Rejected


Advisors, prospects and recruits eventually reach a fork in the road when a final decision must be made.  This week’s blog will discuss decisions from the perspective of the advisor, client and the hiring firm.  We will share there is a right way and a wrong way to make final decisions.  Decisions that don’t go our way are difficult to hear.  I recently experienced a painful decision that I did not want or expect to hear.  I hope my experience of being rejected will help you.

Time

Time is our most scarce and valuable asset.  Seth Godin defines that we make up every day with 15 - 20 hours of attention. Respecting how we allocate our attention and how we respect our clients’ attention is one of the most important decisions we make.  When we meet with clients their top consideration is how long will this meeting take?  The advisor and client both know that the goal of the meeting is to make a sale.  One of the most successful advisory firms I have worked with has a structure that they follow for all new prospective clients that starts with a two-hour meeting! Ira Glass, the pioneer of podcasting and the host of This American Life tries to limit his podcasts to an hour to insure that there is enogh time to develop the guest’s story.  When the new up and coming podcast host Dax Shepherd interviewed Ira he explained why his podcasts are ninety minutes.  Dax and my successful advisory friends both believe that the extra time creates a bond that encourages deeper conversations.

Expectations

We need to reference the elephant in the room about how long the meeting will take in advance. The defined time commitment will allow all parties to relax and share important personal information. Sharing will differentiate your meetings and hopefully build a unique rapport.  Meetings that exclusively focus on features and benefits are de reguere.  People on Dax’s podcast often say I’ve never shared this with anyone.  While that might sound scary it is a memorable feel good moment.

Post Mortem

Unfortunately every podcast and meeting won’t reach a mutually beneficial conclusion.  Our advice is to reconvene the group and ask them what went right and what went wrong and can be improved.  We have found these post mortem discussions help and should include the client or prospect.  Asking all parties what else we could have covered is priceless information.  My recent rejection did not follow this path leaving me with a self-deprecating question of what is wrong with me?.

Life has taught me to make lemonade when I’m dealt lemons.  We all need to view rejection as lemons and start making lemonade before our lemons spoil.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inorganic

Image
Our industry has always looked down on Wall Street’s recruiting checks.  Last week there were numerous announcements that independent firms were offering advisors money to purchase their practice.  The term for these transactions is inorganic growth.  This week we will look at why these transactions are the new rage and examine if they are better than the old Wall Street checks. Wempy Popeye and financial advisors fall for the “I’ll gladly pay pay you tomorrow for a Hamburger today” pitch.  Unfortunately Popeye and and most financial advisors provide their hamburger but seldomly get paid what the firms and Wimpy promise .  Why?  The advisors need the cash and Popeye is gullible.  On Wall Street the deals adjusted when the advisors changed firms looking for a new deal every five to eight years.  The recent Luminous departure shows that the advisory contracts need to be adjusted.  The new contracts are written by experienced firms and lawyers to prevent serial departures. 
Read more

Stop Judging

Image
I have known that I have MS for over four years.  My doctors believe I have had MS for over twenty years.  Initially, When I received this diagnosis  I was very opinionated when I saw disable people. I assumed the worst. As a currently disabled person I can educate and warn you regarding things you shouldn’t say to me or disabled people..  This blog will educate on my disability. The places it manifests itself and how you can react and support me and other disabled people. The three items are: 1.) Needing a walker 2.) Government disability  3.) Falling MS causes me to loose my balance and fall.  The walker prevents this reality  I look at walkers as being as sign of old age,  I was incorrect and a good walker is an aid!  With a walker I fall less often.  I might look old, but I am OLD! Our government provides support to the millions of MS patients in the US.  Support is through Social Security and must be approved.  I am approved. The service can be cancelled if i get a full time job.
Read more

Summer Changes

Image
  Our summer is almost over,  What did we learn during all of our downtime?   I will summarize all of my observations and share my plans on what I will implement when I return to my office.  I discovered/ learned 6 items on my beech lounging, morning walks and social media tolling that I’ll share.  Hope they help.  My first and easiest change was my eye glasses.  Many of my friend asked it was trying to look like Elton.  I wasn’t…. The next three changes were business related. The changes will be voted on by my colleagues.  Steve Jobs of solving client problems the client didn’t know they had will be our guiding light.  I tried to change a few items. The obvious item what I changed was my eye  glasses.  The other areas were business related and I wanted wanted to be in control of my changes. The first change s our business’s model.  It has taken years to realize that I can’t beat thr market index.  Growing up on Wall Street this change was difficult.   Alpha is difficult to achieve an
Read more