The following are audio articles, or podcasts, that you can listen to at your convenience—on your computer, your MP3 player or burn it to a CD. If you’ve never subscribed to a podcast, or downloaded an audio file, see the tinted box at the bottom for instructions on how to start.
Be sure to subscribe to this podcast series, Building a More Successful Practice, so you always have the latest podcast waiting for you. Also, tell us what you think about the podcasts, or send suggestions of topics or people you would like to see covered. Send an email to Maggie Leyes at mleyes@naifa.org.
Building a Million-Dollar Practice If you want a proven system for becoming a top producer, look to David Mullen Jr., retired Merrill Lynch director. He’s literally written the book on it. The author of The Million Dollar Financial Services Practice will give you a no-nonsense perspective on what’s required to build a million-dollar business.
Why People Buy Considered one of the top 40 advisors in the world for the last 25 years, advisor and author Guy Baker shares his successful selling strategies, including identifying and moving through the steps in the buying process, as well as methods you can use to overcome difficult objections.
Must-Have Habits You Need to Succeed Randy Schuster, MDRT Court of the Table qualifier and author of The Power of Habits, shows you how certain work habits can move you to the next level of success. He provides half a dozen techniques, beginning with how to streamline the time you spend in the office.
End Prospecting Pain Forever Changing the way you look at the people you serve can help you end your
prospecting headaches forever, says Dan Allison, author of The Money Code. He shows you how using simple behavioral psychology techniques and easy-to-implement ideas can help you jettison your old ways of prospecting.
Four Strategies to Create a Referral Explosion Prospecting no longer has to be the bane of your career. Instead, “Referral Coach” Bill Cates offers easy techniques that you can start using today to build your business on referrals only.
The Eight Criteria the Wealthy Use to Choose an Advisor You’ve decided to pursue affluent clients in your business. You know what you’re looking for in a prospect, but do you know what they are looking for in an advisor? Matt Oechsli, an authority on cultivating wealthy clients, talks with Advisor Today about how to position yourself as that go-to advisor.
The 90-Day Challenge: Transform Your Practice Allyson Lewis, financial advisor and author of The Seven-Minute Difference, shows you how to turn your goals into actions—and profits—in just 90 days.
Plus, she shares her “never-fail” close.
Creating a Successful Advisory Board for Your Practice MDRT Top of the Table advisor Dennis Zahrbock explains how to set up a successful advisory board, including how to structure it, run it and keep it going. His board has helped him keep his practice on course, while generating up to $30,000 a year in additional revenue.
How to Attract and Retain Affluent Clients The sweet spot of the industry, says Derrick Kinney, advisor and author of Attract Your Ideal Clients, is affluent Baby Boomers. He shows you how to position yourself as an income-retirement specialist, prospect using “situational” referrals, and use a carve-out strategy to “recreate the paycheck.” Plus he offers scripts you can use to connect with affluent clients in a way they can relate to.
How to Delegate Effectively—and Better Leverage Your Staff As an advisor, you should only be prospecting, selling and delegating, says practice-management guru Gina Pelligrini. Your assistant or staff should be handling all the rest. If you have no idea how to start—or undo bad habits, Pelligrini has some great pointers.
Transitioning to a Fee-Based Practice If you’ve ever considered moving to a fee-based practice, then industry veteran and MDRT Court of the Table member Lloyd Lowe Sr. has tips for you. He describes how he made the smooth—albeit labor-intensive—transition from commissions to fees in his business. For the names and companies he mentions in the podcast, click here.
Tapping Into the Retirement Market Michael Shumway has built an MDRT Top of the Table (TOT) practice by mining huge, untapped areas of the retirement marketplace. Assisting federal government employees, as well as navigating 403(b) and 457(b) plans, are just two of the topics that he discusses.
Being No. 1—And What You Need to Get There
Carlos Lowenberg Jr. talks about the shift he made that allowed him to go from struggling to make a sale to being the No. 1 agent at New York Life. Plus, this MDRT TOT member describes how he grew his business by an average of 25 percent a year by adding “one more bit of expertise” every 90 days.
The Secrets of Top Producers
Advisor Today attended MDRT’s Court of the Table Best Practices Forum and got great sales tips and information from attendees. Also, MDRT President Philip Harriman talks about how “soft fact” questions transformed his business.
Set Up a Prospecting System That Works
It’s time to stop being a Prospecting Procrastinator. MDRT TOT producer Kamal Daya shows you how prospecting should be done and shares his technique of using worksheets to plan and document his daily activities. You can download his “Ideal Day Worksheet” here.
The Best Sales Ideas—From the Under-40 Crowd Advisor Today gathered great sales ideas from members of NAIFA’s Young Advisors Team:
YAT sales ideas I: find out about leveraging a policy review, partnering with semi-retired agents, identifying referrals partners, retention tips, prequalifying prospects for financial services and responding to common objections.
YAT sales ideas II: learn additional ideas on networking, prospecting, mentoring, marketing and more.
Find the Time Industry veteran and coach Bob Arzt gives listeners tips on creating the ideal workweek (one that you can follow!) and explains how establishing two sets of goals for the coming year will give you the real results you expect.
Sales, Sales and More Sales Ideas We know that you can never have too many sales ideas, so we gave it our all when collecting them from attendees at the 2006 NAIFA Convention and Career Conference. Tune in to these two podcasts for sure-fire ways to boost your production.
Convention sales ideas I
(Click herefor Mike Smith’s “What I Do” list.)
Convention sales ideas II
Achieving Balance While Boosting Sales It’s tough to run a top-notch practice and spend quality time with your family. But John A. Davidson, NAIFA president 2006-2007, shows you how. Also, learn how to make $50,000 more a year by just picking up the phone, and find out how to convert a Boomer’s term life insurance into a whole life policy.
Quick Tech Tips to Streamline Your Office Kip Gregory, author of Winning Clients in a Wired World, knows all too well that technology can sometimes slow us down instead of save us time. He offers easy tips to make technology work for you: Learn how to sync your client database with your cell phone, improve your Google searches and much more! <
Taking Your Business to the Next Level MDRT member Van Mueller speaks about what it takes to transform an “OK” practice into a TOT business. He also covers the three roadblocks to success, including lack of practice. Don’t miss his easy-to-implement sales ideas, and be sure to read his companion article, “What I Learned From The Greats.”
Establishing and Developing a Marketplace Marc Silverman, past chair of MDRT’s TOT, explains how to differentiate between a niche and a marketplace. He also offers some no- and low-cost customer-service ideas that have helped him do away with asking for referrals, and gives some dos and don’ts of seminar marketing.
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