8 keys to be successful in this business
This morning I had the opportunity to speak with another agency with new agents/advisors. I put these thoughts together as I thought about what they might ask me and how I might respond to each of their questions. I also thought I should share these thoughts as they may be something that someone may read and helps them achieve a higher level of success in their own Financial Planning practice and learn some key insights that can help you become successful in this business.
1 – You Must Be Different.
Different gets noticed, and sameness gets ignored. There are 3.2 million agents/advisors in this country that are virtually the same in everyone’s eyes. What is it about you that people should want to meet with you?
“When something is different, the reticular formation triggers a cascading effect in the brain to analyze the situation, and the first priority is threat analysis. If we are in harm’s way, it is critical to get out of it. But once the different thing is identified as safe, then our brains look for opportunity. Will I benefit from this? If the assessment is no, then our brains add this different, “Hey Friend”-type thing to the category of the inconsequential-something to be ignored. Opportunity exists in that little window between different, when the brain pays absolute attention to it, and the qualification of threats or opportunities, before the brain chooses to ignore this different thing forevermore. In those few milliseconds, you make your millions. Or billions. Or gazillions. And if you fail to respect or cater to this different-opportunity moment in the brain, you will be stuck in mediocrity-and so will your wallet.”
-Get Different, p.31
2 – I Know My WHY.
Can you state clearly what your purpose is? Is it written down? Do your actions and words confirm what you say your purpose is? If not, actions speak louder than words.
Do you sell your WHY, or do you sell your WHAT?
3 – I Have Clear Principles.
I know my WHY, do you know Your WHY is your purpose. Do you sacrifice your values to make money? Do you sell something you really don’t believe in yourself? Do you sell WHATs (products) or do you sell your principles?
“HOWs are your values or principles that guide HOW to bring your cause to life…It’s the discipline to never veer from your cause, to hold yourself accountable to HOW you do things; that’s the hardest part. Everything you say and everything you do has to prove what you believe.”
-Simon Sinek
4 – I Have Clear, Simple, and Repeatable Process.
It must be Clear, Simple, and Repeatable process. From our experience, very few people have a clear process, that they have written down, and can repeat to a predictable outcome. The benefit of having a clear and repeatable process, is that it can be perfected.
- If you don’t have a process, you can’t perfect it.
- Results become mysterious or lucky.
- Highly successful people don’t rely on luck.
People like working with people that are organized and know where they are going.
- Agents that know where they are going are less likely to get distracted and go down undesirable rabbit holes.
You don’t need to wonder what you’re going to do when you schedule a client, regardless of how much or how little money they have. You won’t ever wonder what you’re going to be doing or going to be talking about from one meeting to the next.
Having a process also qualifies and disqualifies clients.
5 – Have a System.
Your System needs to align with you Principles and your WHY.
You can have a clear WHY and you can have foundational principles, but if your system doesn’t support those things, then your clients’ will either be confused, or you will compromise your Principles and your Purpose to follow the system.
A System needs to have…
6 – Define Success
We define success differently than most of the financial services industry.We define it when by
Seeing our clients implementing the 5 Principles of Personal Finance that allow them become and remain financially free.
Most people in the industry define success by:
- The number of policies sold,
- The amount of commissions they make,
- Or by the amount of assets under management.
If you really want to make a difference, define your success by ‘what’s in it for my client’, and money will never be an issue for you.
“If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.”
– Dale Carnegie (How to Win Friends and Influence People)
7 – Be a Voracious Reader.
“They read books.
Everything you ever need to know about anything is contained in a book. Everything! If you want to learn something or become an expert at anything, all you need to do is read. Yet, I am saddened at how many people tell me that they don’t like to or just plain won’t read.
I’ve got limited patience for salespeople who don’t read. There is absolutely no excuse for it. When you decide not to read, you are making the conscious choice to limit your growth and income, and I have zero sympathy for you.” -Jeb Blount (Fanatical Prospecting)
8 – Always be learning.
Never arrive.
