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Background: Jim contacted me in February 2001 because his business had been in
decline since August of 2000. Jim works at a major wire house in Chicago. He has
been in the industry since 1992, the entire time at the same firm. As of August 2000,
his business had $75 million in assets (including $10 million in fee-based managed
money). He had been averaging $45-$55 thousand per month in gross from January thru
August 2000. Jim's business consisted of mostly transactional clients, and he was
in the process of converting some of their assets to managed fee accounts.
In August 2000, Jim took a much-needed two-week vacation with his wife and son. Because
of his time out of the office and his business being transactional in nature. Jim's
production for the month of August was only $25 thousand.
From September thru December 2000, the market volatility caused Jim and most of his
clients to be very cautious in buying and selling securities. His entire production
for that time period was only $92 thousand. The real cost to Jim was his attitude.
He became negative toward his business and clients. He focused on what the market
was doing that day instead of calling his clients or doing any other marketing. Then
throw in the unusual and prolonged presidential election for some added distraction.
Each day Jim spent his usual 10 hours in the office, but all he watched was CNBC
and CNN and obsessed over things he could not control.
By January, Jim was desperate. Because he had stopped being proactive with his business
he had 'forgotten' how to be successful and proactive. Add the fact that most of
his office was in the same boat mentally and one can imagine how negative his working
environment was. In January his production slipped to $9 thousand, an amount he had
not seen since his first year in the business.
The Coach's Recommendations: In February 2001, Jim contacted me. I agreed
to be his coach with the stipulation we go back to square one and rebuild his business,
and, more importantly, his attitude. Below is a brief outline of some key points
of my game plan to 'fix' Jim's business.
1.) Jim had to get leverage on himself to commit to doing whatever it took
to get the results he needed. I had him write a paragraph on what would happen if
he were not successful in rebuilding his business. It had to be real, scary, and
painful to write, and to read it everyday. The 'pain of loss' vs. the 'pleasure of
gain' motivates most people. Jim did an excellent job in describing what would happen
if he did not change.
2.) Jim had no goals or business plan for 2001, so the next step was to get
down on paper what he wanted to accomplish. I had Jim come up with a list of 10 business
and 10 personal goals he was 'committed' to accomplishing in 2001. I asked him to
focus in on 'why' the goal was important to him. We would work together on the 'how
to.'
3.) When I asked Jim what he did every day to create a motivated and positive
attitude, he told me he watched the news or read the WSJ every morning. I told him
his 'ritual' had to go. We needed to create a daily success ritual for Jim; a process
that would put him into the proper state of mind to go and execute daily. We agreed
that on his way to the office every morning he would listen to motivational tapes
in his car. When he got to his office he would review his goals and daily game plan.
Also, he would limit his communication with the advisors in his office who were extremely
negative about the market and the business.
4.) I told Jim he had to get 'external' and focus on helping his clients navigate
thru the market volatility and their fears and concerns, and not stay 'internal'
and worry about the market or his business or himself. Jim had to get 'external'
and look to help other people who felt they had been abandoned by their advisor.
This would become the basis of our new marketing plan.
5.) Because of his 'obsession' with the market, Jim never felt he had the
time to exercise. Because of this, he had gained twenty pounds and his energy level
was quite low. His lunch usually consisted of a fast-food burger, fries, and a shake.
He agreed to my strong recommendation that he exercise every lunch break for sixty
minutes and radically change his eating habits. I told him he did not get paid to
sit at his desk in a 'fast-food coma' each afternoon. Rather, he got paid to produce
results, and those results would take energy to accomplish.
6.) Jim needed to organize his clients into categories using a contact manager.
The fact that Jim could not tell me how many clients he had was cause for concern.
We needed to create a proactive contact schedule with each client. Also, we needed
to identify those clients who had additional assets.
7.) Jim would call ALL his clients to determine how best he could help and
advise them. This was crucial to being proactive in contacting his clients due to
the focused media attention on the market and monthly statements that were a cause
for concern.
8.) Each day Jim would have a list of clients to call along with other activities
he would commit to each day. Below is a sample:
A.) Call 10 clients.
(Review, referrals, new money)
B.) Ask for referrals 5 times.
C.) Set 2 review appointments with clients.
D.) Make 50 cold calls.
E.) Exercise.
F.) Plan the next day.
There would be other
activities that would come up each day, of course, because of inbound client calls
and mail. The above list is the PROACTIVE items that would get done each day.
9.) Jim would get into his office at 7 a.m. each day and walk out no later that
6 p.m., even if he did not finish all his work. In addition if he got through his
list early he would reward himself and go home early.
10.) Jim would identify two clients each week to discuss and present the managed-money
program to them. This is Jim's long-term goal to create a fee-based managed advisory
business.
Update: As of June 1, 2001, Jim had made tremendous strides in his business
and life. In May his production was back to $51 thousand. More importantly he feels
in control of his business and life for the first time in years. By being proactive
and external he has consolidated many of his clientsí assets, gathered many referrals,
and has placed $8 million dollars with private money managers. Jim's energy level
is great and he has lost 22 pounds. What was the turning point for Jim? He was dissatisfied
with the current state of his business, and he took action to find the resources
and support that would get him to the next levelóhe found a coach!
Joseph J. Lukacs, Business Coach, is the founder of International Performance
Group LLC., a professional business coaching company delivering customized individual
coaching by telephone to financial and insurance professionals. To apply for your
2 free coaching calls click
here. He is also
available for speaking engagements on a limited basis. International Performance
Group LLC. is based in Melbourne, Florida. Joseph can be reached by e-mail
to
jjl@ipgllc.com,
by telephone at 321-255-2889, or by visiting his Web site: ipgllc.com
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