Read an Excerpt
INTRODUCTION
I HAVE ALWAYS had an insatiable curiosity about the methods successful people use to reach the pinnacle of their industry. I am particularly interested in the financial services field, because this is where a have made my career.When I started in the business back in 1980 a my goal was to create my own million-dollar practice, but I had absolutely no idea how to do it. I read all the literature at the time about how to be successful, but there didn’t seem to be any blueprint for me to follow. Even though I was motivated to succeed, I knew that the odds were against me: Only one percent of those who start in this business ever reach the million-dollar business level.
Introduction
So began the long, challenging journey toward my goal. I spent the first six years of my career as a financial advisor, starting in
1980 with a large, national financial services firm in my hometown of Athens, Georgia. I was 25 years old and had absolutely no idea how to build a financial services practice. I didn’t know anyone who had more than $20,000 to invest and had never sold an intangible product before. I was as green as they get, but I did have a high level of motivation to succeed. I soon recognized this business was much more difficult than I had expected and that I was in for the biggest challenge of my life. Through hard work, perseverance a and a little luck, I began building my business, growing it bigger every year.
While developing my practice, I realized that I wanted to help others thrive as well. I was given my first opportunity to help other financial advisors back in 1984, when I was promoted to the level of producing manager in a large, national financial services firm in
Atlanta. I took my best accounts with me and threw myself at the challenge. I was in charge of motivating a group of unsuspecting financial advisors. What I lacked in managerial experience I made up for in energy and enthusiasm. I began to teach the lessons that a had learned to those reporting to me, to great results. In just two years that office cumulatively grew by almost 30 percent.
Then, in 1986, I passed the firm’s assessment for managers, and my dream of having a full-time career helping other financial advisors came true. Over the next 20 years I had managerial responsibilities in Denver, Newport Beach, Minneapolis, New York City a and Atlanta. In every location I was sent I saw the same thing: I realized that there was much to be learned, but saw how little was shared. So I started to collect and refine a set of best business practices for this industry. These lessons are featured in my first book,
The Million-Dollar Financial Services Practice, which provides the fundamentals to guide any financial advisor to a million-dollar business a no matter where you are in your financial services career.
Learning from the Masters
If my first book is the equivalent of a college degree in financial services a then this new one is the graduate course. The first book was designed to be a tactical blueprint for success, but the next step was to focus on the proven lessons that could be learned from many of the top advisors in the industry. The combination of these two books should provide instruction as well as the motivation needed to help you reach your goals. These lessons can be incorporated at any stage of your financial career; in fact, the earlier they are understood and followed, the better.
During my 20-year management career, I was privileged to meet some of the very best and brightest in the financial services industry.
In fact, I recruited, hired, and eventually worked with more than
100 individuals who were “million plus” financial advisors. Through this experience I was able observe the best practices of these top financial advisors and compare them to the best practices I had developed. I was surprised to see how much more I still had to learn.
Then I realized the challenge most advisors face: They simply don’t have access to individuals they can learn from. There is little flow of information downward because top advisors are extremely focused on their own practices.
However, I was able to interview 15 professionals who have personally exemplified what it takes to be at the very top. Through my personal and professional relationships with them, I was able to observe and interview them, asking them the questions that I know you would want to ask on exactly how they were able to become so successful. I had also worked directly with most of these advisors for years and was able to watch them, in many instances, practicing these lessons “live.” The combination of the interviews, my personal interactions with these professionals, and my knowledge and experience is what separates this book from all others.
The Million-Dollar Financial Advisor provides a rare glimpse into the best practices that make these top producers so successful. All of the information in this book was acquired through in-depth interviews and, in many cases, years of observations while working with these top advisors. I am confident that this wealth of information makes this book unique.
Each of these top advisors’ achievements went beyond a milliondollar practice. In all cases these exceptional men and women became successful “the old-fashion way.” No one handed them a book of business or gave them special treatment: They all started at the bottom and built their multimillion-dollar businesses from scratch. In all cases they started with nothing. With no related experience, they made the same mistakes all rookies make; they had to reinvent the wheel. In each case, however, their motivation, determination, goal focus, and hard work carried them through each obstacle that they faced to get to the next level. My purpose was to discover the principles of success that they all had in common and translate that into “lessons” for readers to take their business to the next level.
You now have access to these top advisors. All of them have shared their insights graciously and openly. You will learn from their mistakes as well as their successes. And while it does not guarantee a multimilliondollar practice, it can certainly raise your level of productivity. For example, I would often send the advisors in the offices that I managed to visit with higher producers in the same company, and I was always pleased by the significant lift in returns that would result.
The Million-Dollar Financial Advisor was written for financial advisors who want to take their business practice to the next level.
The information I obtained from my extensive interviews has been organized into 13 distinct lessons that these top advisors followed.
The guidelines should be used as a checklist to compare yourself with the best in the business. In some cases the lessons should be a confirmation of what you are currently doing right; in other cases, they will identify a gap in your business practice that needs to be developed. What’s more, this book provides the specific steps that you can take in order to implement the lessons.
The careers of our top advisors have spanned from 7 to 40 years.
They have thrived during bull markets and survived during the bear markets. Their lessons have withstood the test of time and are applicable in any market environment. As we’ve seen from recent economic events, markets have and always will change, but the lessons from these top advisors stay the same. The lessons from these top advisors will guide you to the top, too, no matter the current market conditions.
I have also included two complete case studies that are of particular interest. First, you will meet Taylor Glover, whom I consider to be the most successful financial advisor I have ever met. From my interview with him, you will learn how the “best of the best” built his business and how he advanced from a newly minted advisor to the
No. 1 producer in his firm. This case study also illustrates how all of the lessons work together and what the results can be.
A second study illustrates a unique financial advisor who has turned his career around. Henry Camp teaches us the value of hard work and incredible perseverance and should serve as an inspiration to anyone who desires to become a multimillion-dollar financial advisor, no matter what career stage he or she is in.
The final chapter offers a specific challenge: to use these lessons and drive your practice to financial success. By implementing these lessons, you will understand how to significantly increase your assets and your business. The Asset Challenge serves as an example of what the implementation of the lessons from the top can produce.
Some advisors will exceed the goal and others may not reach it, but those advisors that follow the tactical strategies outlined in this chapter on a consistent basis will take their business practice to the next and higher level.
