Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Holiday Greetings: The Gift of Giving

Greensboro: I must confess, over the years I’ve become less enamored with the holiday season. Even in the midst of this financial crisis retailers began their “Christmas” marketing well before Thanksgiving. I know I’m not alone.

Yet, although annoyed, I keep finding myself swept up in it; “Did we get a present for Mary?” “Oh my gosh, I think we forgot to send a card to the Growlers.” “So honey, what do you want for Christmas?” and the beat goes on.

Which leads me to a gift I received via an article by Tara Parker-Pope in the December 1st article in the New York Times titled “In a Month of Giving, a Healthy Reward.” Parker-Pope writes about Cami Walker, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis three years ago and how her “health and spirits plummeted – until she got an unusual prescription from a holistic health educator.”

Ms. Walker’s treatment was to give a gift a day for 29 days – simple thoughtful acts of kindness, such as making a supportive phone call or giving a flower to a stranger. It didn’t cure her illness, but it appears to have had a remarkable effect on her quality of life. She is now more mobile and less dependent on medication and has written about her journey in a book similarly titled, “29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life” and created a very persuasive website, 29gifts.org that will help you become a giver.

But for those doubters out there, science upholds Ms. Walker’s holistic health educator. Studies at major universities support the premise that there is a positive physiological impact when we become less self-centered; simple random acts of kindness shift focus from ourselves, to helping others.

Parker-Pope cites a study of 150 heart patients where researchers found that people in the study with more “self-references” (those who were more self-absorbed) had more serious heart problems and performed worse on the treadmill tests.

Selfishly, the idea of writing this holiday message caused me pangs of guilt. Why? Because I thought I could easily perform one act of kindness a day without keeping a journal. Alas, my acts of kindness have strayed, albeit only slightly.

Now sitting on my desk is a spiral notebook that I’ve labeled “Kindness Journal.” My intention is to document these daily acts of kindness, which hopefully will make me a better person, with the ancillary benefit – a positive impact on my physiology.

You can do the same. To me this goes far beyond the holiday season or any structured religious services, because when it becomes a personal habit, it truly is a gift that keeps giving. Visit Ms. Walker’s Web site, read her book, or better yet, get your spiral notebook and label it “Kindness Journal” and let’s start the giving habit today.

Happy Holidays!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Power of Strategic Networking

This is the season for social prospecting and strategic networking. There probably isn’t a better time to rub shoulders with affluent investors, whether they’re clients, prospects or strategic referral alliances. The holiday season is upon us, and yet somehow, for some reason most financial advisors do not understand the importance of social prospecting and strategic networking. Which is probably one of the reasons so many advisors struggle at Rainmaking.

The following is a real story of social networking under pressure. I’m going to let Stephen Boswell, one of our top-notch performance coaches, share a coaching experience with a veteran advisor who had moved his family across country and is now rebuilding his practice.
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Portland: Ring Ring – I answered the phone to find Jim, an advisor who, like many others, desperately wanted to build his practice. He said, “I just sold my practice in Tennessee, I moved to Portland, and I’m starting all over”. I assured him we’d seen this situation many times, yet he insisted, “You don’t understand, I really need to build my practice. I convinced my wife to make the move and she was against it all the way. I promised her that I would rebuild our lifestyle, but with this market downturn I think I’m in over my head.”
 
The market downturn was the least of Jim’s worries. His poor sales skills were a much bigger issue, hence his call to our office. Convinced we could help, he entered into our Performance Coaching and committed himself to doing everything possible to rebuild his practice the right way.

Jim was fighting an uphill battle. Even though his new market was wealthy, his in-town connections were minimal. They sparsely consisted of two clients and a couple of wholesalers. In his own words, he was forced back into "rookie mode" -- with one clear exception. He knew full well that the way he built his first practice wasn't the way to rebuild in today's environment. Times have changed and the affluent are more cynical and skeptical than ever. Any attempt at cold calling just wouldn't bring in the type of clients that he was now capable of servicing. Jim had to do something – and fast.

I'm about to outline one of the core methods used by this advisor to start the rebuilding process with a bang. This will be useful, not only for rookies or those rebuilding a practice, but for anyone looking for more affluent clients. The answer, believe it or not, is strategic networking.

Notice that I said “strategic” networking. This isn’t your ordinary meet and greet or card-swapping party. This is getting on the affluent playing field, going where the affluent go, doing what the affluent do. This is your entry point for strategically (and seamlessly) selling your professional services.

Granted, this seems like a pretty basic principle. Which begs the question, why do so many people have a negative feeling about networking? The main reason is that most people aren’t good at networking.

Strategic networking is highly effective. We hear it every day in our coaching and we see it in our research. 35% of advisors brought in at least one new million dollar client last year through networking. If everyone really networked the right way, we know this statistic would be far higher.

Getting Started

Get involved with 2 to 3 strong networking activities. This could be at a weekly poker group, a Rotary club, a country club, a charitable organization. Look for groups that:
• Put you in contact with affluent prospects
• Have regular meetings – once per quarter isn’t enough interaction to build
meaningful relationships
• Give you time to interact with people at the meetings/events
• Will allow you to get involved; showcasing your competence
• Involve the kind of people and activities that you enjoy!

There is a six month rule of thumb regarding social networking. Develop relationships, get involved and make a good impression before proactively marketing your services. So…

For the first six months, ease your way into these groups, become involved and think in terms of:
1. Targeting specific people that fit your ideal client profile.
2. Developing meaningful relationships with them.
3. Unless they bring up business before then, work hard for six months then
start proactively putting them in your pipeline.

Jim understood the task at hand; he had to start making a footprint in the new community that he’d targeted. He started reaching out to various charities and community groups that would allow access to the movers and shakers. After a half dozen calls and a handful of trial meetings, he had a much better idea of where the affluent congregated in his community. Not to mention, within his first month (not six), he landed a $1.2mm client (was going through a divorce and needed help), connected with the top real estate agent in town (a great COI), and played three rounds of golf with an Indy racing team owner. The last time we touched based with Jim he estimated a little of $10mm in his pipeline as a result of his networking efforts. Was that a bit of social prospecting and strategic networking? You bet.
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Most likely your situation is much less stressful than Jim’s – however, the importance of social prospecting and strategic networking must not be overlooked. Think in terms of social holiday lunches, connecting with people in the organizations where you are a member, and accepting invitations to holiday events.

Whenever you are in a social setting, defenses go down and your Rainmaking skills can work wonders.