you can possibly be.

Remember, the most important expenditure is not money, but heart.

Eddie Finocchiaro is a Managing Partner at Multi-Funds, LLC, a third- party distributor of funds and SMAs to the financial advisory community, covering northern New England and upstate NY. Prior to MFLLC, Eddie spent 13 years as a wholesaler for Wells Fargo and Seligman, all in the northeast.Prior to wholesaling, Eddie worked in Boston, at Tucker, Anthony and at Shawmut Bank, on the institutional bond desks, and was a retail FA at Dean Witter and Prudential Securities, also in Boston. A graduate of Marquette University, Eddie lives in Duxbury, MA with his wife, Sara, and two children.

I CARRY THE BAG | SUMMER 2013 | 1 1

BY C y n th i a F r e e m aN

The

Work Life Balance

Myth a

Remember, whether balanced or not, life is about fulfillment. It’s doable when you’re “on purpose,” work your plan and stay true to your core.

12 | SUMMER 2013 | I CARRY THE BAG

s an executive coach of 21 years I have had a myriad of requests from clients on six continents. I have helped save marriages, families and companies.

I’ve re-engineered, right-sized, downsized and expanded companies. I can honestly say, after all the hours, that the overwhelmingly number one request from almost every client is the desire for a work/life balance.

Here is what I have learned absolutely: There is NO SUCH THING! Balance is a MYTH! I have also learned that there is definitely hope and there are ways to shift things in life to accomplish the feeling that “balance” can bring.

When I assist someone focusing on the illusion of balance, what consistently happens is they realize their “lack of balance” is in fact a feeling of being “overwhelmed.” This overwhelmed sense can generally be pinpointed with a certain emotional state, usually the emotion of guilt. They feel guilty are experiencing the pressure of expectations from external sources. They also might feel anger for falling short on every front and, in addition, experience feeling frustration for doing things “halfway.” These are just a few of the issues I have heard clients express as we work together.

Before we get into solving the balance issue with tips for viable solutions you should ask yourself some important key questions: What is it that you really want? When you feel out of balance what is truly the underlying cause creating the sense of being “out of balance?” What do you really feel is missing? When you have answered these questions you will discover that, some of the following tips, when applied, will resolve the feeling of imbalance.

Here are some tips to settle your stomach, calm your nerves, accomplish more and achieve a feeling of complete fulfillment in your life. .

Let’s first look at the core of the myth— the idea that there is ‘work’ and ‘life’. Let’s be honest …there is only ‘life’!

View time as your ally. The reality is, if you work 8-10 hours a day and you work 5-6 days a week is there really any possibility for “balance?” Given such constraints, you are allocating 40% -50% of your life to one area of focus: work.

Be “on purpose” with your time. I had a coach tell me once, when you are working, work and when you are off, be off. The challenge is, most people are thinking and planning what they are going to do when they are off work. And, when they’re “off the clock,” they are busy making calls, stewing about what they should’ve done and what they will do when back at work. Whether you are working or relaxing, be present and do it 100%. Make it count and enjoy it.

Look at natural time blocks. There are seasons, months, weeks and days. Respect your time. In other words, put value on it …every minute of it. Keep a schedule.

Remember this balance thing becomes like making spaghetti sauce. No matter whether it is with meat, vegetables, seafood, or a variety of spices the recipes is still predominantly tomatoes.

Check in with your emotional state. What emotion is driving you? If it is a negative emotion sending you on a downward trend, ask yourself: “what positive emotion would cancel this current and negative emotion out?”

Anger could be cancelled by happy. Frustration might be replaced with relaxed. Guilt could be replaced with freedom or confidence.

If you are saying to yourself that’s easier said than done, here is the good news. Emotions have a simple recipe. Every emotional state has 5 basic ingredients. You can deconstruct or construct any emotion, based on your understanding of their makeup. The 5 parts of every emotion are: 1. Your physiology, which actually includes the way you breathe, walk, talk, stand and your facial expressions.

2. Your language, which includes the “internal dialogue” we have with ourselves.

3. Your beliefs: about work, your life, your clients, your time, etc.

4. Your focus: what drives your thoughts the majority of the time? What are your main goals?

5. Your identity: who are you at your core?

Answer these questions when you attempting a shift from a specific emotion to another, and you will find you can “DO” that emotion.

The key to shifting to a different, more desired emotion is constant practice.

What shift in focus, and what amount of time would it require, for you to transition into a better emotional frame of mind? ? In other words, what could you do that makes you feel happy? Add as little as 20 minutes of that activity and note how that shifts your sense of well being. Add time with a spouse, exercising, playing with your children, reading—whatever activities bring you peace and joy—and the shift will be noticeable.

You must also take inventory of external forces that influence your sense of balance.

What “voices” do you have chattering in your head? “Who” is talking to you? These internal voices are most likely the people you want to make happy, who require your time, or even people from your past who have guided your development (whether in a positive or negative way). I have come to label these people’s voices replaying in our minds as our ‘kitchen cabinet’. They are the spoken or unspoken voices whose opinion of your life choices is influencing you, even down to your emotions. So, ask yourself, whom do you have in your ‘kitchen cabinet?’

Many of my clients have found equilibrium by doing a simple exercise. Write down a list of every person, dead or alive whose voice/opinion you consider or value. Like it or not, these are your ‘important’ people.

They are the people who, if we lived in an ideal world, you would make sure were happy all of the time. Now, next to their names write what they are ‘saying to you.’ Real or imagined, carefully evaluate them and decide if you want to choose their messages and their impact on your emotions.

Who are you at your core? If you are overwhelmed it is most likely you have moved away from your core. What is missing? What don’t you see in your daily life that was once previously a part of it?

Your secret weapon to create your most “full filled” life is a true schedule. Wherever your core, whatever piece you are missing you can and will find the missing piece of your puzzle somewhere in your schedule if you just plan on purpose. If you were to look through a knot hole you would only see one tiny piece of the entire puzzle. Look at an entire picture of your schedule for a season or an entire month.

Remember, whether balanced or not, life is about fulfillment. It’s do-able when you’re “on purpose,” work your plan and stay true to your core.

For 21 years Cynthia Freeman has delivered training and coaching for companies on 6 continents. Her expertise encompasses a variety of integrated success strategies.

In coaching and speaking engagements, Cynthia inspires her clients to approach life’s challenges “unreasonably” and achieve the “impossible.” As an expert in personality types she has helped her clients surpass performance expectations. She is a dynamic motivator for those seeking to reach extraordinary performance in relationships and business. Cynthia is the co-author of the book, Money Does Grow on Trees. For more information about Cynthia’s coaching practice, please visit DynamicLife.com, or call 949.791.8986.

I CARRY THE BAG | SUMMER 2013 | 1 3

b y K i m b e r ly b o r d o n A r o

hoW to Get ProsPeCts to exClaim

“damn, Wish i Was YOUR

CusTOmer!” a

fter all, that’s the goal, right?

Forget the obscure Sophie B. Hawkin’s song reference for a moment; let’s get down to what you really want…

A little black book of awesome clients that sell your products, heeds your advice, and recommends you to other advisors and colleagues. Simple enough, right?

It’s a reasonable goal, a goal that should happen, and yet you and your sales manager might be questioning…

When?

Do you really have what it takes to become a hit producing wholesaler that effortlessly transforms prospects into loyal producers, or are you just being naive?

Can you be the next wholesaling superstar, or are you just wishing upon stars?

Sure, we all start off thinking that our company, products, and training will help us reach this goal. But somewhere along the way, you may have noticed that some wholesalers seem to have the “it factor” while others have the “shhhh factor.”

So, wHat’S tHE DEaL? The sales landscape has changed. It’s no longer enough to have the backing of a great company or products to rise to the top of the sales ranks. That’s expected.

14 | SuMMER 2013 | i CArry THe bAG

What prospects are looking for is the real reason why they should work with you over the next guy sitting across their desk asking them to open up their files to them.

That starts with developing your personal brand experience.

3 Things to Consider When Branding Yourself

1

How can you be different?

This is a hard one for many people to grasp because we’re taught from an early age the importance of “fitting in.”

In business, we’re taught to emulate other successful people. The problem with this logic is that you end up blending in with every other wholesaler doing the same thing.

Differentiating your personal brand from others is what gets you noticed.

This means looking at what everyone else is doing and then finding the gaps (needs/markets not being met) and having the courage to go in a different direction.

For example, if other wholesalers are emailing product sheets, you can differentiate by sending short case study videos that highlight specific examples of how your product helped an advisor’s client.

From sales pitches to marketing materials and everything in between, look for ways to brand yourself differently from everyone else.

2

What’s your value?

Value goes beyond giving a good deal or providing timely returned phone calls.

Everyone says they do that, and, quite frankly, it’s expected.

How are you actually delivering value?

Strong brands provide value by positioning themselves based on one of the following three propositions: • Product leadership – clients happily pay a premium for superior products or services supplied by industry innovators or influencers.

• Operational excellence – clients get great savings on products or services that have been streamlined or systematized compared to competitor brands.

• Customer intimacy- clients pay for “wow” moments of highly customized programs and/or a variety of products or services that are tailored to solving their specific needs.

Now, think about your brand and how you can deliver value to your clients: • Do you thrive by staying informed of industry trends and establish your value by sharing your knowledge and expertise with advisors?

• Do you excel at providing your advisors with creative solutions that either streamline processes or save money?

• Do you shine at providing extraordinary relationships and modifying your products or services specifically for your advisors?

The key is to laser focus on one value proposition only, not all three. That doesn’t mean you can’t deliver value in the other areas, it just means you are positioning yourself to be known for consistently delivering a certain type of value that your client wants.

3

Does your personality shine through?

You may have noticed that up to this point, I’ve had you consider your brand in terms of other people: your customers and your competitors. That’s because it is crucial to position your brand to fit the needs of your audience while differentiating from your competition. That said, your personal brand should always be genuine to whom you really are.

The heart and soul of your personal brand is your personality.

The number one mistake I see salespeople make is they stifle their personality and become boring. Their communications are full industry jargon and they try to emulate a stereotypical corporate persona with their cold calls, elevator pitches, sales letters, emails, etc.

Guess what? You can have personality and still be professional, too!

Here’s how: • Make a list of words that truly describe your personality.

• Which of those words do you want to be known for?

• Next, determine appropriate ways you can highlight your personality traits in your everyday life: conversations, written correspondence, fashion, etc.

As you inject your personality into your brand, something else will happen…

You gain confidence to be yourself and magnetize others to want to know, like, and trust you.

Taking Your Brand to the Next Level Determining your brand basics will already have you ahead of most wholesalers.

To take it to the level of transforming prospects to customers that say, “Shucks, for me there is no other!” you need to evaluate the strength of your brand and execute a strategy that keeps your brand consistent.

That’s where The A & R Perspective comes in.

This simple technique applies the same level of scrutiny record label’s A & R Representative uses when scouting new talent and songs for the world’s next hit single.

As you evaluate your brand, be brutally honest when asking: • Does your personal brand match up against the current rock stars of your department, company, industry, etc.?

• What can you do improve your brand and the experience you create for your customers?

To learn more about the A & R Perspective and the 10 critical areas for assessing your brand, check out www.kimberlybordonaro. com/a-and-r-perspective.

Kimberly Bordonaro is a branding consultant who transforms tenacious entrepreneurs into profitable brands. Recognized in the Huffington Post as one of the “Nation’s Top Personal Branding Experts”, Kimberly is known for delivering astute branding advice through lyrical metaphors and pop cultural references on her blog at kimberlybordonaro.com.

Follow her on Twitter @brandspiration.

I CARRY THE BAG | SUMMER 2013 | 1 5

by KAsinA

etf sPotliGht

74% advisors using ETFs

ria advisOrs have the highest allocation at

32.1% indePendenTs among the lowest at

16.1% The average advisor allocation into ETFs is

19.3%

The average ETF user has

50%

allocated towards Equity/Sector ETFs

The top third of advisors have over

20% of client assets in ETFs

16 | SPRinG 2013 | i CArry THe bAG

75.4%

rate a ‘macro-economic’ approach for choosing ETFs as very important,

Only

59.1%

say that the selection process for ETFs is similar to that of Mutual Funds

37.1%

rate advice/models from home office as very important

82.5%

52.7%

consider fees important when choosing between similar ETFs

of advisors have redeemed MF assets in place of

eTfs sourCe kasina and Horsesmouth

kasina’s FA Vision (in partnership with Horsesmouth) is the industry’s most comprehensive and frequently conducted survey of financial intermediaries.

Our data-driven analysis of the behaviors, preferences and opinions of financial intermediaries helps firms make tactical improvements to their brand, product and distribution.

To learn more about FA Vision, visit www.kasina.com or call (212) 349-7412

i CArry THe bAG | SPRinG 2013 | 1 7

b y M i cha e l G o l d b e r g

How Do You Turn

Social Business?

Situations into

18 | SUMMER 2013 | I CARRY THE BAG

Very carefully!

But here’s the truth. People don’t want to feel obligated to do business with you just because you took them to a ball game. Or wined and dined them over lunch. Or spent hours playing golf on a Tuesday afternoon. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best wholesaler in the world! Business happens at the speed of trust and if there is no trust, no value, no genuine relationship, and no synergy, all the ball games in the world aren’t going to change those relationships.

A few years back, a wholesaler for an annuity company saw me speak at an event and hired me to speak at a couple of his “road shows.” He thought my message about networking would be a great incentive to attract financial advisors to his events.

And, he was right. In fact, his events were such a success that he hired me again and referred me to some of his counterparts around the country who also hired me. I returned the favor by introducing him to some of my client firms in his region.

Now, the business was nice but I also thought I got a great friend out of the deal. We’re based only a few hours from one another and share a love for the same football and baseball teams – a rare find! Well, the relationship never took off.

For some reason, the wholesaler became reluctant to respond to my messages. I actually saw him at a client event (I referred him) where again I was the speaker. He was very nice to me and even apologized for being so bad about returning messages. I joked about it but it was the last time we spoke. I still have a relationship with him but it’s not where I thought it was going.

Here’s my point. I thought I did everything right in terms of building the relationship. The connection felt natural and our conversations were fun and never felt forced. He may have felt that if we developed the relationship further that he would be obligated to hire me – which I’m hoping wasn’t the case. So it’s never a sure thing even when you do everything right. So imagine the cost of doing only some things right? Or everything wrong?

Here are suggestions to help you do everything (or at least most things) right when seeking to develop social situations into business.

Understand what networking is all about It’s not just shaking hands and kissing babies, handing out business cards, promoting your firm, your awesome products and pitching your wares. Okay, there’s some of that, but not much.

Networking is about learning from and potentially helping people. Good people, those you like and want to help. If you help great people, they help you right back!

It’s all about them Always focus on learning about the other person until they start asking questions about you. Typically, I don’t talk about myself unless someone asks me a specific question. The exception might be if something just happened in my world that I’m excited about and want to share. If something is going on in your business or even personal life that is so exciting that others will relate or be interested in hearing, feel free to share. But remember to shift gears and start asking questions about them. By being interested you become interesting!

Be a connector As you’re learning about people you meet, think about who you can introduce them to that will help their cause. Some brokers you work with (and those you’d like to work with) may have a niche in, let’s say, the manufacturing industry. Maybe you know the VP of Operations for a manufacturer and can provide an introduction. Givers always gain, so look to offer help and make connections in the best interest of the parties involved. I have two hard and fast guidelines – you must really like them (because if you don’t, your friends may not either) and they must be great at what they do (professionally, they must offer value and make you look great in the process).

Find common ground The best way to find common ground is to ask great questions. So, how did you get involved in financial services? What college did you attend? What made you become an independent broker? What are some of your current initiatives and goals? What are your biggest challenges? How do you market your business? What do you do for fun? If you don’t get similar questions asked in the form of, “How about yourself?” you’re doing something wrong or there’s simply not a good connection.

Say what you mean and mean what you say Be very specific about what you want when it comes to business. If there is a specific type of

referral you want, mention it (when the time is right). The more specific you are, the more likely you are to get it. Remember the manufacturing example I mentioned earlier? If that financial advisor doesn’t mention manufacturers and related details about how they help, that connection does not happen. So make it happen!

Speak the language of WE Practice using WE language and establish collaboration and working together – what true networking is all about! You know, it’s been great that we’ve had the chance to spend time playing golf (badly) and learn about each other’s businesses. I would love to explore how WE might help one another moving forward?

Or, how can WE refer each other more business over time? Yes, you can be direct if you use WE language and make the business relationship truly that – a relationship!

Out of sight is out of mind Believe it! Establish a “staying in touch” strategy that keeps you connected and learning from those you meet, like, and value. Examples include a standing phone meeting every 30 days, dinner whenever you’re in town, quarterly meetings, or whatever. I have sushi with one client every quarter (she buys!) and we discuss movies, television, family stuff, and spend about 5 minutes discussing business.

There’s nothing new under the sun and these ideas are far from revolutionary. But most business owners (wholesalers too!) don’t have a system in place to do a lot of the little things consistently. Who do you want to meet or get to know better? Implement some of these ideas into your day-to-day with brokers and see what happens. Out of sight is out of mind.

Michael Goldberg has helped thousands of agents, reps, advisors, brokers, planners, and producers generate hundreds of thousands of dollars to their bottom line.

His expertise is in the areas of networking, referrals, recruiting – and believe it or not – amateur boxing!

Clients include Guardian, MetLife, Jackson National, Thrivent Financial, and Prudential. Michael has been a featured speaker at NAIFA, NAHU, and LAMP and referenced in the Harvard Business Review and the Wall Street Journal. When he’s not speaking at conferences or sales meetings, Michael is an award winning adjunct instructor at Rutgers University. His book Knock-Out Networking! is available now!

I CARRY THE BAG | SUMMER 2013 | 1 9

b y P e gg y M e n g e l

Winning from

Within

m

ichael Jordan did it. So did Roger Federer. Lance Armstrong did not.

Wholesalers are like great athletes. They travel a lot, continually practice and refine their skills, and strive to be #1. While athletes and wholesalers may make it look fun, there are many days they have to dig deep inside to keep pursuing their dream. To become truly great, you have to know and capitalize on your unique strengths, and, most importantly, know and manage your unique struggles. This is winning from within.

Being an avid sports fan for many years, I have become intrigued with the “inner game” that allows successful sports icons and teams continue their winning ways. There is much to be learned through the amazing parallels between the sports and business world.

A Wall Street Journal article, “Federer’s Best Shot,” discussed some of his “secrets” to success.

As I read this article, one overall theme stood out: Roger’s ability to know himself. In the article, his personal trainer describes Roger as a rare combination of creative and discipline.

“Roger is a champ because he’s the boss of his talent”, he said. This is a core strategy for anyone in sports or in business. You absolutely

20 | SUMMER 2013 | I CARRY THE BAG

must know how to focus on your strengths and manage your struggles. It will require you to surround yourself with a good team, both on the personal and business side of life.

How does Roger manage to stay at the top, minimize his injuries, and always appear personable and professional? And, what can we learn from his game of tennis?

Through his WSJ interview, let’s look at his strategies and how they can apply to wholesaling.

Think long-term, don’t overplay

Roger Federer (RF): “I tried to look at the long-term. I didn’t want to chase everything possible in the short term.” He made a conscious decision early on in his career to plan his attack on “time”: to not just be great but to do it longer than anyone else has done it.

Business Translation: You have both shortterm and long-term goals. On a daily basis, do you tend to make everything a priority or are you more patient in your approach? Or, get as many clients as possible without regard as to what fits into your approach? It’s helpful to know if your approach is balanced or extremely ambitious so you know how to manage your expanding to-do

list. You don’t need it all right now. Just do what is next to be done in your overall strategy.

No sports superstitions

RF: “I don’t care if I practice at 9 in the morning or 10 p.m.” Roger has always been flexible. He knows what he has to accomplish and can fit it in his schedule as needed.

Business Translation: So, maybe you don’t have any superstitions, but what about the “old tapes” that may be playing in your head about what it takes to be successful? How much structure do you need? Is it too little or is it taking over your life? If you are very structured and schedule your appointments three months in advance, keep to it. But maybe add a little spontaneity by calling an advisor in the area and see if you can just drop by. Make a call to that top producer you’ve been hesitant to call. Drive a new route to your appointments. Try operating outside of your comfort zone. You only need to vary your routine a little to get different results.

Pay attention to your body

RF: “I’m able to say, it doesn’t hurt me today, but it could hurt me tomorrow.” Roger has only

retired from a match once in his life. He knows when he can “play through it” and when he can’t.

Business Translation: If you are fatigued physically or mentally, let your body be your guide and take some time off. You will come back stronger. Make sure you allocate time for proactively taking care of you. Walk, run, exercise at the gym, take a yoga class; there are endless possibilities and it will strengthen both the inner mind and outer body.

Travel can be fun – enjoy it

RF: “The tour is not supposed to be brutal and annoying.” Some players come to see globetrotting as soul crushing but Roger has a love for travel and soaks up the local culture with his wife and children.

Business Translation: You are a road warrior and it can be exhausting. But travel can be fun when you look at how it fits within your unique strengths. If you are an outgoing person, being in new cities and settings allows you to meet new people and gain a different perspective on life. Or, if you are more reserved and focused on your goals, travel is a way to gain more clients and more business.

We all have a part of our job that is routine, the “process” to the end result (e.g., getting a new client). Do we find a way to enjoy it or does it become a necessary evil that drains our energy? Knowing your strengths will allow you to structure your day so that you are operating from that place 80% of the time. Or, minimally, you will be able to reframe your mindset to gain more energy to do the necessary tasks with more positive energy.

Take two four- week training periods for:

Business Translation: Athletes have this strategy right. It is part of their training to rest their body. On the surface, it may appear they are doing nothing but recovery time is critical for their success.

There was a popular phrase, “Work Hard and Play Hard.” But lately, that phrase has gotten lost in the 10 to 12 hour workday and shortened to just “Work Hard.” What rest and relaxation do we allow ourselves? Is it just the standard vacation time? Could there be parts of a day where you relax and read? Or, do you consider that to be non-productive? Discover whether balance is part of your natural game or if you need to be more aware of your tendency to overwork with no recovery time.

And, keep in mind that your change in strategy can take a few years before it really pays off. Check in with yourself: Are you the type of person who believes in and stays with a strategy long enough for it to pay off? Or, if you don’t see immediate results, you change your course of action. Yes, we must refine and change quickly in today’s business world but do it for the right reasons.

Attitude and Coaching Finally, the attitude with which Roger Federer approaches both practice and the game is the ultimate lesson for us all. His personal trainer says, “He still trains with the enthusiasm of a junior.

Sometimes I think, damn it, he’s doing these exercises now 2,756 times, but he does it as if it was the first time. Roger still has the energy of a 23-year-old. He’s relentlessly optimistic.”

Business Translation: Are you approaching each day with an open attitude that there is still a lot to learn about you and your “game of business?”

The best athletes work with coaches. A coach is an objective sounding board and helps you understand and work on both your inner game, your skills and strategy. Will it pay off? Ask any professional athlete or successful business person and I know the answer will be a resounding YES. Become the “boss of your talent” and you will be well on your way to your own personal best year ever.

Peggy Mengel is Vice President, Customer Experience Advisor for DNA Behavior International. DNA Behavior International has been leading the behavior awareness revolution for over ten years by helping financial services firms navigate human differences. The firm helps grow behaviorally smart advisors by matching diverse advisors, clients and solutions. Prior to joining DNA Behavior, Peggy spent her career in the financial services industry as a sales trainer, account manager and even “carried the bag” for eight years.

Plan fsors! succe

RF: 1. Rest and recovery 2. Strength and endurance (not tennis-related) 3. Tennis exercise like court footwork (but with medicine balls, not rackets and balls) 4. Tennis practice When Roger had lingering back pain, he put extra emphasis on his abdominal muscles. After two years, the strategy paid off.

I CARRY THE BAG | SUMMER 2013 | 2 1

PRoDuCtiVitY

tECHnoLoGY

b y lKi n i Pe G r e G o r y

Show Your Advisors the Love,

or at Least a

Little “Like” i

t was the last thing she said, some offhanded advice for any wholesalers in the room. “You need to do with us what we do for our clients. Like our pages. Follow us.

Share our postings. I’m surprised at how little activity or interest there seems to be on their part about what’s going on in our business.”

I had called Amanda for input on a talk I was preparing for her broker dealer’s education conference. The subject: practical approaches to social networking. Her home office offered Amanda’s name, along with several other successful advisors, as folks at different points on the social media adoption curve who would be willing to share what they’d learned. She didn’t disappoint.

Amanda quickly related a bunch of examples of how she and her firm were using social media to get closer to clients and prospects: celebrating babies and birthdays; timing her posts to appear off-hours when she knew clients were online; noticing that one client had “liked” Diet Coke on Facebook and making sure they had a supply on ice the next time that client was in the office to review her portfolio.

None of them rocket science, but all part of a conscious, visible effort to stay plugged in.

Now she was turning the tables, asking, “If I can do that for my clients, shouldn’t I expect my key suppliers do the same thing for me?”

Good question. What’s your answer?

There are dozens of simple, common sense steps you could and should be taking right now to add a digital dimension to the most important relationships you manage. Here are six basic ones, often overlooked, that will put you in the flow of the content your best advisors are publishing.

1. ConnECt witH tHEM on LinKEDin. Make a list of your top 50, 100, or however many producers are important to you. Put their names and emails in a spreadsheet. Save 22 | SuMMER 2013 | i CArry THe bAG

it as a .csv file. Upload that file to LinkedIn (use this link, http://j.mp/UploadLIContacts, click on the Any Email icon, then at the bottom of the screen, browse to where you saved the file on your computer). They’ll analyze your group, matching email addresses with current subscribers, to tell you who is already registered on the site but with whom you’re not yet connected. Start reaching out systematically to those people with a personal invitation to join your network.

2. FoLLow tHEiR CoMPanY PRoFiLE on LinKEDin. When you click on the name of their company in their individual profile, you’ll either get to a page showing background, articles, and updates on the company, or a list of individuals who work for that company. Seeing the latter means they don’t yet have a company profile, a perfect opportunity to show them how to create one.

3. LiKE tHEiR BuSinESS’S FaCEBooK PaGE. The surest way to find out if they have one is to ask, but you may be able to find it by typing the business’s name into Facebook’s Page Search at https://www.facebook.com/pages.

4. FinD anD FoLLow tHEM on twittER. Again, asking is the fastest route but savvy advisors will have included their Twitter account (@theirname, etc.) on their LinkedIn profile page. To see if it’s listed, click on the Contact Info link shown right under of the number of connections in their network.

5. REaD tHEiR BLoG. If you work the wires, chances are slim any of your advisors can even post to a blog, much less write one. But a growing per-

centage of independents do. Bookmark it, or add it to your RSS Feed using Feedly (http:// feedly.com).

6. SEE iF tHEY’RE on GooGLE+.

While I haven’t found large numbers of advisors using Google+ yet, it’s a good bet that any of yours who do are on the front edge of the adoption curve. Create a circle called “My Advisors” and add them to it.

Of course, building these ties is only the beginning. You have to check in periodically to see what’s happening with people. One example is ahead of any scheduled meeting or phone call. Another is right after they write a sizable piece of business and before you reach out to say thanks. And just to be clear, I’m not suggesting following someone’s every move like a stalker. There’s a world of space between overdoing it and what Amanda was getting at in her comment.

One final suggestion. Take a cue from how you manage your territory and set up a rotation schedule for reviewing top advisors’ content. You can even create Bookmark folders in your browser for people in different cities or with different firms to make the job easier.

Will all of this take some time? Absolutely.

But if you want to show someone you’re paying attention to and interested in what they have to say, there are few easier ways to do it.

Kip Gregory is the founder of The Gregory Group, a Washington, D.C.-based 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://linkd.in/link2kip. © 2013 Kip Gregory, The Gregory Group. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

2

b y Da l e I r v i n

Wholesalers

a

Walk Out Of a Bar ...Hey, It Could Happen

s sales professionals, you are focused on presenting your customers with the most up to date information on your products in an effort to encourage them to do business with you. Product knowledge is a very important aspect of the sales process. However, I ask you to take notice of another intangible aspect: a sense of humor.

The easiest way to get people on your side is by making them laugh. You simply cannot hate somebody who makes you laugh. The trick is what you get them to laugh at. Not everybody finds the same things funny and when you are doing comedy one-on-one, you had better know your audience. Here are my top 10 tips on how to read your audience and how to make them laugh.

1. Leave the blue suit in the closet. By this I mean do not, ever, EVER, use blue or raunchy material when trying to inject a little humor into your presentation. Remember, if a customer doesn’t laugh, they may still buy from you. But if a customer is turned off by a blue joke, chances are they will never buy from you.

2. Take a look around. When you are with your customer, look around their office. Notice the pictures on the wall, the trophies on the desk, the little tchotchkes and souvenirs they have around the office. This will tell you what they like and it’s easier to make a person laugh if you know what they like. If, for instance, you notice pictures of your customer on a boat you can assume that they like boating, fishing, water sports, outdoors, and the company of other boaters.

This is when you check your mental rolodex for any jokes you may have stored away that have a link to any of these topics. For instance, “My goofy cousin tried to water ski once but he said he couldn’t find a lake with a hill in it.”

3. When telling a joke, make sure that a) you are comfortable telling it and b) you remember it. Nothing is worse than someone in the middle of a joke who forgets how it ends. If there is a particular joke that you heard and want to use, practice it over and over. Tell it to yourself until

you have it down pat and then tell it to anybody-people at the supermarket, folks in line at the bank, or neighbors out cutting their lawn. Tell it like you wrote it and it will be easier to work into a conversation with your client.

4. If you are still not sure of your

client’s sense of humor, ask them what good movies they’ve seen or their favorite TV show. You could even ask them who their favorite comedian is. All of these answers will give you clues as to their sense of humor.

5. You don’t have to do all of the

talking. If you are not comfortable telling a joke you can let your iPad do the talking. If you have seen a clever cartoon in the newspaper or a particularly funny photo that is relevant to your client’s likes, dislikes, or hobbies, scan it and keep it on your iPad. Later, during your appointment you can say something like “I remember we were talking about your boat last time and I thought you’d appreciate this picture.” Then show them a funny picture or cartoon involving boats. If you don’t currently have any of these graphics, you can find them by the dozens on the internet. And, just show one image. It makes it more special, plus if you show 20 “funny” pictures involving boats, they could cease being funny and begin to get annoying. Remember the old show business adage, “Always leave them wanting more.”

6. Once your clients know that you

have a sense of humor, you can even inject it into some e-mail. For instance, I recently received an e-mail invitation to an open house for one of my clients. It promises to be a classy affair

with hors d’oeuvres and live jazz. I responded to the invitation by saying that I will, of course, be there. Could I bring anything? Perhaps some chips or a dish to pass? I don’t know if that e-mail made anyone chuckle or smile, but they know me and I’m pretty sure caught the joke.

7. Let your leave-behinds spell FUN. I’m sure that you have leave-behinds for your clients like pens, notebooks, hand sanitizer, or whatever. These are fine and serve as a reminder every time they are used, but why not leave your client with something nobody else gives them --a good laugh. In addition to regular business cards, I had more cards printed up on beer coasters. These 4 inch coasters contain all of my information and are left with the client, telling them, “Now you can have drinks on me.” This business card winds up staying on their desks a lot longer than a normal one. You can find all sorts of novelty items that could become your leave-behind with a smile. On line check out http://www.archiemcphee.com.

8. Remember, you’re there to sell.

Sometimes comedians get on a roll and joke after joke is met with enthusiastic response. These are the times we live for and we try to make them last as long as we can. Your objective, however, is different. You are not at this meeting to entertain; you are there to make a sale. Humor is just one of the many tools in your arsenal so don’t wind up using it until it wears out.

9. There is no number nine.

10.Finally, have fun. When you look like you’re having fun, those around you will be more inclined to have fun. On the other side of the coin, if you really like telling jokes, don’t go overboard and change your name to Shecky.

You’d have to get new business cards.

Dale Irvin, CSP, CPAE, is a speaker, comedian, and the world’s only Professional Summarizer. He is also the author of “Insurance as a Second Language”, the first and only funny book on the topic of insurance. Dale produces the Friday Funnies, a humorous recap of the week’s news presented to you in both readable and video formats. For a free subscription, visit www.daleirvin. com and press the button for Friday Funnies.To find out more about Dale’s Funny Business Videos for the insurance industry, contact him at Dale@DaleIrvin.com.

I CARRY THE BAG | SUMMER 2013 | 2 3

by Willie Jolley

The

10

Commandments

Of suPeriOr CusTOmer serviCe! How to Create A 5 Star Organization Focused On Superior Customer Service!

i

recently had the honor of presenting a talk at TEDx and during the talk I shared some secrets about my work helping to change attitude of companies around the world. One of the companies that was highlighted was Ford Motors, who I worked with when they were on the brink of bankruptcy, and how I was part of the team that helped in their billion-dollar comeback!

At Ford I was assigned with the task to change attitudes about the company, the products and the future, and to help them see the power of excellence: leadership excellence, change management excellence, team-building excellence, customer service excellence and attitudinal excellence. There was an expectation that Ford could and would win again…and they did!

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to speak for a great number of major corporations who were in the midst of transformation and have found that they possess all five qualities that are always apparent in the growth. Those qualities are vision, the willingness to make tough decisions, a

24 | SuMMER 2013 | i CArry THe bAG

commitment to take strategic action, incredible desire to achieve goals and “amazing” Customer Service (not good, but amazing Customer Service.) I want to share the secrets for great service that I share with my clients. I call them the 10 Commandments of Superior Customer Service!

10 COmmandmenTs

of suPerior Customer serviCe

COmmandmenT #1

thou shalt serve With a smile.

We have all heard about companies that stress service a smile. It is critical to smile because a smile expresses a sentiment that words do not always express. Practice saying “No” while smiling. It will help you as you to move to becoming a better servant or leader.

tions is to consistently go the extra mile. In Scripture, we are taught to always go the extra mile. And I have found that there is no traffic jam along the extra mile!

COmmandmenT #3

thou shalt Greet, sPeak, and be real sWeet!

If you have ever been to a five-star hotel they always have a greeter. And of course the #1 Retailer in the World, Wal-Mart, always has a greeter at the front that says hello to their customers. Great organizations understand the power of the first impression…the first person that offers a positive greeting is the person who creates the first impression for the company. Not only do they greet the customers, they also speak to people, say hello and understand that people spend more money with people they like!

COmmandmenT #2

COmmandmenT # 4

A common ingredient of five-star organiza-

There is a book that has become very popular

thou shalt serve and Go the extra mile

thou shalt saY thank You and Please…a lot!

that states “the most important things you learn about success you learn in kindergarten.” In kindergarten we are taught that to say thank you and please, and we are taught that we must say it a lot. It works!

Commandment # 5

Thou Shalt Be Willing To Apologize …Quickly!

Great success is found in the person who is able to apologize to a customer or a supplier, and is able to do it quickly…even if it was not their fault. Be willing to say, “I am sorry that happened! ” And be sincere in that sentiment.

Make a commitment to apologize, even if it is not your fault, and find a way to fix the problem as quickly as you can.

Commandment # 6

Thou Shalt Anticipate

Anticipate the need of our customers and each other (internal and external customer service).

The great organizations that give incredible customer service don’t just respond to the needs of their customers, they anticipate the needs of their customers. Anticipate rather than just response, leads more people talking about your business, which leads to more money!

Commandment # 7

Do What Is Necessary, Not What Is Comfortable!

To succeed in life and in business I have found it is critical to go beyond our comfort zones. To create a five star organization we must be make a commitment to W.I.N., which means to do Whatever Is Necessary!

And in order to do Whatever Is Necessary, we will have to go beyond our comfort zones!

Commandment # 8

Commandment # 9

Thou Shalt Lighten The Lines!

No one, and I do mean, no one, likes waiting in line! Think about it; if you at the grocery store don’t you look for the shortest line? If you’re at a bank, doesn’t it frustrate you if there are long lines? If you’re traveling and come upon a traffic jam with a sea of red lights, don’t you moan? No one likes lines!

A few smiles and a simple acknowledgement can do so much to lessen the anxiety waiting in line. If you can lessen the lines, or at least the anxiety that comes from waiting in line, you will grow your five-star status!

Commandment # 10

Thou Shalt Practice The C.A.N.E.I. Principle

In the late 40’s and 50’s, the Japanese were recovering from World War II and were struggling to survive. They started creating items to be sold overseas and always stamped the items as “Made in Japan.” During those times, whenever people in America saw the “Made in Japan” stamp, they knew they were

inferior quality and bought them at cheap, reduced prices. Soon after, the Japanese started practicing the C.A.N.E.I. Principle, which stands for Constant And Never Ending Improvement. It is making a commitment to keep bettering your best on a daily basis. Within a decade of embracing this principle, the Japanese had gone from worse to first! Japanese electronics and automobiles dominated the marketplace. Five-star organizations understand and embrace the C.A.N.E.I. Principle.

Thou Shalt Take Responsibility

In order to become an effective servant leader it is critical to teach the power of responsibility, which means you are able to respond with your ability. To respond with your ability means to be empowered to take the necessary action to help customers without having to ask for permission to do the right thing.

Willie Jolley has achieved remarkable heights in the speaking industry, having come from humble beginnings.

He was named “One of the Outstanding Five Speakers in the World” by the 175,000 members of Toastmasters International. In addition, he has been inducted into the prestigious CPAE (Speaker Hall of Fame) and received the CSP Certification (Certified Speaking Professional) from The National Speakers Association. Mr. Jolley is the author of several international best-selling books including his latest, “An Attitude of Excellence,” (endorsed

by Stephen Covey) which is being bought by America’s top organizations to inspire their people and help them improve their performance! To learn more visit www.williejolley.com

I CARRY THE BAG | SUMMER 2013 | 2 5

careers BYLINE BY K ath y F r e e m a n G o d f r e y

This Summer,

Get Yourself Into

Top Career Shape!

i

’ve been doing some reflecting recently about misperceptions people have about those with enviable careers: those that make the most money, get the most visibility or make it to the C Suite. It’s important to note that they don’t have some unique gene pool that sets them apart, they are simply positively proactive.

A case in point is a leadership executive that I worked with recently. During the course of my interview process, I invest about 10 hours of time assessing candidates involved in my searches. With this particular executive, it wasn’t until six months into his new job, when he mentioned to me the extreme challenges he had with his previous boss.

The subject never surfaced during the interview process because he wasn’t using his dysfunctional boss as a reason for leaving. The more critical priority to him was considering a challenging role that merited his skills and ability. As I reflected on the other terrifically talented executives that I’ve worked with during my assignments, I realized that the common theme among each of them was their positive approach to all facets of their lives, even when parts of their lives weren’t so positive.

If you consider your own career, it is easy to say that wholesaling is great. There is so much to love about how you spend your time in this “job.”

You travel each week—some to different cities and some to multiple states. You dine out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and your firm picks up the tab! You take clients golfing, fishing, or to the ball games, and you meet new people constantly. Plus you build lifelong friendships with many of these people that you met as prospects and then clients.

As an aside, the money, as compared to most other industries and sales careers, is amazing!

Then at some point in our careers, regardless of how good our work sounds to others, we start to get complacent. The money isn’t enough, the 26 | SUMMER 2013 | I CARRY THE BAG

travel is too much and we migrate gradually from being energized to becoming lethargic. Maybe it’s popular conversation among our friends to complain about their jobs, so you simply jump on the bandwagon. Whatever the cause, you suddenly find yourself unmotivated.

This summer I suggest you don’t succumb to the temptation to coast. If you aren’t happy, take a page from the playbook of the most successful executives and make the changes that get you reenergized. Whether you are five years into your career or 15, when you allow yourself to buy into working in a lower gear and not maximizing your potential, the implications to your career can be devastating.

There are three quick exercises that you can take this summer to get yourself back into career shape!

1

Consider all of your options. If you weren’t wholesaling, what else would you want to be doing? For fun, create a list of possible other roles that might be interesting to you. Remember that considering change is energizing. You may find some compelling alternatives, but, if not, the reflection often serves as a step towards appreciating all of the components in your own career.

2

Consider what aspects you enjoy most in your job? Is it building the great and trusted relationships with complete strangers who then become clients and later friends? Or your ability to educate others and the enjoyment you derive from being considered a subject matter expert among your clientele? Is it the challenge that you enjoy from learning the subject and the constant evolution of investments? What about travel and the change of venue that you confront each week? Maybe you could never appreciate how someone goes to the same office day in and day out each week, year after year. Make a list of the top three components of what you enjoy most in your role.

3

Define any areas of dissatisfaction and be clear on how you can address these issues. For example, it may simply be that you have mastered what you do and need an increased level of challenge. Perhaps you now have a family at home, and the travel has become too much.

Maybe you like educating the advisors, but you don’t want the responsibility to sell to them.

Identify and list the negatives that are dragging

down the energy you feel in your career.

Once you’ve considered your career options, evaluate all the positives in your own role, and ultimately crystallize the negatives that are pulling the energy out of your day-to-day work. It’s time to take action. So, what do you do once armed with these clarifications?

First, acknowledge if the time is right to consider other career options. If so, embrace the opportunity for change. Whether leadership or getting into a different focus of sales is calling, change is good. If you came through the exercise deciding that you have the best role out there, reconfirm to yourself and friends an appreciation for the career you’ve chosen.

Second, maximize your greatest passions. If it’s the relationship side of your role, is there an opportunity to increase your sales success through deepening your existing relationships? If it’s educating advisors, is it possible that you are a better speaker and should maximize your voice in front of larger audiences or a more sophisticated clientele? If you love to sell, think about if you are maximizing your true potential with your present audience? What can you adjust in your sales efforts to achieve all the potential in front of you?

Third, if you find yourself dissatisfied for some reason, don’t complain—be proactive. If you find that you are working for a leader that is a jerk, move on to a new firm or to a new part of the company where that isn’t an issue. If you need a new challenge, break down what it will look like and make the steps towards change. If lifestyle issues are prevalent, identify the solution that creates the win-win for your family.

The simple truth about the people with the careers we envy is that most often what makes them attractive during the search process is that they demonstrate their proactivity as well as address change both in their daily work and also within their careers. They don’t complain about what’s wrong, and you shouldn’t either.

Take the time this summer, at the beach, by the pool, or in the mountains to assess and energize yourself and your career.

Kathy Freeman Godfrey is the Founder and President of the Kathy Freeman Company, a retained executive search firm founded in 1992. Kathy focuses her work nationally on senior sales and marketing or leadership roles within the financial services industry. You can find more about her work, research papers published, or access her blog through her website at www.kathyfreemanco.com

by Hikingartist.com

28 | SUMMER 2012 | I CARRY THE BAG

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