Growing Your Business

Financial professionals and entrepreneurs are rarely happy with moderate success.  Some business people tend to relax once they have earned a certain amount of money, but having spent so much time and effort getting your business to this level, why not take it all the way to the top? The task may sound daunting and it undoubtedly is, but it’s …

Networking is the art of building and sustaining mutually beneficial relationships. The goal of networking is to communicate with a stranger and make a connection.  Depending on the firm you work for, networking events may be mandatory for you to attend, so it’s good to look for ways to make networking easier for you and more comfortable. When you are …

If you asked me what my future job would be five years ago, I would have said car salesman or prison guard. At the time, I was working as an outside sales force for a website design firm, and doing well, but not as well as I would have liked.  Then, one day I walked into a State Farm Agent’s …

Imagine a competitive weapon that allowed you to dramatically upgrade your service levels, lower your costs, improve your ability to problem-solve, and better keep up with fast-changing regulations, policies and services. And despite the game-changing nature of this weapon, it’s free and few of your competitors make use of it. What is this weapon? Ideas from your front-line staff. Every …

There are many advisors that volunteer, give back to their community, and use their skills and talents to become board members for not-for-profits, foundations or endowments. They bring their strong financial background to the table and usually take on the role of treasurer or part of the finance committee for the charity. Their intention is to contribute in a meaningful …

As a sales strategist, I have witnessed salespeople try to disqualify a client time and time again. Whether they realize it or not, they’re actually looking for a reason to move onto the next call or what they feel may be the easier sale. They’re cherry picking for the slam dunk, the lay down, or the rollover. I have heard …

Marketing and sales initiatives are a company’s lifeblood. Yet, the top leaders of many companies harbor serious doubts about the effectiveness of such initiatives. The confidence level among some executives is so low that they’re not sure it would make much difference if they threw most of it out. The range of opinions on marketing and sales is amazing—from doubtful …

The financial industry is rife with rejection, and some agents/advisors deal with it better than others. How do they deal with it? By building up their emotional strength and not taking it personally.  Indeed, it is possible for advisors to desensitize themselves to rejection and become like Teflon. However, if your days are filled with calls and meetings that are …

Here are a couple simple tips to become more productive and successful at the most important thing a salesperson is required to do: Selling! If you’re not investing your time in selling as much as you possibly can each day, then you may not be making the most of your opportunities. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? Well, sometimes we can get …

The difference between entrepreneurs who fail and entrepreneurs who wildly succeed can be summed up by their appetite for one, five-syllable adjective: UNCOMFORTABLE.  Let me tell you a story to illustrate this point. When I was 24 years old, I agreed to accompany a broker on a sales call with an important prospect. We introduced ourselves and gave him our …