  By Helen Thompson
Young advisors and seasoned veterans alike agree that your first three years in the business are the hardest. Elaina Serotte passed her three-year mark in 2004, and she says the difference is like night and day. “At first, you have to work with anyone who breathes to survive,” she says. “The past two years have been a complete turnaround. The first three years I spent time building up a small core; then I took a second to analyze what really works for me.”
Her core clientele are women facing two major financial hurdles simultaneously—they’re sending their kids off to college even as retirement looms right around the corner. “Most people I work with are within five years of their kids going to college, and are saying, ‘What am I going to do? We have $25,000 saved, and that will barely cover one year in a state school,’” Serotte explains. “The first question is how they are going to pay for college and the second is if they have any idea how spending these dollars will impact how soon they can retire. Is that a concern? Nine times out of 10, it is.”
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| You don’t have to know all the answers to all the questions yet—but you do have to excel in providing service.
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The lovely thing about Serotte’s niche is that it’s self-perpetuating. “I get these pockets of friends who have a Bunco game going on, and they talk about the help they are getting from me,” she says. “The next thing you know, I have referrals to the other three women in the game. For the past year I haven’t had to do any marketing; all my [new clients] have come from existing clients.”
How she did it
Serotte, a member of NAIFA-San Francisco and president of her local Women in Financial Services chapter, identified several keys that were instrumental in getting her past the three-year hurdle. Her strategies for getting through that period can help you regardless of what direction you want to take your business. But that’s the first key, right there:
1. Figure out what you want to do. You won’t be able to do that on day one; it’s a process that involves exploration and self-discovery. In some ways, you’ll want to structure this like college. Your first two years are made up of general courses; you get more specific with your major as you go through the process. “I realized that I was gravitating toward these clients; I’m sure it’s my personality, but I found working with them enjoyable,” Serotte says.
2. What you can do, do well. You don’t have to know all the answers to all the questions yet—but you do have to excel in providing service. If you don’t know, admit it with pride, and then offer to find the answer. And always follow through. “I was responsive and had a quick turnaround time; I was reliable and proactive in the planning that I was doing; and I made myself accessible,” says Serotte. “I figured out early on that if I was resourceful in those areas, it didn’t matter to clients what I knew or didn’t know”
3. Play well with others. You’re independent and headstrong, and that will take you far in this career. But never discount the value of your team, especially when you’re learning the ropes. Serotte feels fortunate to have joined an agency where she has always had that help. “I can’t imagine being without that group of people,” she says. “Not only do we have investment specialists, but there are people with 20 to 30 years in the business who really, truly have open-door policies and are happy to share their time as well. I have a sales manager who is very involved in my practice and a CEO that I can just email at any time with questions about who to go to. It’s the culture here, and that’s been very helpful.”
Serotte almost sounds surprised that now she’s someone others go to for guidance; after all, she’s not yet 30 and still feels she has plenty to learn. But for now she’s very happy to continue helping women make the right financial decisions when it comes to planning for retirement and college expenses. “No matter what strategy they choose, it’s about awareness,” she says, adding that knowing all the options allows her clients to determine what’s right for their children as well as what’s right for them. “Why just let it be some unknown out there? That’s the scariest thing for people, and it’s just reality.
“Given the fact that they are families and, often, single women, they are relying on me as a partner to help them make their financial decisions,” she continues. “Being accessible and quick to return their calls and emails, it makes them feel like I'm really there for them.”
MAY 2006
The Art of Listening
Your Own Information Bazaar
The Habits of Top Achievers
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