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Bernon
Peacock, my friend who was the long time Editor-In-Chief
of Pension World magazine
told me recently, "I retired from magazines.
I now do financial PR." Quickly I asked, "Are
any of your clients financial planners?" Bernie
shouted back, "Oh no! Planners are
such control freaks! Too many planners are clients
from hell! My eyes widened at this response.
Does your client from hell often cancel
appointments and not return calls? Does this person
make you beg? Does your client from hell require
that you immediately get fantastic results for him?
Does that client actually have such unrealistic expectations?
Or is your client from hell faking this in a misguided
attempt to motivate you to greater performance for
him? Does that client express disappointment in
you if you have not achieved fantastic results for
him in two months? Does your client from hell
want you to make him wealthy, in a few weeks, with
as little money invested as possible? Does your client
from hell want endless praise and reassurance about
how wonderful he is?
Does this client want you to guarantee his financial
success? Does this client ask for detailed status
reports every single time you speak to him over the
phone? Does your client from hell think he is
the expert in your specialty discipline and you are
some sort of demented errand boy? Is your client from
hell an expert in everything, i.e., direct mail, television
production, article writing for various top professional
magazines, submitting material to the wire services,
scripting radio interview questions, photography,
negotiating with book editors at major publishing
houses, professional book promotion, etc., etc.? Does
this expert in everything gripe and complain endlessly?
Does your client from hell hold you responsible
for the performance of any investment that was made?
Is it impossible to ever satisfy your client from
hell? Does this client want weekly or even daily
updating reports with lots of encouraging good news?
Does your client from hell tell others how disappointed
he is in you and what a jerk you are? Does your client
from hell expect you to be loyal to him but with him
loyalty is a one-way deal? Is your client from hell
careless with the truth?
There are four subjects that I have
so far (over 25-years) been unable to write about
– because not one financial planner has been
willing to talk with me about any of these topics
"for the record." These four subjects
are, (1) clients from hell, (2)
planners or agents in-or-out of prison, (3)
gay planners and the gay planning association, and
(4) clown autobiographies. Even when
everyone on earth knows a certain financial planner
or a self-proclaimed guru is an embarrassing clown,
-- the clown is never able to acknowledge this.
His staff and associates are afraid to admit this.
So the clown and those around him resort to lawyers
to threaten anyone who asks about this. All four subjects
are very interesting topics. The title of this column
got your attention didn't it? You have all had
clients from hell. But most of you consider it unethical
to talk about your clients from hell "for the
record." Are you likely to help or hurt yourself
when you are the client? When you look in the mirror,
ask yourself, "Can I be the ‘client from
hell?' for some other professional?"
In this Financial Services Journal On-Line
feature, let's consider the
importance of managing expectations, injecting reality
into relationships, and using common sense.
Surely you "want your clients to
understand" that you are not going to make them
wealthy in a few months. And, hopefully, you're
clients do not expect to be experts in personal financial
planning since they are hiring you because you are
the proven authority in that specialty discipline.
Otherwise why do your clients need you?
I am a Media Advocate and PR coach for financial planners
and insurance agents. I've also been a long-time
editor of some leading financial magazines. The
disastrous client relationships I have experienced
were almost always the result of excessive micro managing.
The client, -- my client from hell that
is, -- just could not resist telling me what to do
and how to do it, with changes and new directions,
almost every other day. Every day when I look in the
mirror, I know that my work schedule is dictated by
reality. For some reason, micro managing clients ignore
this reality. Apparently they felt that their demands
and instructions created a new reality. A few former
clients have even treated me like a not-too-bright
errand boy to whom they continually instructed regarding
simple tasks. They expected super-fast results.
How Can You Not Understand If You Initialed
Every Page?
Often our relationship begins with a written plan
that I propose to execute and the client indicates
his understanding by initializing every page. Our
original discussions, and our negotiations, followed
by a letter-of-agreement, plus the good-willed intentions,
obviously meant nothing to them after our work for
them began. They insisted on refusing to acknowledge
the existence of reality. Suddenly they pretended
that all media, local, regional, national and international,
existed to serve them.
Those micro managing clients somehow became self-anointed
experts and would tell me what to do though I have
been a successful PR coach and Media Advocate (for
financial professionals) for over 25-years. I even
do this in other countries. For the most part, such
clients had little or no real knowledge or experience
of how to successfully execute functions that create,
establish, and maintain a desired image within targeted
markets. This was obvious because their results were
usually pitiful. And a few of them had lied for years-and-years
("TWL" or "They Will Lie!")
without ever being held accountable or even challenged.
From my perspective, it was easy to see that they
often had merely paid inflated prices for simulated
books, simulated radio programs, simulated TV interviews,
simulated newsletters, etc. Some of these former clients
had even been conned by worthless guru types who enabled
them to get a book self-published. Often, even the
so-called guru has never been legitimately published.
Some guru! (I once encountered a self-appointed guru
who even sold the same book over-and-over and always
shared the byline with his sucker. This was not NASD
approveable. His suckers/planners were so stupid they
were happy about this.) I have worked for former clients
who were such victims. They had highly over-pay to
have an amateurish book printed. The suckers ended-up
with a simulated book of little value, limited use,
and no significant impact. It can only have some effect
if it "fools" some unfortunate prospect
into thinking it is a legitimate book.
But back to micro-managing former clients I have known.
To add insult to injury these few micro-managing clients
often wanted weekly progress reports, plus frequent
phone conversations updating them. This
type of client expected to be amused, entertained,
and delighted (about three times a week) with
new information about great publicity accomplishments
for them, plus positive reinforcement about how super-great
he or she was!
Even worse was trying to work for a husband and wife
team. This was always a horrible experience. ("Forget
what my wife said, do this, and don't tell her
I told you to forget what she said.") Or
the husband would try to impress his wife by threatening
me in front of her. Often they divorced. Of course
you know that in every relationship I have always
been simply perfect.
After engaging clients, I send them a second letter
consistent with our agreement between the client and
myself, once again explaining the services we will
be providing the client, including a summary of activity
(work accomplished for them) once a month. At the
end of each month, I routinely produce this summary
for my valued clients. How could this possibly be
compiled until the end of the month? I tell the client,
"No, I can not provide this on the 5th, or the
10th, or the 15th. That is impossible.
The work report will be provided at the end of the
month because the work for the period reported upon
is not completed until the end of the month."
One former client actually wanted a report every day
and insisted, "My former PR agency gave me a
daily report. But that former client would not tell
me the name of his former PR agency. That client would
not show me the results his former PR agency obtained
for him. He could not tell me or show me because he
was lying to me. "TWL,"
As it says in the book Terrible Truths
About Financial Planning. I remind you
again that "TWL" stands
for "They Will Lie!"
I have actually been instructed to provide this report
every day or on the 5th, the 10th, and the 15th. I
have been scolded for not providing a weekly report.
Now, look in the mirror once more and ask yourself,
"Could my clients expect me to tell them how
well their investment will do a few days after the
investment was made? Could I provide my clients with
weekly reports that are meaningful?" If your
answer is "Yes!" I would like to meet
you right away and learn how this can be accomplished.
Imagine having an urgent need to ask certain
clients just one specific question but dreading to
call them because you know they will ask for a detailed
update about the status of everything, plus expect
new glowing and encouraging news. I
know certain planners will do this because they do
this every single time that I talk with them. Some
planners are unable to simply answer a question briefly
and allow you to get back to the producer or editor
who is waiting for you quick return call with the
answer. I have always believed that my priority should
first be to obtain outstanding results for the client,
not to entertain, amuse, or otherwise make the client
"feel good" on a daily basis and then
provide him or her immediate reports. Constant reassurance
about how wonderful you are should not be necessary.
"Tell Cato to go to hell!"
Every type of editor and producer works daily with
deadlines and special requirements. So your Media
Advocate is compelled to comply with those same deadlines
and special requirements. Every editor and producer
has certain needs he expects to be met. Your Media
Advocate is aware of those needs and must try to make
your offering match those needs. The editor
or producer is rushed and he is concerned about his
needs, not yours. Yet some clients insist
on telling their Media Advocate what the editor or
producer must have or must do, when they do not even
know the editor or producer. Most likely they are
also not aware of the involved editorial calendar,
copy style requirements, word length, time limit,
or other influencing factors such as, will one photo
be used, or two, and if so what type, and is a slide
preferred, or a color transparency? At this point
they do not know the specialty of the other guest,
the questions to be asked, etc., yet they are attempting
to assume control.
I had one financial planner client who even insisted
on changing the subject and format of a scheduled
TV program. He strongly demanded that this be altered
especially for him. After making seven placements
on Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street
Week, the eighth client I was trying
to place there kept calling a producer (interfering
with my successful work) and making absurd demands.
Finally I was told "Don't ever try to
place one of your stupid financial planner clients
with us again! Cato you can go to hell!" My
former client, who turned out to be a clown, had promised
me that he would not call the producer. But ("TWL")!
Instead of the producer firing the clown, the producer
fired me. I was barred forever from placing any more
clients there
.
Dealing with the late Rukeyser was
bad enough. For me to get someone on that program,
Rukeyser made me carry his briefcase,
drive him around, run errands, buy his snacks, make
a hotel reservation (and later refuse the room), arrange
his lunch (and later refuse he table), etc. He was
a pompous jerk who refused to ride in Loren
Dunton's old station wagon once when
we picked him up at the San Francisco airport. He
always wanted VIP treatment. Rukeyser
well earned his nickname of "Lou the pompous
jerk." As everyone knows, a Wall Street deli
appropriately named a sandwich after Rukeyser
– they gave the sandwich a very unflattering
name! So I was earning my money when I made a placement
on Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street Week,
until that client destroyed my ability to ever place
anyone there again. But this client thought he was
an expert on making placements there, thought he had
no experience at this. Of course that client was never
on Wall Street Week, not
ever!
The same client was angry with me because I could
not syndicate his TV show. But he did not have a TV
show. He never had even one TV program. This was just
a lie. ("TWL"!) He also
claimed to have a TV production company. But all he
had was a hand-held video camera that is available
for consumer use. ("TWL"!)
Phone calls must be returned promptly.
You can't delay calling back simply because
you are the client/boss. You too must work within
the deadlines and special requirements forced upon
editors, producers, writers, Media Advocates, publishers,
etc. Your Media Advocate can not always
take the time to tell you all the reasons for a call
and the related details involved. Your
advocate can not take the time to tell you how wonderful
you are every single time he speaks to you.
Your Media Advocate just needs a prompt reply concerning
only the subject of the communication. Cooperating
intelligently best serves your benefit.
So when you look in the mirror, tell yourself, "I
do not need to know about all the deadlines and special
requirements. I simply need to cooperate with my representative
or agent." It is quite important for you, the
client, to know that your Media Advocate can not make
a living from one client. So, also tell yourself,
"My Media Advocate must have more than one client
to survive and accomplish important projects for me.
My Media Advocate is not being disloyal by having
other clients. I too need more than one client."
Why make your Media Advocate beg you?
Do you beg your clients for payment? I have to often
beg, especially for photos? Your Media Advocate needs
a folder of high quality photos that he can frequently
make selections from. Needed are pixs of you in the
office, of you formally posed, with your partners
or business associates, in your conference room, speaking
to small and large audiences, in your plane, fly fishing,
with the governor, etc. Especially needed are "executive
in action" pictures, i.e, you on the phone,
you signing a document, you reading a report, you
pointing to a chart, etc. Photos that indicate you
are a citizen of good character are also very useful,
i.e., pixs of you petting the dog, (The dog should
not be a Pit Bull or a Doberman, and you do not have
to own the dog.). Other "good citizen"
pictures like you with the little league team (You
do not have to be the coach.), you washing a car at
the church car wash, (You do not have to actually
wash the entire car.), etc.
In every publicity picture, despite what
any photographer says, you need to be looking at the
camera. We want to see your face! I
have explained this to those attending a Professional
Photographers Association of America (PPAA) convention.
Why is this difficult for photo subjects to understand?
Not the side of your face! But your face from the
front! This is not open for discussion. And this does
not in any way involve rocket science. At least half
the time I get photos of the client where you can
not recognize the client's face. What do such
pixs accomplish for the client?
Your pixs must be high-resolution color photos electronically
transmitted to your Media Advocate. Your media communicator
is not your photographer. If you can't get this
done then how do you expect to have articles about
you in good publications, either print or electronic.
All editors want photos, (make that "professional
quality photos.") The planner that will be most
noticed in an article of ten financial advisors is
the one with the most interesting photo. Standing
there with your arms hanging down is not very clever.
You must provide a variety of photos, as indicated
in the lines above. I have worked for financial planner
clients that forced me to ask for their pictures for
more than twenty-one times! Keeping this type of statistic
may seem "anal," but I have to document
everything, and results for my treasured good clients
are what is most important for me.
Over the years I created some letters attempting to
explain how to effectively work with a financial PR
person or a Media Advocate, and how to pay for the
services received. The Financial PR Association now
recommends these. When you look in the mirror, ask
yourself if you really know how to work with your
PR person. You don't really want to screw-up
the efforts of your image builder and promoter. I
feed these letters out to a few clients, one every
three months, then repeat them on-and-on.
A football player does not always win simply because
he is paid to win. A baseball player doesn't
always win because he is determined to win. A basketball
player doesn't necessarily score because the
coach demands that he score. A doctor doesn't
always succeed simply because he is trying his best
to succeed. Of course this overkill belabors my point.
As common sense dictates, a Media Advocate doesn't
always win, seldom ever wins immediately, and is not
successful in every project he attempts for you. This
is normal. This is reality. This is to be expected.
This is easy to understand. Reality must be acknowledged.
Your Media Advocate should score enough times that
you receive a fantastic financial bargain and accomplish
your image branding objectives. If you are unable
to help your Media Advocate work effectively for you
-- then you could at least attempt to not cause him
to fail.
You can help your Media Advocate or you can hurt your
Media Advocate. You are doing one or the other right
now. If you kill his spirit by controlling, griping,
redirecting, insinuating, or pressuring, that is not
likely to improve his effectiveness. History shows
us that even Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo had
clients who endlessly complained about their speed,
concepts, strategy, dedication, ability, intelligence,
execution, etc., etc. Yet history also credits DaVinci
and Michelangelo as being two of the greatest talents
of all time and two of the most brilliant artists
of all time. History even now makes it clear to us
that both great talents had their enthusiasm, spirit,
and concern for certain projects killed by harping
clients who continually instructed, demanded, and
criticized.
"It's been four weeks. Is my book published
in China yet?"
I can be certain of getting an instant and huge laugh
whenever I mention to people who are knowledgeable,
or even the least bit sophisticated, about how the
media actually works. I can get this immediate loud
laughter with only two sentences. I repeat what a
client once said to me: "It's been four
weeks. Is my book published in China yet?" Four
weeks are not a realistic number of days for having
a book manuscript flawlessly typed. Four weeks is
not a sufficient number of days to rewrite a vanity
(self-published) book into a professional quality
book worthy of legitimate publication. Four weeks
is not likely to be enough days to edit such a "work."
Four weeks is not enough time to skillfully translate
such a "book" from one language to another.
Four weeks is only slightly more than enough days
to ship the book manuscript since the project contains
original art work (illustrations) and photos that
must go to China.
In this case the Chinese book publisher had over 270
employees. These employees are mostly professional
people, with specialty disciplines, who perform an
assigned task at every stage of involvement. They
are organized with schedules and deadlines. It is
absurd to expect the China-based book publishing company
(or any professional book publishing company anywhere)
to cancel other deadlines, and rearrange schedules
as necessary to allow this planner's book to
be -- considered, accepted or rejected, legal agreements
executed, the work appropriately corrected or restructured,
designed, produced, printed, bound, distributed, promoted,
etc., -- all in four weeks or less!
The expectation of getting a legit book published
in China in four weeks is preposterous! Self-publishing
means paying for a printing service. Paying money
for that service is the only function that is absolute.
All requirements for professionalism, accuracy, quality,
intelligence, etc., disappear when the only concern
or absolute is paying a vanity printer. Such a book
also has no meaningful distribution, promotion, reviews,
mentions in syndicates, is not in libraries or book
stores in a major way, etc. Such a book is not worthy
or sufficient for my clients. Legit book publishers
do not want to even consider vanity books for publication.
To act successfully as a literary agent for a vanity
book means you must hide the fact that the work was
a vanity (the mark of an amateur writer) volume that
meets little or no standards other than the requirement
to pay a vanity printer. Vanity books are assumed
to be the last resort of writers who can not reach
the professional standards required by a real book
publisher. Most planners or con men consultant/trainers
who have one vanity book (or more) claim to also have
a book publishing company. But that exist in the spoken
name only (if that) and that was only a temporary
book publishing project which resulted in one simulated
book with a very small print-run. They often insist
that they waned to be their own publisher but ("TWL!")
I have met very few authors of self-published or vanity
books who did not claim that their books were a international
best sellers. ("TWL!")
A vanity book is often the last resort of a person
who is desperate to get published. Such a person is
often exploited by producers of vanity books or by
unethical guru consultant/speaker types who prey on
insecure, desperate, or unaware agents and planners.
According to the American Book Publishers Association,
legit book publishers do not want to even consider
a vanity book.
The ABPA also reports, "Typically it takes over
a year before a book submission can be evaluated and
decided upon. Unsolicited or un-agented works are
not welcomed or encouraged. If a book manuscript is
accepted and scheduled immediately with no changes
or additional work required, it usually takes about
three years before the published title appears and
the volume is placed in circulation, though it may
go into catalogues two years before it actually exist."
Yet a financial planner may demand that his masterpiece
be published in China in four weeks or less, and even
that the title become a best seller in all of Asia
in four weeks as well.
For clients I have ghosted five books that made The
New York Times best-seller list. This
is more than most big time book editors can claim.
This is why they quickly say "Come in."
when I am announced. But these were for clients who
cooperated with me and helped me do my job for them.
For over 25-years I have called on book editors, mostly
in New York City (the book publishing capital) to
attempt placement of books. (This is what a literary
agent does.) I've written resumes for book editors
and slept on their couches.
When successful in placing a manuscript, I then later
went on to promote the various types of legit books
that resulted. Yet a former financial client who never
had one legit best seller, or any book experience,
(and still fails to have a good seller, and is not
likely to ever do so) refused to accept my recommendations
or recognize my successful book experience. I have
even worked as Editorial Director for a financial
book company. This former client wasted tons of his
money on guru type consultants who promised fantastic
results. Of course the promised fantastic results
wee never receied. He steadfastly adhered to unrealistic
expectations. During my brief experience with him
he only dictated to me. He interfered to the point
that I, like some other people, discovered it was
impossible to work for him. This tax lawyer failed
to realize that he knows little about effective book
promotion. I was unable to get through to his brain.
He knew so much he just could not hear me. He even
countered my instructions and corrected me in public.
If someone is trying to swim across a
swift stream to bring gold to you then you don't
want to demand that the swimmer carry too much gold.
You do not want greed, conceit, or lack-of-knowledge
(isn't that a definition of stupidity) to enable
you to disregard reality. What have you accomplished
if you sink your own swimmer?
| Clyde Cleveland,
former Iowa Governor candidate, and President
of Seminar Crowds, the oldest and largest provider
of DM services for financial planners, told the
2006 Iowa DM Workshop for Financial Professionals,
"The three all-time greatest names in DM
copywriting are Maxwell Sackheim,
John Caples, and Bob
Stone. They were among the first members
of the DMMA Hall of Fame. Wally Cato
worked with all three. Wally Cato
wrote the Introduction to Sackheim's
classic book on DM, My First 65 Years
In DM Advertising. And Wally inherited
the Sackheim DM Library." Cato
can be reached at Intergroup II/Atlanta, Inc.,
915 River Rock Drive, Suite 101, Woodstock, GA
30188. 770-516-9395 (Phone), 770-516-9396 (FAX),
www.CatoMakesYouFamous.com
(Web Site), wcato7@juno.com
(e-mail). |
Forrest
Wallace Cato, RFMA, FMM, RFC, is a long-time
reader of Financial Services Journal On-Line.
He provides media based image branding for financial
planners. Financial Record called
Cato, "The leader in image branding for financial
professionals." Long-time financial industry
sales trainer, Jack Kinder, proclaimed,
"Cato's impact is enormous." During the
annual IARFC Forum Convention he
presents The Cato Award for "Published
writing that promotes greater understanding for and
acceptance of financial planning." Cato is former
editor of Financial Planning
Magazine and Trusts & Estates:
The Journal of Wealth Management.
Today Cato is Editor-In-Chief of The Inspirator
International Magazine, presently circulated
in all of the Pacific-Rim countries. Contact:
Intergroup II/Atlanta, Inc., 915 River Rock
Drive, Suite 101, Woodstock, GA 30188, 770-516-9395
(Phone), wcato7@juno.com
(e-mail), 770-366-8441 (Cell)
or www.CatoMakesYouFamous.com
(Web Site) or
770-516-9396 (FAX). |
