The Radio Spots, and a Seminar, Work at Attracting Clients
A lot happened this week. I had 32 60-second radio ads running in advance of a seminar I held last Thursday. The radio station did a very professional job on the ad which included background music. During the week, as a result of the ad, I received a few calls from people I knew who heard my name during the spot.
They would call and after a minute or so, say, “Is this Mike…” Some were former clients and some were not, but they all know where I am now and that’s a good thing.
I also had several individuals either sign paperwork or indicate they would like to move their accounts to me. In fact, this week was so busy getting ready for the seminar and filling out new paperwork that my financial planning has come to a screeching halt. I suppose when the dust settles, things will return to normal as financial planning is such a foundational tool in working with clients. At the seminar, several people indicated they would like to sit down and talk so now it’s time to follow up. Many of them were unfortunate enough to have put money into the Stanford International Bank CD. A large number of people lost a lot of money in this scam–money they expected to be there for retirement. It’s a very sad situation for everyone involved.
The public portion of my Web site is nearly complete as I only need to add a few graphs and pictures to finish it. You can check it out at www.integritywealth.us if you like. Although I wrote all the text, I used another company to create the look and write the code for the automation. I discuss more about this in an upcoming Investment Advisor article, due out in April.
I’m approaching my two-year anniversary since going independent and am very glad for that decision. The freedom it offers, to do business the way you think it should be done, is priceless. There’s no one to “suggest” that you sell a certain product line or meet a specific production goal. You see, whenever there’s a production goal, there is also a conflict of interest. So I ask, “Is our focus on making a bunch of money or helping a bunch of clients?” After all, if we help enough clients, we will be compensated well.
I would like to see advisors (I use the term generically) focus on helping clients, not making money. With some exception, that’s one of the major differences between the independent advisor and the “wirehouse” broker.
I love being independent!
Good stuff, but pretty obvious truths that you state.
Too bad there are scofflaws out there who warrant policing.
Keep up the good work, and yes, you will make an honest living. I hope to keep doing the same myself.
Mike, I liked the article and whole concept of your writing. I looked at your web site and I have one issue. I learned a long time ago from a very good salesman never to sell against something, sell in favor of your product and ignore the other guy. Your site seems to be oriented to selling against the brokerage houses (who deserve all the calumny they get). While it does highlight the differences it seems to do so in second position to the selling against.