Questions Great Financial Advisor Ask… and Investors need to know.

“Ask the right questions and you are on your way to gaining clients for life.” That’s the claim co-authors Alan Parisse and David Richman make in “Questions Great Financial Advisors Ask… and Investors Need to Know”… and they deliver. (more…)

Financial advisors who either specialize in insurance products or include insurance products as part of their business mix have the responsibility of keeping up to date with changes in tax laws and government benefits programs, and other state and federal regulations. Most state licensing authorities have mandatory continuing education requirements focusing on insurance laws, consumer protection, and the technical details of various insurance policies, which means that advisors have a lot to keep up with.

Even though advisors are aware of these responsibilities and requirements, they can find it a burden having it to fulfill these obligations on top of their firm element requirements. So let’s review the challenges and see if we can find any possible solutions. (more…)

In keeping with the theme of the current issue of Broker Dealer Journal, this article offers insights into some of the industry’s superstars and overviews how they transitioned their businesses from typical sized practices to “mega businesses” within just a few years. As you’ll see, I believe that anyone can dramatically improve their productivity if they are willing to pay the price and follow certain success templates. (more…)

You know low performers hurt your sales organization, but you´re not sure how to deal with them. Steve Johnson, co-author of a best-selling new book for sales coaches, offers some practical (and proven) insights. (more…)

I’ve been in this business a long time, and I’ve had the privilege of knowing a lot of people—broker/dealers and others— who are involved in recruiting. I’m also routinely bombarded with feedback from advisors about what they like and dislike in broker/dealers, some of which is very revealing about both parties; nevertheless the fact is that the way broker/dealers communicate with advisors on the phone or face-to-face can cement their relationships for years to come, or it can derail a relationship before it even leaves the station. (more…)

Red Chip Small-Cap Investor Conference 2006

Rating: Highly Recommended

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H ave you noticed that everyone keeps telling the baby boomers to save more for their retirement? The boomers know that’s what they should do, but they don’t. It’s obvious that people don’t do what they need to do; they do what they want to do. Below is a chart showing shipments of BMW automobiles and U.S. savings rates. Clearly, the baby boomers are taking care of their wants, and damn their needs. Solve the following three problems with your reps’ sales approach, and have your revenue soar. (more…)

While so many of the major Wall Street firms are busily chasing the “high net worth” crowd, who’s taking care of the rest of us? “The statistics show that there are an awful lot of assets in the $100,000 to $400,000 range,” says Eric Schwartz, the CEO and president of Cambridge Investment Research of Fairfield, Iowa, an independent broker-dealer that’s already added more than 100 reps this year while growing its revenues by an average of 40% a year for the last six years.  (more…)