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One of the very first things asked of new advisors, brokers, and agents is to compile, organize and ultimately sell to their Natural Market. In case the term isn’t used in your firm, your Natural Market is a list of family and friends (and countrymen) that you can sell insurance products to. Some firms may call your Natural Market your Project 100 (or 200) depending on how many names you have on your list. Catchy, isn’t it? I’ve discussed some of the best ways to work with your Natural Market in the past. But how much attention do you give to your Un-Natural Market? You may not be as familiar with this phrase as I just made it up. Well, I didn’t just make it…
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Posted by Michael Goldberg in Business, Networking, Referrals. Leave a Comment
What do Boxing and Networking have in common? You need to protect yourself at all times! Make sure you don’t put people on the defensive when networking. The goal while networking should always be about learning about someone else with the intention to help them.
Posted by Michael Goldberg in Business, Networking. Leave a Comment
Heck, most advisors don’t even talk to their clients unless they have to! Unless it’s time to renew something, or up-sell something, or be referred to someone for something. It’s always something! It’s no wonder the number one reason clients jump from one advisor to another is because they don’t hear from their advisor enough. Your clients are looking for something too! Yes, even the clients in your “C” drawer. Clients want to know that their advisors are looking out for their best interests and keeping them informed about what’s going on and what should be going on. This is especially true when the Dow and Nasdaq are dropping by hundreds of points and political parties are rocking the economic boat. This has become our…
Continue Reading “5 Things Advisors Don’t Say to Their Clients – But Should”
Posted by Michael Goldberg in Business, Referrals. Leave a Comment
Believe it! If you don’t have deliberate (and creative) ways of staying in touch and reminding prospects and clients that you’re a valued resource, they won’t call you. Well, they may not call you. Odds are they won’t call you. Everybody is busy and rarely does it occur to your prospects that they should be getting in touch with you. It’s a case of staying top of mind! In the spirit of OOSIOOM (see the catchy title), here are some approaches you can put into practice to jump start your OOSIOOM strategy. Make your calls. Way back when, I worked on Wall Street as a broker which is to say I was a cold caller. This is before the Federal Trade Commission and Do Not…
Continue Reading “Out of Sight is Out of Mind!”
Posted by Michael Goldberg in Business, Networking, Referrals. Leave a Comment
As in canvassing the neighborhood. The activity of soliciting votes and locating supporters. Traditionally done by tramping the streets from house to house, culminating in persuading those who have previously promised to support one’s party to come out and vote for it. That’s according to Wikipedia (the resource for everything by the way). Is that you? Do you want it to be you? Tramping the streets going from house to house (or business to business)? After all, this is why NO SOLICITING signs were invented. There are lots of creative signs out there. Here’s my favorite. But I digress. Now don’t get me wrong. I believe canvassing is an excellent technique for getting business provided it’s done properly. Think about it. How much more success would…
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Posted by Michael Goldberg in Business. Leave a Comment
I’m asked by financial advisors (and other sales folks) from time to time if there was just one thing that needs to be done to grow a practice, what would it be? Kind of reminds me of that classic scene in City Slickers. You know the one! Jack Palance (Curly): “Do you know what the secret of life is? One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don’t mean ****.” Billy Crystal (Mitch): “But, what is the one thing?” Jack Palance (Curly): “That’s what you have to find out.” Well, I’m not sure what the secret of life is but I do know it takes more than just “one thing” to be a successful financial advisor. So here are six things…
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Posted by Michael Goldberg in Business, Networking. Leave a Comment
Mike Tyson has a great quote. “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Yes, it’s one of my favorites! Now, Tyson is no Shakespeare (although he has a lot of great quotes you can look up) but he is going into the Boxing Hall of Fame next month. That’s got to count for something. Of course, what Tyson meant applies to the boxing ring. Once he hits you, scrap your game plan and make sure your life insurance is in order. And his 50 wins with 44 knockouts (28 in the first round) backs up the claim. The same claim can be made for your game plan for networking and generating referrals. I know, I know. You have all the best…
Continue Reading “In Your Face!”
Posted by Michael Goldberg in Business, Networking, Referrals. Leave a Comment
To have a meaningful conversation, you must ask meaningful questions. If your questions are about the weather and other topics that aren’t significant, your conversation will not be meaningful—unless we’re about to have a big storm. Even if you don’t feel like you’re in an environment that is a true networking environment—like a holiday party—it’s still an opportunity to consider the five reasons people network: to get more business, to land a job, to solve a problem, to get ideas or learn something, or to make social connections. The extent to which your conversation is meaningful is directly proportional to the quality of questions that you ask. That’s always what it comes down to. One great way to start a conversation is to mention something…
Continue Reading “How to Start a Meaningful Conversation”
Posted by Michael Goldberg in Business, Networking. Leave a Comment
So let’s continue from where we left off. Did you start your day early? How early? Were you productive? Even if you were a bit sluggish right off the bat, I bet you still got more done than if you started at your typical time. Try it again tomorrow. You may be surprised that once you do this for a few days, it won’t even bother you anymore. And, your production will increase tremendously! What else can you do? 2. Start and end every day with a to-do list Maybe two lists – one consists of people (prospects, clients, return calls), and the other is tasks (thank you notes, proposals, contracts, case analysis, document reviews). You could devote a set amount of time for the…
Continue Reading “6 Ways to Give It 100% All Day, Every Day (cont.)”
Posted by Michael Goldberg in Business. Leave a Comment
I received an email last week from a friend and colleague of many years who works for a large bank in New England. As a senior vice president of … err, something, he heads up the training division that supports call center operations. Every few weeks, he wakes up to find he’s been promoted and given a larger staff to manage. He must be doing something right – or something very wrong. Most of my friends don’t make a lot of sense. He does: “One thing I share with my managers (I now have 20-plus on my work team) is to start the day at 100 percent. Many people come to work thinking that it is going to be a ‘bad’ day, and then it goes…
Continue Reading “6 Ways to Give it 100% All Day, Every Day”
Posted by Michael Goldberg in Business. Leave a Comment
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