BOXES AND CUBES IN THE FIELD
In addition to working in the financial services industry for more than five decades, Baker served as president of the Million Dollar Round Table in 2010 and was MDRT Foundation president in 2000. He has also been a continuing qualifying member of the MDRT’s Top of the Table since 1977, one of only 25 agents to achieve this distinction. Baker credits his success in the business to several major factors: his passion for helping people figure out what he calls “the Rubik’s Cube of finances,” focusing on problems instead of focusing on solutions or products. And also employing a tactic from his days of playing high school football.
‘Like A Rubik’s Cube’
Baker was about to begin his senior year at McKenna College in Claremont, Calif., in 1966, when Pacific Life recruited him for a college training program. He was one of 25 rising seniors who went through a training program in the summer and then sold insurance during their last year of college. Baker was the top salesperson in the group in terms of the number of lives covered, so Pacific Life asked him to train the next group of student-agents during the summer after he graduated. “That was my summer job before I started graduate school,” he recalled. Baker went on to earn an MBA from the University of Southern California. He continued to recruit and train students for Pacific Life while he was in graduate school. After he received his MBA, Baker interviewed for a number of jobs but discovered that the jobs he sought paid much less than what he could make in the insurance business. His early success in selling insurance made him realize he had found his life’s work. “I found I enjoyed helping people think about their future,” he said. “I had a passion for it and I was good at it. I looked forward to every new engagement because it was like a Rubik’s Cube — you had to figure out how to put all the pieces together.” Baker often compares giving financial advice to solving Rubik’s Cube, although he admits he has never been able to solve the actual Rubik’s Cube. “It’s too complex,” he said. “But I think it is a great analogy because it is so complex and the
Baker’s Dozen 1. Establish a consistent savings plan. 2. Control expenditures. 3. Only use debt for leverage. 4. Set lifetime goals and investment objectives. 5. Make your house a profitable venture. 6. Guarantee your family’s security. 7. Don’t be greedy. 8. Invest wisely, and don’t spend the money that money makes. 9. Study how others have made money. 10. Invest in who you know and what you know. 11. Invest regularly. 12. Constantly review your progress and your goals. 13. Wealth is a state of mind. From Baker’s Dozen: 13 Effective Principles For Financial Success, Guy Baker and Ken Harris, 1994, Professional Sales & Marketing Ltd.
movement of one color has an impact on the rest of the colors and alignment.” As Baker progressed in the business, he made the move from what he called “kitchen-table sales” to the business market. Success began to build, and the business market remains a focus of his practice today.
‘Two-A-Days’
Baker experienced some difficulties in his early years in business. He thought back to when he was a high school football player in San Bernardino, Calif., a desert community where the heat affected everyone’s lives. “Back then, we used to have what we called ‘two-a-days,’ where we would practice early in the morning before it got too hot outside and then we would practice again late in the day when it started to cool off,” he said. “So I adopted that concept for my business, where I would find two people every day who would talk to me about financial
services, insurance or whatever. They didn’t count unless I actually asked them to talk with me about insurance. If I asked them to have coffee with me, it didn’t count. They had to know why I was coming and what I wanted to talk about. And if they said, yes, they would talk to me, I counted it as one of the two for that day. That was the way I kept myself on track. I didn’t pay attention to any other metrics. I just knew if I got two people a day to say yes to talking to me, that I would have the activity I needed to be successful.” Today, Baker said, “I have so many things coming at me from so many different directions, I really don’t have to spend time finding things to do — they find me. But I like to keep track of the fact that I’m on goal and I’m headed where I need to be.” Baker began to make a shift from life insurance sales to money management in the early 1990s. By 2012, it had become a major part of his practice. His 16-person agency has two main areas of interest, Baker said. “One is working with business owners, helping them transition their business, business succession, estate planning and retirement, attraction and retention of key people. That includes 401(k)s, pension plans, executive compensation.” The other is asset management. “So when they sell their business, someone has to manage those assets. We help clients figure out how to answer the three great questions no one can answer about retirement: What’s my number? How much do I have to save to get to my number? How do I invest it so I make sure I get my income to my number?” Baker serves the high-net-worth market, individuals who have assets of between $2 million and $50 million. Reaching this market and being successful with it, are two separate issues, he said. “Reaching this market is done mostly through word of mouth and referrals,” he said. “When you’ve been around as long as I have, people either know you or they don’t. And if they know you, you have a chance of working with them. “As for being successful with them, you need to learn a consulting process. I think that too often in the insurance industry, people are trained to be product-driven, solution-driven. I had to train myself to be problem-driven.” Baker’s clients have multiple financial
September 2019 » InsuranceNewsNet Magazine
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