Masters of Training Kinder Brothers International

Transcription

the
Vol. 7 No. 4 • April 2006
Official IARFC Publication
www.IARFC.org
Masters of Training
Kinder Brothers International
Serving Financial Advisors Worldwide
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in this issue
Financial Planning Building
2507 North Verity Parkway
P.O. Box 42506
Middletown, OH 45042-0506
800 532 9060 • Fax 513 424 5752
www.IARFC.org
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Edwin P. Morrow, Chairman & CEO
CLU, ChFC, CFP® , CEP, RFC®
[email protected]
Judith Fisette-Losz, Executive Director
[email protected]
H. Stephen Bailey, President
LUTCF, CEBA, CEP, CSA, RFC®
[email protected]
2
Register Letters
3
Masters of Training — Kinder Brothers International
by Forrest Wallace Cato
5
IARFC Calendar of Events
5
From the Chairman’s Desk
by Ed Morrow
6
Tournament of the Century:
The King of Commerce vs. The Clown Prince!
by Rev. Dr. John Clements
8
Compliance-Friendly Marketing
The Care and Feeding of Clients or Treat Your Clients Like a Dog
by Katherine Vessenes
10
Resources for Financial Advisors
11
Financial Advisors Forum Exhibitor and Sponsors
12
Vernon D. Gwynne
CFP®, RFC®
[email protected]
Financial Advisors Forum Agenda & Registration
Interface with Financial Legends and Industry Leaders
in the Premier Educational Symposium
13
Derek D. Klock
MBA, RFC®
[email protected]
Secrets of Successful Internet Marketing
by Syliva Todor
15
Consumer Focus
Life Stage Analysis of Changing Attitudes and Behaviors Part II
by Paul Richard
16
Avoid Sales Mistakes in the LTC Market!
by Wilma G. Anderson
17
The 7 Simplest Communication Strategies
for Doubling Your Sales
by Teresa Easler
18
Cato Comments
Financial Planner’s Introduction to Blogs
by Forrest Wallace Cato
21
Having the Right People On Your Bus
A New Service for IARFC Members
by Ed Morrow
24
IARFC Cruise Conference for Financial Advisors
Join Other RFCs and Get Your CE at Sea
Jeffrey Chiew
DBA, CLU, ChFC, CFP®, RFC®
[email protected]
John E. Grable
MBA, Ph.D, CFP®, RFC®
[email protected]
Edward J. Ledford
CLU, RFC®
[email protected]
Constance O. Luttrell
RFC®
[email protected]
Ruth Lytton
MS, Ph.D., RFC®
[email protected]
James McCarty, Secretary
CLU, RHU, LUTCF, RFC®
[email protected]
Burnett Marus, Treasurer
RFC®
[email protected]
William J. Nelson
LUTCF, CEP, RFC®
[email protected]
Ruben Ruiz
ChFC, CLU, MSFS, CSA, RFC®
[email protected]
_________________________________
Wendy M. Kennedy, Editor
[email protected]
Stephanie Langster, Administrative Assistant
[email protected]
The Register • April 2006
The Register (ISSN 1556-4045) is published monthly by the International Association of Registered
Financial Consultants, Financial Planning Building, 2507 North Verity Parkway, P.O. Box 42506,
Middletown, Ohio 45042, ©2006. It includes articles and advice on technical subjects, economic
events, regulatory actions and practice management. The IARFC makes no claim as to accuracy and
does not guarantee or endorse any product or service advertised or featured. Articles, comments and
letters are welcomed by e-mail to: [email protected].
Application to Mail at Periodicals Postage Rates is Pending at Mansfield, Ohio 44901.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Register, P.O. Box 42506, Middletown, Ohio 45042.
Page 1
Register Letters
We welcome your comments, suggestions and ideas.
Please direct correspondence to: [email protected]
Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
What a nice surprise to access the new
website, much easier to view and
navigate. Please consider using
homepage to directly address prospects
why and how to find us and use another
page for why advisors should become a
RFC® , I think that would be a more
effective use of search engine
optimization and more profitable for the
RFCs. I also think the terminated RFC®
language may be a bit confusing as to if
someone just resigned on their own or
they were terminated for not paying
overdue membership fees. The Profile
section was very easy to update. I
printed cards to match the ethics
brochures and stapled them to the
back. Monday night a client asked
"Why should I trust you?" I pulled out
the brochure and he closed himself. So
its important to me that I am promoting
a designation worth promoting. Unlike
my membership in the now devalued
easily obtained CSA. This Saturday I
will be attending the Texas NAELA
chapter meeting where I will again use
the brochure to promote the RFC®
designation to the membership. Your
continuing restrictive standards and
improved website are as helpful as I
had hoped and may well be worth the
50 dollar increase in membership fees
this year. But let's not get too carried
away. Look at the churn at CSA and the
huge drop in membership at SFSP
where I used to be a member.
Charles Luedtke, RFC®
Mesquite, TX
Hey Ed, a great article, "A New Year —
A New You." Very inspiring. Most of
us have a weight problem. Thanks
for sharing!
I have spoken to Government of
Botswana. They are very keen to follow
the developments of the IARFC.
Although there is currently no regulation
in Botswana in terms of regulation of
financial advice, they are interested to
see how it can be brought about in due
course. For now they have encouraged
me to see how our industry can selfregulate. Do you have any further
guidance that you could share with me?
Faiz Versey, RFC®
Gaborone, Botswanna
Page 2
It has been some time since I have
seen you, and I must confess that in
your article “A New Year — A New You,”
I was a bit taken back! Yours is truly an
unbelievable transformation and a
hearty congratulation is in order.
You really have been quite instrumental
in my practice through information
provided in “The Register,” marketing
resources available through the IARFC
and through the most excellent
Practice Builder Financial software.
Thank you for all you have done to help
move our industry toward ever
increasing competence and clarity.
As I read your article, I was grateful for
challenge and advice. I am at the front
end of where you were and for me, a
bariatric intervention would certainly
not be appropriate. But I can see,
through your illustration of “graining
four pounds a year” that by not taking
appropriate action now, the need for
such a procedure could be in my future.
I’m certain you would agree that
prevention is far better than the cure!
So I thank you Ed, for sharing your
struggles and successes with us and in
so doing , helping me to reevaluate my
own health, and begin taking positive
steps to correct incorrect lifestyle
choices. Your influence continues to
shape not only my practice, but now,
me personally.
Craig S. Wright, RFC®
Xenia, OH
IARFC Cruise Conference
I went on this same (fall Foliage) cruise,
with my wife last year, it was great!
Perfect weather, I highly recommend it!!!
Samuel F. Slabaugh, Sr., CFP® , RFC®
Delmar, DE
The IARFC Register is looking
for articles. You may submit
articles of at least 300 to 1,500
words via e-mail, along with an
electronic photo and a short bio of
not more than 100 words.
INTERNATIONAL
IARFC COORDINATORS
Jeffrey Chiew
Asia Chair
DBA, CLU, ChFC, CFP®, RFC®
[email protected]
Liang Tien Lung
China Development Organization (IMM)
RFC®
Ralph Liew
Philippines Chair
RFC®
[email protected]
Joyce Manalo
Executive Assistant
[email protected]
Jerry Tan
Singapore Chair
CIAM, CMFA, RFC®
[email protected]
Zhu Xu Long
China Chair, Shanghai
RFC®
[email protected]
Samuel W. K. Yung, MH
Chair, Hong Kong and Macao Chair
CFP®, MFP, FChFP, CMFA, CIAM, RFC®
[email protected]
Dr. Teresa So
Advisor, Hong Kong and Macao
PhD, MFP, FChFP, CMFA, CIAM, RFC®
[email protected]
Allan Wan
RFC®
[email protected]
Ng Jyi Wei
Malaysia Chair
ChFC, CFP®, RFC®
[email protected]
Aidil Akbar Madjid
Indonesia Chair
MBA, RFC®
[email protected]
Lisa Soemarto
MA, RFC®
[email protected]
Jeffrey Chen
Taiwan Chair
RFC®
[email protected]
Preecha Swasdpeera
Thailand Chair
MPA, MM, RFC®
[email protected]
Demetre Katsabekis
Greece Chair
MBA, Ph.D, RFC®
[email protected]
Masters of Training — Kinder Brothers International
Jack Kinder, Garry D. Kinder, William L.
Moore and David Smith are leaders of the
acclaimed Kinder Brothers International,
one of the oldest and best-known
financial sales and sales management
training organizations in the world. They
have conducted professional training
events in 17 countries and addressed
every professional association. Their
books include Building the Master
Agency, Secrets of Successful Insurance
Salespeople, written with W. Clement
Stone and Winning Strategies in Selling
written with Roger Staubach. Other titles
by this veteran group are The Making of a
Salesperson, Upward Bound, 21st
Century Positioning and The Selling Heart.
Every year the firm delivers over 200
presentations and management workshops
to financial planners and insurance agents.
Jack, Garry, and Bill all hold the RFC®
designation, in addition to other
professional designations. For this edition
of The Register we asked this dynamic
group the following questions.
• If you're expected to be there, be there.
In other words, show up on time and
show up dressed ready to play,
attitudinally and physically.
• Make good on all commitments. A
commitment made is a debt unpaid.
• Always strive to do the right thing,
regardless of the politics of the
situation.
What is most important to the Registered
Financial Consultant’s image?
Once again, we would say integrity. This is
something that has to be developed over
a period of time. Many advisors have
developed successful practices from
referrals of other clients. Client A
develops a strong relationship with the
advisor, has trust in the advisor, and
believes that the advisor brought valueadded service and helped solve his/her
problems. Client A refers the advisor to
Client B. The integrity of the advisor is
transferred by “borrowed perception” from
Client A to Client B.
Is image important to success?
Image is important to any RFC® as well as
to our firm. We strive to be the most
professional training organization in the
financial service industry. Our goals have
always been the same, developing sales
and sales management professionals by
“building confidence through competence.”
We feel image is important, but being
genuine is more important. We see too
many people who are more concerned
about looking good rather than being good.
They are more concerned with how they’re
looking than how they are doing.
How did you build such an impressive
worldwide image?
As a consensus, we feel that we have
achieved our reputation by always doing
the best work possible for our customers
and clients. One of our greatest assets is
being consistent with our beliefs and
principles. When we started working in
the Pacific-Rim countries, leaders of many
Asian companies commented that our
professional image had preceded us, and
it was important in their decision to use
our training and motivation services.
What are prospects looking for in
financial advisors today?
We believe prospects are looking for
advisors who:
• Are trustworthy.
• Are likeable.
• Are organized and well prepared.
• Are a source of knowledge, not
just information.
• Are direct, confidential and sincere.
• Stay in touch frequently with the client.
• Communicate about problems and
offer solutions.
• Bring in specialists when appropriate.
• Are reliable, meet deadlines and
fulfill promises.
• Look out for the best interest of
the client.
Can a well-established image be
destroyed or damaged?
A well-established image can always be
destroyed. It takes a lifetime to build a
reputation, but only one act to destroy it.
What is your bottom-line advice about
image relating to career success?
When the advisor continues to treat the
new client with honesty and integrity, the
building of a professional image has
begun. As the recent Register series of
articles on clowns indicated, it is
important for advisors to always use the
IARFC Code of Ethics as their guide.
What can each RFC® do to create and
establish a desired image?
We suggest the best way to create and
establish a strong image is by having
satisfied clients. The highly satisfied
client will tell others and the desired
image transfer is started. Brochures and
marketing materials can also reflect
image. However, actions are what
develop the advisor’s professional image.
What is most important about image?
That’s easy: the most important factor is
integrity. We teach and try to live by three
basic principles, and they are equally valid
for every advisor:
presume you know what they want, or
what their highest priorities are or
should be. You must ask, and confirm —
and do so frequently during your
fact-finding interview.
What is a key piece of advice for
Register readers?
Planners and advisors must know their
clients’ expectations. You cannot
All Register readers must remember
that they are entrepreneurs and their
image is as important to the growth of
the business as is any other element.
Because this image is related to service,
it is important that the advisor and
managers all impart the importance of
these principles to every employee and
staff member.
The average client who purchases
your products or services will usually
form his or her judgment about you
from the first contact. If you lack
proper manners, if you are disorganized
or inefficient, it will take a lot of
kindness and efficiency to overcome the
first negative impression. This is true,
even if you were highly referred by
someone they respect.
Your image as a RFC® is built around
integrity and high standards — and you
must work on this as you would any other
aspect of your business. Dr. Michael
continued on page 4
Page 3
continued from page 3 Masters of Training
Mescon suggests, “Standards of
absolutely first-class, pristine
performances don’t spontaneously
emerge. Standards of excellence are
cultivated by first-class advisors
committed to the notion that second best
simply will not do.”
These standards of excellence will
build your image and your practice.
But you must be consistent, providing
first class service to even your least
profitable client — who could,
nevertheless be very instrumental in
furthering your reputation.
For over thirty years Kinder Brothers
International has trained financial
advisors in every state. What have you
noticed during this time?
Since 1976, from coast to coast, we
have found the same thing: When it
comes to building their images and
marketing, most financial advisors are
weak. Most do not work hard at operating
with the principles we previously listed,
which will build a professional image.
Some think that advertising, public
relations, brochures, or the reputation of
an affiliated insurance company or broker
dealer will create image. Image is earned
by acts.
Are financial planner’s PR image
expectations realistic?
Today, as we talk with advisors about how
they market themselves, in the U.S.,
Europe and in Asia, most don’t even have
a basic image brochure. Some have no
ideas about image building. Most have
totally unrealistic ideas about image
building and media expectations.
We encourage advisors to write articles.
You don’t just write an article and send it
off to a publication. You must study the
target magazine’s editorial copy style
requirement and editorial schedule, then
you must first have evidence of your
accomplishment, indications of
professional recognition, proof of a
following, tear sheets of your other
published work, and a professional press
kit, plus at least one professional quality
photo of yourself.
The value of these articles is not just with
the recipients of the publication who
might happen to read that issue. The
advisor should reproduce every published
article and send it with a simple cover
letter to clients, prospects and centers
of influence.
Page 4
What advice do you have for traditional
life insurance agents?
The trends we have seen in the U.S. are
now being replicated worldwide. Life
agents are becoming financial advisors,
adding new products and new services.
An image change is critical for this
profession. They must become better
business people, better marketers and
understand a wider array of products.
They must be trained to be advisors,
rather than relying on the diversification of
an insurance carrier.
your training techniques?
That’s a great question, and the answer is
both Yes and No. Naturally as insurance
products became more complex and the
life industry embraced securities, we had
to consider additional areas, such as
compliance. But the fundamental
principles of management are unchanged.
How can a financial services
organization assess the reasons why
some persons are successful, and others
are not?
This transformation is critical. The
average citizen (of the U.S. Canada,
Spain, China, Malaysia — wherever) is
seeking a relationship with someone they
trust, respect and believe has
competence. A credential like the
Registered Financial Consultant
designation is valuable, provided that the
advisor explains to the prospect what it
means. Everywhere in the world citizens
are looking for someone who will help
them obtain quality products to
accomplish their goals. Doing this on a
daily basis is the way you create and
maintain a professional image.
We have always said, you need to ask
three questions: “Who hired them? Who
trained them? Who managed them?”
As organizations grow, are different
skills needed?
That’s why we take it very seriously when
a firm or an advisor places their
confidence in KBI to help them acquire
management and training skills.
Most financial advisors start out alone,
and then add staff to expand their
capability. Soon they begin to recruit
other advisors, and at this time
management and training become a
major issue. The skills that made an
advisor effective with clients are not the
same skills required to manage and
motivate employees and associates. Over
the past 30 years we have developed
books, courses and training sessions to
help companies and broker dealers
deliver these skills.
How have you delivered this training?
We started out as life agents,
rising through the management ranks,
to the top of a major company. But
it became obvious that our real skill
was in training and motivation of
managers, not merely in the
management of a sales force. We
enjoyed taking the principles we had
been using, and the practical tools we
developed, and seeing them make a
difference in the lives and careers of
financial advisors.
Have the changes in the financial
services industry caused you to change
Many persons should never be hired.
Others are hired wrong — the disclosure is
not adequate, or they are given the
impression that selling financial products
will be very easy. Many are inadequately
trained — by the home office or by the
local firm. The investment in training
today is insufficient in many organizations,
and it is responsible for lack of retention.
And some do not receive the right caliber
of leadership, attention and motivation.
What is new on the horizon for KBI?
One of our programs, Professional Patterns
of Management, was structured as a
correspondence course or employed inhouse by company training staff. It was
used as the basis for the development of
the 21st Century program by companies
in Asia, and we have been involved in
“training the trainer” for prominent
institutions. Now Bill Moore is in the
process of adapting this material into a
new program for those managing fullservice financial firms. This will become
the core of the Registered Financial
Manager designation program, to be
offered in partnership with the IARFC.
Kinder Brothers International is located at
17110 Dallas Parkway, Suite 220, Dallas,
Texas 75248. Phone: 800 372 7110 and
www.kbigroup.com
This article was prepared for the Register
by Forrest Wallace Cato, who regularly
prepares his Cato Comments column,
“About Your Image” for the Register.
From the
Chairman’s Desk...
Hong Kong. I visited with Samuel Yung, Teresa So, Liang Tien Lung and Allan Wan.
They are moving ahead in the development of an accelerated course for experienced
producers which will be quicker and less expensive for the participant. GAMA has
been effective in its support of the RFC®, and Johnson Wong, Davey Lee and Maggie
Lee are all helpful GAMA officers and RFC® members. We had a well-attended CE
session, and my three-hour presentation was translated by Hugo Chan, JD, RFC®.
Macau. Allan Wan and I visited the former Portuguese colony of Macau. It is about
to explode with Las Vegas based casinos moving in. We met with Macau University of
Technical Services and Dr. John Pontes, the head of the Macau Monetary Authority.
While there I spoke to a group of LUA members, hosted by the local AIA office, and
there is definitely interest in our launching RFC® in Macau.
Where the IARFC
will be represented:
Financial Advisors Forum
May 11-13, 2006, Middletown, Ohio
NAIFA – Ohio Convention
May 15-16, 2006, Dublin, Ohio
Million Dollar Marketing Workshop
May 22-23, 2006, Minneapolis
MDRT Annual Meeting
June 11-14, 2006, San Diego, CA
Financial Planning Association
July 7, 2006, Manila, Philippines
Advisors Forum and Graduation
July 8 & 9, 2006, Manila, Philippines
International Dragon Awards
August 11-13, 2006, Chengdu, China
IARFC Cruise/Conference
September 16-23, 2006 “Fall Foliage”
Through New England and Canada
MDRT Top of Table
October 18-21, 2006 Cancun, Mexico
Heckerling Estate Conference
January, 2007, Orlando
APfinSA Conference
April 13-15, 2007, Taipei
Financial Advisors Forum
May, 15-17, 2007, Las Vegas, Nevada
MDRT Annual Meeting
June 10-13, 2007, Denver, CO
If you are going to attend any of
these events, please let us know.
Masters Degree. The GAMA of Hong Kong has launched a new MBA program that
involves the University of North Alabama. The cost will be $96,000 in Hong Kong,
equivalent to $12,400 U.S. They have already granted a credit for RFC® toward their
masters degree of 6 hours. We are investigating various options for an IARFC
sponsored Masters Degree.
RFM designation. While in Hong Kong I also met with Robert Suen, RFC®, about the
proposed Registered Financial Manager course being developed by Bill Moore, RFC®
who is a part of Kinder Brothers International, which will include many of the
successful Kinder management principles.
Thailand. In Bangkok I spoke at the MDRT Experience, attended by 9,500 Asians.
They had five commercial exhibitors, of which IARFC was one — and we were given the
prime location on the ground floor closest to the main auditorium. The program was
opened and closed by MDRT President, Stephen Rothschild, RFC®. My second
session, in a room that seated 3,000 was overflowing into the outer area. MDRT staff
counted 197 persons standing or sitting outside listening on their radio translation
headsets. Our exhibit booth was mobbed and we handed out six cartons of materials.
The IARFC booth was manned by persons from IARFC Thailand, assisted by members
from Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. We got a lot of calls later from attendees
interested in registering for an RFC® course. After MDRT we had a graduation
ceremony for the first 79 RFC® recipients and it was a nice affair, with caps and
gowns — a good photo opportunity. Everything was well coordinated by the IARFC
Thailand Chair, Preecha Swasdpeera with the assistance of Ralph Liew and Jeffrey
Chiew. The following day Preecha and I made calls on local insurance leaders.
Singapore. We had the graduation ceremony for the first 29 RFC® graduates. It was
attended by the General Manager of AIA, Mark O’Dell, RFC® who congratulated the
students. The following day I gave a 2 hour presentation to about 250 AIA agents at
their Alexandra office and it was followed by a number of signups for the RFC® course.
Philippines. I didn’t stop there on this trip, but many of the attendees of MDRT
experience reported back to the Financial Planning Association of Philippines on my
talk at MDRT and they have invited me to speak July 7th. We’ll combine that with
another Forum in Makati and a graduation ceremony.
China. The IMM event, the IDA International Dragon Awards and 6th Worldwide
Chinese Life Insurance Conference, with 8,000 or more attendees will be held in
Chengdu on August 11-13. Do you want to attend IDA? Have you ever been to
Chengdu? Mehdi Fakharzadeh, RFC® will be a speaker. We plan to hold a
concurrent RFC® session, 3 hours – in English at IDA with Stephen Rothschild as one
of the speakers. There will be a very inexpensive post conference 3-4 day cruise on
the Yangtze River.
Are You Traveling to Asia? If so, why not plan to address a group of Registered
Financial Consultants. Since this would have publicity value in your home town, you
might consider part of your expenses to be business-related.
Contact IARFC — if you’d like to attend IDA in Chengdu or speak abroad.
Page 5
Tournament of the Century:
The King of Commerce vs. The Clown Prince!
into more than forty categories, and he
does it with a skill that I can only liken to
an entomologist analyzing the antics of
performing fleas.
I am of course familiar with the clowns’
substandard stunts; and so are my fellow
members of the International Association
of Registered Financial Consultants in the
USA and also the British Institute of Sales
and Marketing Management. We
consider the clowns to be the worst ad
we’ve ever had. They give us a bad name
— and don’t make us laugh either!
Rev. Dr. John Clements, Th.D., RFC®
When we look objectively (that is, without
vested interest) at the functioning of the
commercial world, we see very little that
we would genuinely call ‘excellence’ in
operation. Notwithstanding the plethora
of technological resources for training and
learning, the average company’s blueprint
for success seems destined to shortcircuit the best intentions of its designers.
Indeed, an impartial systems analyst
might well diagnose it as being hard-wired
for an output of mediocrity!
Ambitious individuals seeking to improve
personal and professional performance
are often pressured, by time or financial
constraints, to settle for quick-fix solutions
to long-term deficiencies. Not surprising,
therefore, we have ended up with a
generation of self-styled leaders who
prefer to cultivate a personal power-base
rather than promote genuine fulfillment
for the corporate culture as a whole.
Never have so many been managed by so
little wisdom! The culprits? Professional
clowns who consider themselves to have
outgrown the circus ring!
Forrest Wallace Cato (well known to many
in the financial services industry and
readers of this magazine) has taken a
microscope to those minuscule minded
merchants of mediocrity — blown them to
a size, so to speak in his insightful and
incisive (perhaps even incendiary) article,
“Beware of the Clowns!”
Through the power-zoom of his 25 years’
experience in finance, selling, and
promotion, Cato analyses the antics of the
professional amateurs (or amateur
professionals, which ever is the lesser)
Page 6
Thus have I arrived at my life-mission (or
one of them, anyway): to lend a serious
helping hand to folk desirous of extracting
themselves from the mire of mediocrity
into which the clowns have lured them;
and thereafter to help them develop a
Cato-like power-zoom of experience — so
that they can detect the clowns before
they roll up, and avoid them by leaping
gracefully onto the narrow (and often
concealed) pathway of excellence.
If you would like further details about this
process, you can download a (free!) copy
of my e-book Excellence Becomes You
www.excellence-becomes-you.com — or
you can contact me on my e-mail address
[email protected]
Anyway — enough of clown princes and
performing fleas. Let’s examine the
elements necessary to transform
ourselves into what we really aspire to be:
Kings of Commerce. For the individual
executive operating in a corporate
structure the standard list would generally
be understood to run like this:
• Mentoring/coaching by immediate
supervisors
• A specialised department of internal
trainers
• Visits from external general consultants
• The academic paper chase (MBAs etc)
The school of hard knocks!
Does that list ring a bell? Then let’s
analyze the elements individually.
Hard knocks may thicken the hide of a
rhinoceros, but always impair the
sensibilities of the human soul. They are,
as such, no more useful for improving a
business than kicking a computer will for
improve the program!
The academic paper chase is a very good
indicator of an employee’s ability to
execute further academic paper
chases…but how far can those be relied
upon to make the executive into an
effective leader? MBA programs contain
a great deal of theoretical material, some
aspects of which may be inapplicable in
the real world, and so singularly fail to
address the human-related issues of
leadership. Idiosyncratic business
practices based on paper qualifications
may sometimes be worse than useless,
because they are seldom adapted to new
circumstances. In addition, an overdedicated student can overdose on the
injection of new concepts into an already
work-laden psyche.
External general consultants have
a tendency to act as itinerant
medicine-men: they champion a
single solution for complex ailments,
and often don’t wait around long
enough to see it fail! Furthermore,
they are accustomed to working in
groups rather than ‘one-on-one’ with
clients; so the results of their
ministrations can be disappointing to
managers, who see colleagues emerging
from the seminar room with a sheaf of
papers and booklets, but no finely-tuned
skills or long-lasting encouragement.
Internal trainers may possess low
credibility in the eyes of fast-tracking
senior executives, who have vested
interests in never revealing their
weaknesses within their own
organizations. For similar reasons, they
can never ‘let their hair down’ and share
fears, feelings or failings on open courses
run by external training organizations,
because those are often attended by
delegates from competitor companies.
Thus superficial issues are the only ones
aired, and surface changes are the only
ones wrought.
Immediate supervisors can be
valuable as mentors — but only if
properly trained, and enthusiastic
enough to be plausible motivators.
An unschooled, haphazard, or jaded
mentor can end up as a liability for an
upcoming ambitious executive, who
needs a program that is not only
confidential (for the reasons stated
above) but also tailored to his or
her personality, experiences,
continued on page 7
continued from page 6 King of Commerce
circumstances, competencies
and aspirations. So we now realize
there are no quick-fix formulas, no
magic elixirs. Success involves and
evolves out of sheer hard work. But even
then, an extra "something" is needed.
What would be the point of a blacksmith
bashing on his anvil at a piece of
tarnished metal, if he has only a dim
vision of the artifact that he wishes to
transform it into?
In a future characterized by the
white heat of change and the
exacting specifications of the
global marketplace, the wisdom
based blueprint for success
will necessitate an
amalgam of
qualities:
• a mature
character
• integrity of
purpose
• incisiveness of
discernment
• intuitive ‘reading’ of
people
• stewardship of
intellectual capital
• unwavering focus
on purpose
• interpersonal
charisma
• compassionate
leadership
By an amazing coincidence these are the
very qualities that professionals of the
caliber of Forrest Wallace Cato, Ed Morrow
and other leaders of IARFC seek to
promote through their work!
Resources available to management for
the cultivation and execution of peak
performance are, as I said earlier,
numerous and easily available; yet their
upshot has turned out disappointing.
Many organizations, still struggling to
hone mediocrity into a winning edge, have
started relying on computers, IT, and
state-of-the-art telecommunications to cut
a swathe through the competition. Some
have gone even further, and espoused
team-development, new management
methodologies, and guru-counseled
sessions of fire-walking! But the signs are
that such measures will always be
insufficient per se to fulfill the objectives
that forward-looking corporations set forth
as their raison d’être.
Fortunately, a few discerning corporations
are realizing that the route to corporate
excellence does not run through copper
wires, flickering screens, silicon
memories, newfangled philosophies, or
piles of smoldering ashes. It starts on the
doorstep of the company headquarters,
traverses the muscles and brains of every
employee who crosses that threshold, and
finishes in the hands of satisfied
customers!
Personally I believe what Forrest
Wallace Cato (scourge of the
clowns) believes: that excellence
is not a goal but a process.
Excellence can never be
attained, but it can and
should be aspired to in
every significant act
we perform. No
act will have
lasting
significance
unless
tempered by
wisdom!
Exactly what, then,
are we expecting
when we aspire to
excellence?
• The updating of
paradigms
• The abolition of
negative habits
• The location of
as-yet-unmined
potential
• The maximization of leadership
capabilities
• Mastery of competencies for the next
wave of change
• Reconciliation with those forces causing
distracting personal stress
• Nothing less than a breakthrough in
strategies for personal effectiveness!
If this process seems arduous… well, so it
is. And so is running a company. And so
is running a country. Does a
constitutional king act like a clown? Or
like a professional amateur? Or like a
performing flea?
Be constitutionally professional. Be an
ethical King of Commerce! Banish the
Clown Prince!
Rev Dr John L Clements, FCIPD, ACE,
CertEd, ACP, DipRSA, PECI, RFC®, FRSA,
FInstSMM. Author of Fruitful Prospects
Ripe For The Picking, one of the key note
speakers at the IARFC conference in May
2006. He can be contacted by e-mail:
[email protected]
Online analytical,
presentation and
education tools for
IARFC members.
You need financial decision-making
tools and the ability to deliver impartial
advice and recommendations —
answers to real life financial questions.
In response to this growing need for
content, the IARFC has acquired for
the use of its members a series of
financial calculators and planning
tools for advanced analytics and
presentations. Calculators are
available in the following areas:
• Cash Flow Planning
• College Credit
• Home and Mortgage
• Taxation
• Insurance Needs
• Paycheck and Benefits
• Qualified Plans
• Retirement Savings
• Investments
Go To:
www.IARFC.org
Access: The Members Area
Click On: Financial Calculators
Your E-Mail Address is a
Doorway for New Clients
Prospects and clients can reach you
through your E-mail address — but
only if they have the correct one!
That is why it is so critical for you to
have the correct listing within your
Member Profile on IARFC.org.
This will only take a moment for you to
correct, and while you are there, you
can revise any other information that
may be incorrect or lacking.
We now receive over 400 hits daily to
this feature of the website — mainly
from clients and prospects that are
looking for a new advisor, or who wish
to verify the credentials of someone
who has contacted them.
Do it Now!
Page 7
The Care and Feeding of Clients or Treat Your Clients Like a Dog
By Katherine Vessenes, JD, CFP®, RFC®
with a strong bond. If I don’t do it by the
16th week, I can still create this strong
bond with my puppy, it will just take a lot
more work. I worked extra hard during this
time to make sure Cowboy believed I was
the most important thing in his life. It was
crucial that Cowboy’s primary affection
was to me, the alpha, and not to my
husband, who for once was only beta, or
even to our other dog, Murphy.
Katherine Vessenes, JD, CFP®, RFC®
No question about it. I would have been a
much better mother, and a much better
advisor, if I had studied dog training first.
Earlier this summer we got a new Springer
spaniel puppy, Cowboy, chosen for his
looks, his brains, his love of birds and the
joy in his eyes every time he looks at me.
Puppies from champion stock deserve
special attention, especially ones bred for
bird hunting. So by July I found myself
doing something even my best friends
could not imagine: tramping across the
underbrush every week, training this gift of
unconditional love how to be an obedient,
respectful member of our family.
Although many things struck me during
his training, two things made indelible
impressions. First: the wisdom I was
learning as a dog owner would have been
invaluable when I was raising three
children. Second, the same lessons that
would be good for children and dogs, are
especially good for our clients.
Here are some thoughts on how you can
treat your clients like a dog and how the
superstar advisors, those making a million
dollars or more per year, compare.
Dog Training Principle number one:
Bonding is the foundation of a good
relationship with your pet.
Dog psychologists teach that the first 12 to
16 weeks of a puppy’s life are the most
crucial time to build a strong bond with the
owner. Dog psychologists say I only have a
few weeks to establish myself as top dog
Page 8
To create this bond took a lot of time,
planning and attention. Cowboy and I
would play his favorite games, and I would
feed him by hand, sometimes even giving
him his favorite treat, meat that I had
pre-chewed for him. When Peter and I
were on the couch, Cowboy would be on
my lap, never Peter’s. He slept in a crate
next to my bed so that I was the first thing
he saw every morning and the last thing
he saw every night. Cowboy was allowed
very little time with Murphy, so he
wouldn’t bond with another dog, who
frankly is a lot more fun than I am.
The reasons for the bond are important:
our entire relationship is based on this
emotional connection. I want Cowboy to
work for me and obey me, because he
loves me, not because he is terrified
about being punished. I want him to
come when I call him, no matter what is
going on. This means forsaking the fun
play of other dogs to come when I give
him the recall command. Not once in a
while, not when he feels like it, but every
single time without exception.
There will be times that I have to
reprimand him, but if we have a strong
bond of love, he will still love me and obey
me afterwards. Finally, our household is
much happier if our dogs feel like they are
beloved members of the family.
Bonding with clients is a lot like bonding
with dogs: Early bonding is important in
relations with our clients, too. I believe
the first few months of a relationship with
a new client can set the tone for years to
come and make or break the connection.
If your clients bond with you, they will
follow your advice, have warm feelings
about you, refer you new clients, promptly
return your phone calls and stick with you
through market meltdowns and never
shift their alliance to another advisor.
These are the clients we all want to hug
close to us, just like a new puppy, and
never let them go.
To create a strong bond with clients and
attract customers who love us as much as
we love them, we need to think about
TOMA is top of mind awareness. When
your client has a financial need, we want
them thinking of you first, just how my
puppy thinks of me first. We recommend
about 14 contacts per year to get TOMA.
Truth be told, I cannot think of a single
multimillion dollar advisor who really
manages 14 contacts a year with their
clients. In fact, the best of Vestment’s
advisory clients who are multimillion
dollar advisors, could only commit to 5
contacts a year, no matter how much we
pleaded with them. If they were making
over a million dollars a year in fees and
commissions with 5 contacts a year, it
staggers the imagination to calculate how
much they would make if they made 14
contacts per year.
Fourteen touches or contacts a year are
easier than you think. Here is a sample,
high-touch schedule that you can add to
your marketing plan, to create TOMA with
all of your “A” level clients:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
4 quarterly review meetings
3 phone calls to check in
2 breakfasts or lunches
1 phone call from outside source
or intern to determine the client’s
level of satisfaction with the firm
1 written client satisfaction survey
1 golf date or sports event
1 client appreciate event or dinner
1 client birthday lunch
6 bi-monthly newsletters
4
7
9
10
11
12
13
14
20
If you want to easily double this number
with very little expense or time, send a
thank you note after every interaction.
Now you have 28-34 touches!! Unheard
of in the industry, but a sure way to create
a strong bond with your clients.
Some of your clients might be B or C
levels and you do not want to spend this
much time or money on creating TOMA.
For them the schedule might look like this:
continued on page 9
continued from page 8 Marketing-Friendly Compliance
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
annual review meeting
1 phone call to check in by advisor
3 check in calls from our assistant
1 written client satisfaction survey
1 client appreciation event or dinner
1
2
6
7
8
If you (or your assistant) sends a thank
you note after every contact, you will have
exceeded the recommended 14 touches,
by taking the schedule to 16!
Dog training principle number 2:
Dogs only do what is in their best
interest to do.
Most pet owners do not understand this
simple principle of dog training: dogs will
only do what they believe is in their best
interest to do. If you do not want your dog
to jump up on you or your guests, you
must teach him that it is not in his best
interest to jump. To guide him to this
belief, you must consistently save praise
and fondling or cookies for the times
when he has all 4 paws on the floor. If
Fido forgets, loses control, or thinks just
this once it is in his best interest to jump
on your new suit, you must turn your back
on him and say “too bad”. No treats or
tummy scratches until Fido does what is
in his best interest: keeping those paws
on the ground.
Many advisors have not figured out that
clients only do what is in their best
interests to do. We have seen numerous
advisors who are disappointed with their
closing ratios. They haven’t figured out
why the clients didn’t purchase their latest
recommendations. The answer is simple:
the clients did not believe the purchase
was in their best interest. Conversely, the
client believed it was in their best interest
NOT to make the purchase.
This simple thought should be a part of
every presentation. It starts with the
initial review and selection process. The
advisor must select a product that he can
recommend unconditionally because it is
in the client’s best interest. Once the
advisor gets past that hurtle, he should
use the key issues that the clients’
indicated were important to them and
address how this particular investment
will fit with their desires, or what the
clients believe is their best interests.
For example, say Miss Simpson, is a
single teacher, rapidly approaching
retirement and a conservative investor.
She has no children, no kin and is very
worried about running out of money
during retirement. You know her portfolio
needs some equities to outdistance
inflation, however
from her perspective
this does not
address the issue
that is most
important in her
mind: running out of
money. Since clients
only do what is in
their (perceived)
best interest to do,
it makes sense
to start your
recommendations
with a fixed annuity.
After you explain the features of a
guaranteed income stream, you see Miss
Simpson visibly relax; this is just what she
was looking for — this is in her (perceived)
best interest. Once her internal stress is
relieved with the thought that she can rely
on a guaranteed stream of income, you
can discuss putting the balance of her
portfolio in equities as an inflation hedge.
She will be much more receptive because
you have relieved her internal stress.
It surprised me to see how many of the
multimillion dollar advisors we have
worked with, were looking at investment
recommendations from the advisors’
point of view — the size of the
commission, and not from the client’s
point of view — what will stop their pain. It
was not unusual for me to walk out of a
meeting with an advisor and their clients
to have the advisor say to me, “Well, I just
made $28,000 on that case!”
One advisor was different. He said he did
not really start to succeed as an advisor
and bring down the big dollars until he
changed his thinking. He stopped pulling
out his calculator to determine how much
money he was going to make on every
case, and instead he just recommended
what the clients’ needed and what was
truly in their best interest. The clients
must have sensed his sincerity and
integrity, because it turned the corner for
him. Today, he makes about $2 million a
year doing what is good for his clients.
Dog Training Principle Number 3:
Keep them wanting more.
Our dogs, like many spaniels, love to
retrieve. Their favorite game is fetch. I
throw the Frisbee, they run like crazy to
catch it and bring it back. Early in
Murphy’s training we found that she often
would not make a straight line back to us
with the beloved Frisbee. Sometimes she
would get a little tired of this game and
want to take a hike around the yard first.
Our breeder gave us some invaluable
advice: keep her wanting more. Always
end training on a good note so she is
looking forward to the next time. Never let
her get bored with the process. This has
kept her interest high and made training
easier and more fun.
The same philosophy applies to our
clients. We want all of their interactions
with us to be so fun and painless that
they are looking forward to the next
get-together. We have used this principle
for a couple of our advisory clients. Here
is how it worked:
The advisor was finding the initial part of
the planning process to be long and
tedious for the clients. If it was too long,
some clients got bored or tired and didn’t
finish the process — no sale was made
and no client problems were solved. Their
closing ratio suffered.
To address this issue, we recommend that
the advisor not solve all the client’s
problems at once. In fact in some cases
the advisors told the clients that they
would work with the clients over 2 stages.
The first stage was usually the easiest
things to accomplish — frequently it was
the issues most bothering the clients and
they were most interested in getting them
resolved. Stage 2, sometimes done a
year later in combination with an annual
review, would address the other issues
and concerns left on the table. For one
of our advisors, they chose to address
the insurance issues in the follow up
meeting, primarily because the advisors
where so used to selling low hanging
fruit, they never got around to the harder
sell of insurance.
Surprisingly, this concept of leaving
something on the table, or having the
client wanting more, worked brilliantly.
What the advisors found was a year later,
continued on page 10
Page 9
continued from page 9
Marketing-Friendly Compliance
the clients were much more amenable to
an insurance sale because they had a
year of good bonding with the advisor and
trusted the advisor’s recommendations
more. It also provided a good reason to
come back and meet with the advisor. The
clients felt like their best interests were
being addressed. At the same time the
advisor almost always found other funds,
invested elsewhere that could be
transferred to the advisor’s firm, giving
them a bigger share of the wallet. In the
end, the advisor made much more money
on the case, than if they had done it all
at once.
Dog Training Principle number 4:
The use of correction.
No article on the care and training
of clients would be complete without
talking about how to correct the errant
client. For dogs this is a simple process of
starting early and being consistent. If
Rover and Duke know they ALWAYS get
reprimanded for barking or jumping on
the sofa, they will soon learn it is not in
their best interests to bark or jump on
the sofa.
In extreme cases dog trainers recommend
using a prong collar. A metal collar that
when tugged slightly pinches the dog. It
doesn’t really hurt; it just gets his
attention. Although I have had a few
advisory clients that I would have loved to
fitted out with a prong collar, you will be
glad to know I resisted the temptation.
Instead I just rely on being consistent with
the consequences.
If your clients don’t return your
phone calls promptly, or pay you on
time, start corrections early and be
consistent with the consequences.
Explain why this behavior is not
acceptable. Never waiver no matter
how many times the clients don’t fit with
the program. Remember in the worst
cases of the un-trainable client, you can
always send them back to the pound.
©Katherine Vessenes 2006
Katherine Vessenes, JD, CFP®, RFC® has
the greatest job in the world. She helps
advisors become multimillion dollar
superstars. For information on her
seminars, book or consulting contact her
at: [email protected] or
952 401 1045
www.VestmentAdvisors.com
Page 10
Resources for Financial Advisors
Client and Prospect Gifts — business
related. There are a number of items
available from Boxes by Pandora but
several are particularly useful for financial
advisors because of their relationship to
high level financial service. For the upscale
client who generate significant revenue,
nothing is as effective as the solid cherry
Documents box. This comes with brass
plates – one with the client’s name and the
other as reference to the financial advisor.
The box weighs 16 pounds and is 12¾” x
14 ½" x 11¼” in size. It has 25 hanging
file sections for records and includes a
booklet to assist the client in gathering
critical documents, records and data. Cost
$189 each. For advisors seeking a less
expensive and less impressive version,
Pandora offers a 12¼” x 10¼” x 6”
decorated cardboard box which only weighs
2 pounds and comes with folders and the
same data documents and records
brochure. Cost: $29.95 each. Pandora
also has a very handsome cherry Executive
Stationery Box; size 3¾” x 11” x 8 ¼”
which includes 50 French Fold cards and
envelopes personally imprinted with your
client’s name. Cost: $125 each.
Special pricing for IARFC members:
www.BoxesbyPandora.com
Phone: 800 232 6937
Newsletters — Imprinted. There are a
number of sources for newsletters, but no
organization has the track record and
reputation of Liberty Publishing. We
recommend two of their newsletters;
including the Financial Insider – eight
pages 8.5” x 11” which should be mailed
in a 9” x 12” envelope for maximum
impact. Liberty will print the advisor’s
photo and contact information on the top.
We recommend that financial advisors
have two or three photos to include the
Client Service Manager(s) and perhaps a
para planner. Liberty will have its staff
juxtapose the separate photos, so that you
can adjust for staff changes by simply
substituting or adding a new photo.
Liberty also has an excellent four page, full
color newsletter, the 20/20 Report. We
recommend sending a newsletter on a bimonthly basis – and periodically inserting
convenience postal reply cards to invite
client inquiries on related topics and to
provide referrals. www.LibertyInk.com
Phone: 800 722 7270.
Financial Advisors Website. The advisor
needs a good, full-featured website that
has all the key elements for professional
impact, a compliance review procedure for
broker dealers and maximum easily
customized pages. Financial Visions was
selected by the IARFC after exhaustive
research into over 40 vendors. The setup
routine is very easy and the advisor can
gradually add the essential customized
pages. The opening screen should have a
clear statement of the advisors operation —
generally referred to as the “Elevator Story”
perhaps with the principal’s photo, a
group photo, corporate Logo or a
building photo. Custom pages should
include the full “Compelling Story” and
statement of the primary services provided.
The advisor chooses from over 30 financial
calculators, hundreds of articles and
newsletters, and stock market coverage.
Your target audience will return to your
website often to assist them in their
day-to-day financial planning.
Special pricing for IARFC members.
Installation fee $149 including a full
registration of the Uniform Resource
Locator (URL) domain name, which
becomes the property of the advisor.
Monthly support fee, for all the basic
website features is $39.95 and we
recommend the three email packages for
$5. For example, your domain might be:
www.FranklinRoberts.com and your e-mail
could be [email protected] and
your assistant, [email protected].
You can view a sample website that does
not include all the customizable features at
www.MorrowPlanning.com.
For complete details and online enrollment,
go to the IARFC Members Area and click on
the Advisors Websites link or go directly to
www.IARFCwebsites.com.
Builder Suite software solutions for
financial advisor professionals
Practice Builder Financial —
A comprehensive communications
and drip marketing tool for financial
advisors. Corporate Records System —
A supplement with Articles of Incorporation,
By-Laws, Minutes, etc. Compliance
Software — How to prepare for SEC audits;
reduce professional liability. Seminar
Marketing — for advisors presenting
single or multi-session seminars for clients
or prospects.
Plan Builder Financial — financial
planning software to develop
comprehensive financial plans, quickly
and easily. Create unlimited "what-if"
scenarios — including Monte Carlo
simulations illustrated with colorful charts
and graphs. Professional Sample Plans.
Use to Close the Engagement Agreement
by fulfilling the client’s need to see, touch
and feel a sample of the product they are
buying. For more information visit:
www.FinancialSoftware.com
[email protected]
or 800 666 1656 ext. 13
Financial Advisors Forum 2006
Partial List of our Esteemed Exhibitors
3 Dimensional Wealth International
www.3dwealth.org
877 339 3258
First Financial Education Centre
www.firstfinancialeducationcentre.com
480 214 5135
Life Insurance Settlements, Inc.
www.lisettlements.com
866 326 5433
eFileCabinet
www.efilecabinet.com
801 374 5505
Financial Visions
www.fvisions.com
800 593 9228
MarketShare Financial
ww.marketsharefinancial.com
800 421 8260
Equimax Lending
260 422 9740
IARFC
www.IARFC.org
800 532 9060
FA Legal Association
www.falegal.com
800 261 0633
NICEP
www.nicep.org
765 453 4300
Advised by James Investment Research, Inc.
James Advantage Funds
www.jamesfunds.com
800 995 2637
National Heritage Foundation
ww.nhf.org
800 986 4483
Prudent Bear Funds
www.prudentbear.com
888 777 2327
Financial Planning Consultants
www.financialsoftware.com
800 421 8260
Keir Educational Resources
www.keirsuccess.com
800 795 5347
SunGraphics, Inc.
www.sungraphicsinc.com
877 524 6277
Page 11
IARFC Financial Advisors Forum 2006
Thursday Morning
Six Power Workshops
- - - Thursday, May 11 - - Registration Desk Open
Six Financial Planning Workshops
Exhibition and Buffet Luncheon
8:00 -
5:00
8:30 - 11:30
11:00 -
1:00
Opening Ceremony
1:00 -
1:20
Charlie “Tremendous” Jones
1:20 -
2:10
Jim McCarty
2:10 -
3:00
3:00 -
3:20
Lew Nason
3:20 -
4:10
Jerry Tan
4:10 -
5:00
5:00 -
6:45
Refreshment Break
Exhibition Area
Reception at the Morrow Home
7:00 -
8:00
Les Anderson
8:00 -
8:50
Michael Zmistowski
8:50 -
9:40
Refreshment Break
9:40 - 10:00
Michael Zmistowski
10:00 - 10:50
Norman Levine
10:50 - 11:40
Lunch in the Exhibition Area
11:40 -
1:20
Kip Gregory
1:20 -
2:10
Robin Mills
2:10 -
3:00
2:30 -
3:20
Peter Vessenes
3:20 -
4:10
Rev. Dr. John Clements
4:10 -
5:00
5:00 -
6:30
Refreshment Break
Reception in the Exhibition Area
The Loren Dunton Award Dinner
7:00 - 10:00
- - - Saturday, May 13 - - Continental Breakfast
7:00 -
8:00
George Flack
8:00 -
8:50
James Lange
8:50 -
9:40
Refreshment Break
10:00 - 10:50
Mehdi Fakharzadeh
10:50 - 11:40
Box Lunch Pickup
11:40 - 11:45
Session C: 10:40 - 11:30
♦ Legacy-Based Marketing
♦ Powerful Tie-Downs & Closings
World Famous
Featured Speakers
Charlie “Tremendous” Jones
One of America’s Leading Motivational
Speakers (as rated by National Speakers
Association)
Mehdi Fakharzadeh
The Legendary and Beloved Veteran
MetLife Agent and Financial Advisor
Norman Levine
The World Famous Agent & Manager
Who Built a Financial Services Giant
Rev. Dr. John Clements
Britain’s Celebrated Motivational and
Acclaimed “Right-Thinking” Specialist
11:45 - 12:30
Option #1: U.S. Air Force Museum
1:00 -
6:00
Option #2: Dayton Art Institute
1:00 -
6:00
Page 12
Session B: 9:35 - 10:25
♦ Financial Plan — Design & Delivery
♦ Clergy Planning & Marketing (RCA)
9:40 - 10:00
Hal Chorney
Ed Morrow
Session A: 8:30 - 9:20
♦ Client Relationship Management
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7:00 - 10:00
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Page 13
Secrets of Successful Internet Marketing
website source code, and then submitting
your site to the search engines.
Sylvia Todor
They’re not secrets, actually. It’s just that
Internet marketing is a vast and complex
arena, and most people are
understandably confused by it all. But
there are a few basic fundamentals that
even the most non-technical
businessperson can begin to understand
and can use to help grow a financial
consulting practice.
A professionally-designed website is, of
course, a good starting point. Whether it
is totally custom designed or generated by
a financial subscriber service, the ultimate
goal is to raise visibility and attract new
clients. If your prospects are to find you on
the search engines, you really must have a
website.
If you are like most financial advisors, you
work within a fairly tightly defined
geographical region. Therefore, the most
practical online marketing tactics for you to
pursue relate to local search engine
positioning. It’s of little use to you if
someone on the other side of the country
finds your website in a general online
search for financial advice. The good
news is that most people now use the
Internet as an information source when
shopping locally for products and services.
In fact, a 2005 study by The Kelsey Group,
put that number at 70% of U.S.
households. It’s probably a higher
percentage today.
It is very important that your city and state
are included in your keywords. In fact, it is
best if your city is in the “title” section of
your source code. The title field is given
the highest relevancy by a search engine
“crawler.” If you have an IARFC website,
powered by Financial Visions, you will find
these procedures at
www.fvisions.com/tutorials/home.htm.
Scroll down to “Marketing Tips.” You can,
of course, hire someone to do these tasks.
But it is absolutely critical that they be
done.
The local versions of the major search
engines include http://local.google.com
and http://local.yahoo.com. You
can get a basic listing with these
services for free. For Local Google,
go to www.google.com/local/add/
businessCenter. For Local Yahoo go to
http://listing.local.yahoo.com. It’s mainly
a matter of following the directions at
these sites. However, because Yahoo is a
directory, you must decide under which
categories you want to be listed.
Detailed instructions are also located at
the Financial Visions tutorials page
mentioned above. Local Yahoo also offers
an enhanced listing for $10 a month. In
my opinion this is well worth the cost
because it then gives a hyperlink back to
your website. And any link from a very big
directory back to your website is a good
thing. It will also raise your general search
engine positioning.
Another critical step is to make sure your
business is listed with InfoUSA. This is a
huge database assembled from printed
Yellow Pages and other sources
nationwide. It is a primary resource for the
major local search engines. Go to their
Directory Assistance Plus (www.daplus.us)
and search for your business. If you find
that your business is not listed, or is listed
incorrectly, use their add/update page
(http://list.infousa.com/dbupdate.htm) to
make sure you are in there fully and
correctly. Happily, this is another free
service, though it may take a few weeks
for a new listing to start showing up in the
local search engines.
One more area of Internet marketing that
you can do right away, is to build your
visibility in what are called “Local Portals.”
These are regional websites that function
as directories for a geographic region. The
major local newspapers, for example, have
websites that often serve as large local
portals. To find these local directories,
enter “(your city) (State) Directory” (use the
quote marks) into your search window. For
example: “Lafayette CA Directory”.
Browse some of the sites that are listed.
Enter your company name in a relevant
directory search window, and see if your
business is listed. There is often a place
to click for “Add/Update Listing,” usually
down at the bottom of the page. Most of
these directories offer a free basic listing,
but it is worthwhile to also check their
advertising rates. For a small fee, you can
usually get a hyperlink to your website.
And, as I said earlier, this is a GOOD thing.
Advertise your website inside your e-mail
by having your Internet mail box related to
your website. Suppose your website is
www.SmithMoney.com, and you first name
is John. Your e-mail should be:
[email protected] which constantly
reminds all your e-mail recipients of your
website address:
A final point about Internet marketing is
to think big. Think constantly about
anything relevant to your services that
would be valuable to your clients. Make
small additions frequently. Continue to
promote incoming links to your website.
It’s a process. Over time, your website will
begin to pay off.
About the Author: Sylvia Todor is Marketing
Director for Financial Visions, an IARFC
technology partner that creates affordable,
high-content websites for IARFC members:
www.iarfcwebsites.com
There are several basic steps to follow to
ensure that your website can be found by
search engines. Don’t be scared off by
the technical jargon. Your website service
provider probably offers step-by-step
instructions that you or others in your
office can follow. It begins by creating
meta tags and keywords, having your
website provider insert those into your
Page 14
CONSUMER
Paul Richard, RFC®
FOCUS
www.ICFE.info
Life Stage Analysis of Changing Attitudes and Behaviors
Part II
Key Findings — College Students.
The rising costs of higher education,
coupled with decreases in many families’
liquid savings, have led to increasing
dependence on educational loans and
other forms of borrowing. This contributes
to a cognitive disconnect for students
between the reality of their current incomes
and what constitutes an affordable lifestyle.
Students are not embracing the traditional
or “old school” financial values of their
parents and grandparents that place
emphasis on saving, living on a budget,
and self-denial. Instead, intense
competitive consumption pressures on
college campuses, which are exacerbated
by increasingly easy access to consumer
credit, has substantially increased the
social acceptance of increasing levels of
personal debt. Many students view their
use of consumer credit as a reward for
their hard work at school.
The lack of widespread or formal training/
education about personal finance in high
schools and colleges contributes to a sense
of complacency among students, who are
not aware of the long-term consequences
of their reliance on credit, including its
effect on their credit scores. Even so, their
desire for more formal personal finance
education is explicit, especially among
those whose learning curve has matured.
Key Findings — Young Singles.
Young Singles find themselves entering the
job market with increased levels of existing
debt (both student loans and consumer
credit) over previous generations. Their
resistance to adhering to a budget based
on current income contributes to the
continued waning influence of traditional or
“Puritan ethos” financial values.
Relatively high starting and early-career
salaries among young adults (who have not
yet experienced major macro-economic
fluctuations) have created a heightened
sense of optimism about future earnings
potential. However, this generational
confidence can manifest in status anxiety
as expressed through competitive
consumption to demonstrate success.
Institute of Consumer Financial Education
Soaring home prices have shifted Young
Singles focus from saving for a rainy day to
the allocation of more of their income to the
purchase of a home. Housing appreciation
has created a perception of a financial
security blanket, and many participants
confided they were less motivated to begin
long-term financial planning due to the
housing-driven wealth effect. A common
expectation among this group is that they
will cash in on their home equity for
unforeseen financial demands such as job
loss or medical expenses.
Key Findings — Young Families.
The Young Family life stage illustrates the
ongoing generational shift in personal
attitudes towards debt from frugality and
thrift to self indulgence and instant
gratification. Use of consumer credit to
fuel spending beyond a person’s means
to pay in cash is often justified as a
well-earned entitlement for hard work and
a stressful lifestyle.
Much like Young Singles, Young Families
also feel pressure to “keep up with the
Joneses”, particularly as it relates to the
rising costs of raising children. The
definition of needs vs. wants and desires is
changing. Use of consumer credit, with its
longer pay off cycles, helps Young Families
to purchase product upgrades that satisfy
wants and desires.
While Young Families acknowledge the
impact that (a) planning/saving for
emergencies and (b) reducing debt loads
will make to their long-term financial
prosperity, they are failing to implement
necessary budgeting and spending
guidelines. This has contributed to greater
dependence on consumer credit and debt
rather than a rejection of competitive
consumption pressures.
Key Findings — Mature Families.
While the parents in the Mature Family
life stage apply traditional values of
thrift and frugality in satisfying their own
needs, they are willing to abandon these
principles when it comes to providing their
teenagers with what they consider a
socially-expected level of material
619 239 1401
abundance. The pressure to satisfy the
increasingly-costly wants and desires of
their teenage children underscores a
significant generational conflict and has
contributed, along with other factors such
as rising levels of home equity, to reduced
household savings.
The resistance to fiscal discipline as it
relates to their children’s consumption
behavior illuminates how middle-income
families are unwittingly fostering an intergenerational cycle of consumer debt
dependence. It perpetuates a financial
strain for parents into their retirement
years, as well as unhealthy debt
management practices and behaviors for
the next generation. It places a financial
burden on children who must now
finance more of their own educations and
incur larger amounts of debt during and
after graduation.
The competing realities of under-funded
retirement programs and the increasing
costs of college for their children are a
source of tension for Mature Families. The
resolution of these competing demands will
profoundly influence the timing and quality
of life in their future retirement.
Key Findings — Empty Nesters.
While the Puritan ethos reigns supreme
among this group, it has been largely
resisted by their children. This has
long-term consequences for Empty Nesters,
since they are in their final chapter of
preparing for retirement, and yet many of
their children are reluctant to terminate
financially-dependent relationships.
Empty Nesters are concerned about social
pressures on their children to exceed the
standard of living of past generations.
These intensifying consumption pressures,
together with the desire of Empty Nesters to
provide their children with more material
wealth than they themselves enjoyed as
children, have led to the erosion of the
very cultural values that they cherish and
that have contributed to their current
economic comfort.
[email protected]
Page 15
Avoid Sales Mistakes in the LTC Market!
Don’t tell the prospect: “I know you need
this LTC policy because….” That’s not
collaboration. It’s trying to impose your
point of view on someone else.
Instead, get into the position where you
can say: “You’ve said it’s important for
you to leave an estate to your children and
grandchildren. Here’s how an LTC policy
can protect your assets and help you
achieve that goal.”
Take the time to establish a level of
trust. You’ll have plenty of time to sell
and close.
Wilma G. Anderson, RFC®
Like being the Contractor for a new
building, you make an LTC sale by building
it brick by brick. One missing or cracked
brick can bring the whole building down in
a crash, and you might not have the time
to rebuild it.
Make sure your LTC sales are solid
by avoiding the common mistakes
in construction. While these errors
apply especially to selling
long-term-care insurance, annuities
and other products to older clients,
many are common mistakes for selling
to any age groups.
Mistake #3. Confusing people with
industry buzzwords. Since we live and
breathe insurance and financial products,
it’s all too easy to use our lingo with
prospects and clients, who don’t have a
clue what we’re talking about.
Insurance and financial products are
complex — if they weren’t, no one would
need an Advisor. To simplify the
mishmash, use these magic words:
“What this would mean to you is…” This
simple phrase will force you to translate
features into benefits people can easily
understand.
Page 16
A key assumptive close in LTC is: “What
are your plans when your health
changes?” By asking this question, you
and the client must assume that their
health WILL change. The answer to this
can help demolish objections like, “I don’t
need insurance because my daughter will
take care of me.” Once you’ve dealt with
the objection, you can continue laying
your foundation’s bricks.
Mistake #5. Getting painted into
the “yes-but corner.” This is when
you answer an objection by responding,
“Yes, but if you….” This kind of
response makes the prospect think
that you’re not really listening and
that you feel his or her concerns
aren’t valid or worthwhile discussing.
A better response is more like: “I hear
what you’re saying. A lot of my clients
have found that ….” The prospect is no
longer on the defensive and you’ve
escaped the ‘Yes-but’ corner. When you
get into an argument with your prospect,
even if you “win,” you lose!
Mistake #6. Not being prepared with
key facts and figures about long-term
care. Some agents don’t come fully
prepared for the first meeting. They don’t
have brochures or rates or know the cost
of long-term care at the facilities in their
area. Without this information, you can’t
close in the first call.
Mistake #1. Assuming you know what
the prospect wants to buy and rushing
the sale. It’s an easy mistake to make.
Your prospect has replied to your LTC
mailer, so you figure he or she is
interested in long-term care insurance.
You immediately start comparing products
and providing quotes — before you delve
into what your prospects are really
concerned about. Before selling, find out
what they perceive as their greatest
needs. This is laying the foundation for
your sale.
Mistake #2. Failing to show you’re
interested in solving their problem, and
not making it a collaborative sale.
Before launching into your sales
presentation, you must find out where
the client is coming from. Besides
warming up the prospect with
friendly small talk, this involves
asking questions and listening
carefully. You don’t want the client to
feel you’re hawking a product and only
interested in a commission. Instead, the
client should feel you’re truly interested in
solving his or her problem with the best
possible solution.
allies. Assumptive closing bring out
possible objections you can answer and
overcome upfront.
Mistake #4. Failing to uncover the
client’s objections until it’s too late. It’s
natural to want to skirt the possible
objections. But you need to discover the
prospect’s objections as soon as possible
so you can respond to them. Otherwise,
the prospect will have an objection that
distracts him or her and prevents your
message from getting through. Later,
when it comes time to close, you’re
probably sunk. Make objections your
Mistake #7. Trying to sell more than
one product in your first call. If your first
meeting with a prospect is going well, you
might be tempted to try to sell both an LTC
policy and perhaps an annuity and maybe
a mutual fund. Don’t get greedy. You’ll
most likely confuse the buyer and won’t
end up selling anything. Stick to one
product. After you’ve sold the first
product, at the time of delivery you can
then open up the second sale. By being
patient, you’ll get a bigger share of their
wallet in the end.
Mistake #8. Using LTC scare tactics.
Some sales trainers advise using scare
tactics, like asking a woman, “How would
you like to change your husband’s
diaper?” This is a huge mistake. It turns
off a prospect’s ability to listen and can
shock the buyer out of the sale. Once
Avoid Mistakes with LTC
you’ve unleashed that bombshell, it’s hard
to get them to listen to you again.
The 7 Simplest Communication
Strategies For Doubling Your Sales
in Half the Time
Sure, scare tactics can sometimes
work, but is this the way you want to
sell? Do you think new clients will
willingly refer you to their friends if you
use shock tactics?
How do I keep content simple and easy
to understand?
1. Use language and examples that are
geared to the knowledge base of your
audience. When in doubt, opt for a more
elementary explanation. Even the most
seasoned professionals may not know as
much as you believe and will be too
embarrassed to ask for clarification.
Refer back to Strategy #2 on the
importance of knowing your audience.
Mistake #9. Judging the book by the
cover. It’s easy to visit a modest home
and assume that the prospects don’t have
much money, or go to a lavish home and
assume that they do.
I once visited a couple who looked
poor. It turned out they had $2.5 million
in old annuities, and two old LTC
policies that needed updating. If I had
assumed they had nothing, I wouldn’t
have made the LTC sale — and they
eventually turned over all their
underperforming annuities to me.
I’ve also visited a couple in their late
50s who lived in a big house with
landscaped grounds in a wealthy
neighborhood. Four luxury cars filled
their garage and driveway. Unfortunately,
they were strapped financially — all their
cash flow was eaten up by their mortgage
and car payments.
Don’t start out trying to sell a Cadillac
to someone who has Chevy resources,
or vice versa. Instead, ask some
questions that will allow you to find
out what financial resources your
prospects have.
Join Wilma at the Financial Advisors
Forum, May 11th by attending her
workshop, “Long Term Care Choices.”
Learn what is the best way to cover your
client’s need for Long Term Care, based
on age, image, health, history,
employment, financial assets, existing
employee benefits, annuities and
insurance? Presented by the LTC coach.
Receive one hour each of RFC® and CFP®
CE Credit.
Wilma G. Anderson, RFC®, RIA, is a
practicing producer in Littleton, Colorado.
The LTC Coach offers sales seminars,
DVDs and sales systems that help
advisors and boost their LTC and annuity
sales to the senior market. She can be
reached at [email protected], or
visit the website www.theLTCcoach.com
for more information.
Teresa Easler
Strategy #1: Always take the time to
prepare for your communication situation.
Strategy #2: Always focus your
communication on your audience.
Strategy #3: Always keep in mind what
you appreciate about your audience.
Strategy #4: Always focus on the three
key messages you want your audience to
remember.
Strategy #5: Always keep the language
simple and avoid technical jargon. My
sister, who is an accomplished speaker in
the health services industry, began one of
her presentations speaking Spanish to an
English speaking audience! The point she
was making is that often what we say
sounds like a foreign language to those
we are communicating with. While you
may not be actually speaking a foreign
language when you communicate, often
times the jargon, technical words, and
phrases might as well be Swahili.
One of the dangers of being experienced
in your field is that you have accumulated
language that is specific to your business.
It has become second nature to you and
provides a short cut to saying many things
in fewer words. The problem is, unless
your audience has spent as much time as
you learning the acronyms and jargon, you
could be leaving them in the dust.
Always speak using language that your
audience will easily understand. By
keeping it simple, you ensure that your
message is clear and that prospects will
understand the value you are providing.
This will increase the chance of your
audience making a decision to buy your
product or service.
2. Use examples or stories to build the
context and bring clarity to complicated
ideas. Always reinforce the relevance to
your audience.
3. Avoid acronyms. Every industry has its
own language. When referring to
products or features in your industry,
rather than using acronyms, spell it out
unless those acronyms are part of the
common culture like DVD, CD, or PC.
4. Recap what you’ve covered and check
with your audience for questions before
moving on to your next point.
5. Keep your message clear and to the
point. We make communication far more
complicated than it needs to be by getting
too technical. Ask yourself, is this
information critical to getting my audience
to say “yes” to my product/service? Does
it support the three things I want them to
remember? If not, eliminate it.
It doesn’t matter how powerful a message
you have to communicate. If prospects
don’t understand your message or aren’t
clear on what’s in it for them, you won’t
achieve the results you’re looking for.
Teresa is the creator of The Power to
Connect® workshop, author of the book,
A Guide to Breakthrough Presentations,
co-author of the book The Power to
Connect® — Creating Communication that
gets Results and co-creator of the Bravo
Presentation Coaching® program. She
has helped groom many successful
professionals to extend their speaking
capacity and has personally addressed
many associations, including the MDRT
and CAIFA. You may learn more about
her services at: www.cvcomm.com, and
you can contact her at: 416 696 2020
or by e-mail: [email protected]
Page 17
Cato Comments – About Your Image...
Financial Planner’s Introduction to Blogs
Possibly more than any other
communications format since the advent of
the Internet, Weblogs — or blogs — have
been heralded as a revolution in mass
communication. IARFC Register readers
are in a position to use blogs to better
listen to and reach their public in new ways.
Blogs offer both opportunities and risks for
financial advisors. RFCs can use blogs not
only as promotion platforms but also as a
means to a conversation with their
prospects and clients. You can continually
inform and educate with your blog.
James Lange, JD, CPA, RFC®, is one of
America’s leading IRA and retirement
planning authorities. He is also a leading
industry speaker and author of the book
Retire Secure! (John Wiley & Sons).
Jim’s Web pages have enjoyed a
massive 35-million hits and helped
build his e-mail newsletter circulation
to over 10,000 subscribers! How would
you like to achieve results like that?
Jim’s blog can be accessed at
www.retiresecure.blogspot.com.
Jim Lange will be a featured speaker at
the IARFC Financial Advisors Forum, on
May 11-13 in Middletown, Ohio.
Blogs are still considered “cutting edge” for
financial planners, estate planners,
investment advisors, or for any professional
in America. But in China over 16 million
people write and read blogs. This blog
activity is shattering the Communist Party’s
monopoly control of their media.
Technorail, the search engine that tracks
the blogsphere, counts 29.7 million blogs
presently on the Web. A recent Gallup poll
reported that Americans read blogs as
follows: 9% said they “almost never” read
blogs, 31% said they “regularly” read
blogs, 30% said they “occasionally” read
blogs, and 30% said they never read them.
But the number of “regular” readers is the
fastest growing. As we get more
accustomed to interfacing with technology
— be it TiVo, an iPod, or a blog, each new
development has a faster “uptake,” or
acceptance into our society, than what
came before. For example, DVD players hit
the 20-million mark in sales in less than
one-third the time it took the VCR to reach
the same penetration. I can only trace
blogs back to 2000.
“Good Blogs” And “Bad Blogs,” Of
course you can advance your image with
a “good blog,” or damage your image with
Page 18
a “bad blog.” A “bad blog” is one that
contains “clown-like” elements, i.e.,
boasting, exaggerations, attacking others,
over-promising, lies, misrepresentations,
etc. All blogging is still in its infancy but
financial planner blogs are evolving
rapidly. Careful attention and even great
caution should be given to all blog
content because embarrassments,
challenges, retractions, or even lawsuits
can quickly result.
A “bad blog” can attract greater scrutiny or
bad press for you. This can result in
negative word-of-mouth. Corporate blogs
are not as well received as are
“independent” blogs. A blog with “clown”
features could result in a disaster. Never
create a blog that pretends to be originating
from some other source and is devoted
mostly to praising you and your services. A
“good blog” takes time and attention, do
not attempt to quickly “wing it.”
Technically speaking, blogs are just like any
other website on the Internet. Blogs exist
solely online, are capable of accepting
advertising, and can be designed to appeal
to a specific audience, or to the general
public. I recommend that you targeted your
niche market group if you establish a blog.
The growth and popularity of blogs are
primarily due to four factors.
1. Many services will host your blogs at
no charge. There are several popular
blog-hosting services available on the
Web such as Blogger (a Google-owned
company), Blogline (now owned by
AskJeeves) and LiveJournal (owned by
SixApart) which offer free basic hosting
with extra features available for a monthly
fee. There are other companies such as
TypePad that charge for all levels of
service. All of these sources claim to
provide quick and simple instructions on
how to set-up and operate your blog.
2. Blogs have given a communication
outlet to any financial advisor who
feels his or her voice has not been
represented in the financial or
mainstream media. Blogs enable you to
become a micro-publisher overnight.
3. Blogs are timely, allowing for content
updates at any time without an editorial
review and without sophisticated
knowledge of Web publishing. The
immediacy of blogs gives them the
leverage to pick-up on changing timely
subjects and
instantly create
their own
content with
new angles and
original or
exclusive
material. The most popular blogs by
financial planners tend to be those that
are kept current and updated often.
4. There is a strong sense of community
and “connectivity” between blog writers
and visitors. Because most blogs are not
regulated by an editorial board or
influenced by an ego-centered editor or
corporate interest, visitors rely on them for
the unbiased truth. Visitors also value the
transparency that blogs have. Unlike
mainstream media, whose philosophy is
geared toward keeping the audience on
their site, blogs thrive on posting links to
other sites of interest, even other blogs.
The Four Types of Blogs
1. Personal blogs focus on a passion,
special interest, or specialty. Many
financial professionals start and maintain
a blog to express personal opinions about
financial planning, to demonstrate how
“aware” they are, to showcase their
specialty intelligence, or to share their
interest and knowledge with “desired
others.” This impresses prospects and
reassures clients. These types of blogs
can have an enormous impact on an
RFC’s stimulating “word-of-mouth” in a
market area.
2. Topic or industry-specific blogs are the
most pervasive type among financial
planners. These cover everything from
retirement planning, or current tax law, or
the Roth IRA, or senior planning, etc.
Bloggers are often acknowledged experts
in their specialty discipline and often
have a built-in audience that may be
industry specific.
3. Publication-sponsored blogs are
growing as both general media outlets
and financial media outlets, seek to ride
the blog wave. Increasingly, newspapers,
magazines, and even television and radio
stations, are all adding blogs to their
websites. They tend to be written by a
journalist with the publication, which adds
immediacy to the content.
continued from page 18 Cato Comments
4. Firm blogs. Broker dealer,
independent financial planning company,
or insurance agency blogs, are all
relatively new additions to the blog world.
The best ones are written by an executive
within the company (or ghost written by a
skilled Media Advocate) and are devoted
to that company’s interest. You will not
find here the extensive list of outside links
that may contain a diversity of opinion.
Blogs and Financial Planning
Information. The investing public has
become increasingly distrustful of
mainstream broadcast news, “Wall Street
origin news,” and corporate news outlets,
perceiving them to be overtly self-serving,
whether by governments or special
interests. Blogs have the unique power to
bypass organizations that have
traditionally acted as gatekeepers. Some
financial planners rely on the mainstream
media for source material, but then
conduct their own research and write
subsequent articles independently. For
this reason, blog visitors often feel they are
getting a more honest “take on a topic.”
In a recent survey, investors were asked to
indicate their reasons for reading blogs.
The top three reasons were “news I can’t
find elsewhere,” “a better perspective,”
and “greater honesty.” Financial advisors
using blogs quickly went from being
commentators on financial news and
information, to being opinion leaders in
their market areas and beyond. Thus
blogs are the new op-ed pages.
Of course, RFC’s blogs should include all
appropriate contact information. As a
Media Advocate I now pitch editorial
placements to selected blog operators
because of the influence some blogs
have.
You Can Get Sales Tips Caboose For Free!
Lew Nason, LUTCF, RFC®, is founder of the
well-respected Insurance Pro Shop in
Dallas, Georgia. He trains financial
planners and insurance agents nationwide and is a leader in computer financial
marketing. Lew Nason is nationally
known as “The nine-out-of-ten guy!” for his
many years of closing nine-out-of-ten
sales/prospects. Nason built the
circulation of his free e-mail newsletter to
over 161,000 subscribers by skillfully
using websites and blogs. If you have not
signed-up for this valuable free newsletter
then go to: www.insuranceproshop.com
and sign up to receive Sales Tips
Caboose. Some broker/dealers,
insurance companies, financial planning
firms, and independent insurance
agencies, ask all of their planners, reps,
sales staff, advisors, or agents, to use this
important monthly reference.
Nason explained, “We recently assisted a
financial planner in establishing a blog
that is mostly composed of information
about the four main threats to his clients’
wealth. These threats are taxes, poor
investment returns, long-term care
expenses, and not sticking with his plan.
This planner implements sensible, assetbased approaches using life insurance
and annuities to preserve and transfer
assets. His blog positions him as an
advisor who addresses a negative subject
(long-term care) in a positive way, while
providing skilled guidance in asset
protection and wealth transfer strategies.”
Nason predicts, “The RFCs will want only
outstanding blogs, or ‘good blogs.’”
Honest blogs will grow in influence. The
same rules for accuracy, truthfulness, fulldisclosure, and accountability apply to
blogs. The bragging and embellishment
often associated with some financial
planners websites and other
communications should be totally avoided
in blogs. ‘Good blogs’ will grow in
importance for your image and for your
marketing effort. Blogs are easy to set-up
but quickly become very demanding of
ever-changing quality content.
Forrest Wallace Cato, RFC®, has over
20-years experience as a local, regional
and multi-national media strategist and
advocate. For financial advisors, he
creates, establishes, and maintains,
desired images within target markets.
This highly proven marketing
communications effort leads to
increased understanding (brought
about by desired media exposures)
and results in increased consumer
acceptance for the financial product or
service provider! Annually he presents
The Cato Award for “published writing
that promotes greater understanding for
and appreciation of financial planning,”
during the IARFC Financial Advisors
Forum. Cato, former editor of Financial
Planning and Trusts & Estates magazines,
is author of the book Sales And Success
Secrets of The Great Motivators. Cato
also wrote the Introduction to the book
Financial Planning As I Created It by Loren
Dunton. Cato can be reached at:
Intergroup II/Atlanta, Inc., Phone:
770 516 9395 E-mail: [email protected]
Consumer Focus
Empty Nesters candidly admit that
they have not succeeded in their
efforts to transmit their traditional
values of thrift and self-discipline to
their children and grandchildren.
Unlike other cohorts, Empty Nesters
are self-critical and assign blame to
themselves as parents for their lack of
fiscal tough love.
Key Findings — Seniors.
The attitudes and behaviors of Seniors
toward saving and consuming are
profoundly shaped by their own
personal experiences with economic
scarcity and macro-economic
fluctuations during the Great
Depression and World War II. For
Seniors, prudent use of credit is
emblematic of an honorable personal
character. Even though debt levels
among Seniors have risen, this group
makes a clear association between
indebtedness and irresponsibility.
Seniors remember the community
banking environment of their younger
years, which delegated considerable
authority to community bankers in
terms of deciding which applicants
were worthy of a loan. Seniors are
critical of the democratization of credit,
which has made more credit more
easily available to more people.
This skepticism makes them distrustful
of the modern financial services
system, with ramifications that extend
to other areas of financial planning. For
example, despite amassing large
amounts of home equity, seniors are
reluctant to refinance their mortgages
even if a lower interest rate could save
them money.
Paul Richard,
RFC®, is the
Executive
Director of
the Institute
of Consumer
Financial
Education
(ICFE)
founded by
Loren
Dunton.
Paul is author of the Certified Credit
Report Reviewer and is an identity theft
prevention specialist. Contact Paul at:
619 239 1401 or e-mail:
[email protected]
Page 19
Plan Builder Scenario Manager lets you make
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With extensive information on your clients and
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Develop sophisticated, comprehensive financial plans
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Practice Builder a custom Client Relationship Management
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recognized advisor to advisors. Practice Builder is a
software tool customized for the needs of financial
professionals. Practice Builder allows you to use
technology to differentiate yourself, to communicate more
and maintain “Top of Mind Awareness.”
What makes Plan Builder software so unique?
Features Include:
Scenario Manager – This powerful feature allows you to sit with
a client and answer their “what-if questions” immediately, on the
computer screen. This motivates the client to take action TODAY.
No more setting another appointment so you can “run the
numbers,” lose momentum and have to start all over again a week
or two later.
Contact Manager – The interrelated database stores extensive
information on your clients and prospects: all contact data,
personal profile, preferences, spouse, children, professional advisors,
account values and more.
Financial Notebook – An innovative and exclusive application for
your clients and prospects use to gather their data. The program
runs on their personal computer. This transfers the burden of data
entry to the client while enhancing your image as a technically
advanced professional advisor. They run the program in the privacy
of their home securely on their computer and at a time that is
convenient to them. A guided interview leads them through
collecting personal information, assets, liabilities, income, and
expenses. They can also attach notes and questions for your review
anywhere in the program.
When they have finished, they can send you an encrypted file. Five
keystrokes later you have all the client’s data in Plan Builder ready to
begin reviewing and analyzing.
Practice Management Tools – Incorporating a Comprehensive
ToDo System, Task Management, Appointment Calendar and
Activity History.
Financial Planning Tools – Checklists, Agendas Interview Notes,
Client Attitudes, Objectives and Assumptions.
Powerful Marketing System – Deliver relevant letters and
articles at a frequency and duration you decide to target groups of
contacts. Maintain “Top of Mind Awareness” with ease.
Resource Library – Preformatted letters and Consumer and
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Learn More, Get A Free Live Web Demo Plus a Special Offer: 800 666 1656
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For more information please call: 800 666 1656
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Page 20
Having the Right People On Your Bus
A New Service for IARFC Members
With each new hire you will be investing a
lot of money — to interview and select the
right candidate. To get them started in
the new position may require employment
agency fees, bonuses, re-location
expenses, license fees, training and the
initial compensation. Unfortunately, some
or most candidates will not work out well.
Ed Morrow, CLU, ChFC, CEP, CFP®, RFC®
There is hardly a challenge that is more
daunting than when you make a decision
to grow your practice into a true business
organization. This is not for the faint of
heart. There are many steps you must
address. You can do them all by the
book, but if you do not have a structured
process for recruiting, selecting and
developing the right advisors or agents for
your organization, your dream will turn
into a nightmare. It will result in
compliance, motivation, communications,
compensation, support, leadership and
management issues that will distract you
from the original purpose of increasing
your P&L.
If you don’t get it right, you will have to
coach, council and then finally face reality
every time a candidate is not working out.
Now you are not in the growth business,
occupied with but the reduction of agents,
advisors or staff members. Then, if you
still have the heart for it, you must start
recruiting again.
What has just been described is very costly
in terms of time, dollars and focus. It is
also personally demoralizing when your
selected candidate does not perform well
or does not fit in with your organization.
Growth requires personal success.
Recruitment and retention are very critical
in financial services. For example, some
life insurance companies, which are now
holding themselves out as full financial
services organizations, have a net
retention rate after five years of about 5%.
This means that 19 out of 20 persons
have either failed, or did not fit the
organization and went elsewhere. Some
companies report a higher retention rate,
but not by much.
Selection alone is not the only problem;
employers must provide adequate
compensation, offer superior training and
education, and have an environment for
success — support offices, supervision,
software, etc. The retention solution,
however, starts with selection — getting
the right people on your bus.
The Dilemma. Despite a growing
population with growing affluence and a
growing appreciation of the need for
professional assistance to achieve
financial independence, the number of life
insurance agents has been shrinking
dramatically. Since life insurance has
been the entry point for a great many
full-scope financial advisors, this dilemma
is already having a major impact. Poor
recruiting and induction explains why.
The number of financial advisor
candidates from the life insurance
industry is shrinking rapidly, since the
number of full-time life agents is also
shrinking swiftly. The life insurance sales
force is graying — and this is quite
apparent when attending professional
conferences.
The number of qualified financial
advisors is also not increasing nearly as
rapidly as the increase in the number of
persons who need and can afford
professional service.
In recent years, about 15,000 persons
annually complete a financial services
curriculum offered at over 300
institutions. Some schools offer this to
full time undergraduate students. Others
host evening classes to persons already
employed in financial services. Most
students, however, are completing a
distance learning program on the Internet.
However, only about 5,000 actually sit for
the CFP examinations, and only about half
pass. This means that only one in six are
entering financial services on a
professional basis with a designation.
The number of domestic CFPs is not
increasing. The profession is losing about
2,500 CFPs every year — matching the
number of new entrants. The current
CFP-approved curriculums have no
components on marketing, recruiting,
practice management or actual plan
production — which creates an additional
handicap. What is the financial planner
with a desire to grow the business to do in
order to insure success?
In my 40 years of experience, solving this
“Transition Selection” and the “Brain
Drain” equation begins with the initial
selection process.
Suitability is Critical. When viewed with
the benefit of hindsight, many of the
persons who are not successful as
insurance agents in the advanced
markets or as financial advisors working
within an independent financial planning
firm, stock brokerage, credit union or
bank can be identified as having been
unsuitable candidates. They should never
have been hired!
This does not mean they are personal
failures. These folks leave the business
and go on to succeed elsewhere. But they
represent an enormous drain on the
recruiting resources of the financial
services industry.
Unsuccessful hires are expensive. Some
fail due to inadequate supervision or
training — but the majority should have
never been recruited. Hindsight, based on
production results, indicates, “They should
not have been hired.” We will save a great
deal of money if we can significantly
increase the five year retention rate (from
the current 5% to 15%) into the success
range of 75%. That will represent a fivefold increase in results.
Some of those who have not succeeded in
their first position in financial services
received inadequate training or
supervision. Often they leave and go
elsewhere and are successful. A financial
organization could have spent far more on
their training and support, if their expected
retention rate was 75%, not 5-15%.
Get a Black Box Solution. What is
needed is a “Black Box” for financial
advisor selection. Insert information
about the candidate and get a score. If
the score is above a guideline number,
say 75 — then the percentage of success
Page 21
continued from page 21 Having the Right People
will increase by a factor of three to
five, from the current 5-15%. If the
score is 95 the probability of
candidate success reaches 75%.
The most critical factors for
success are not objective: age,
marital status, social status,
education, job experience,
community activity. They are
psychological. They deal with how
a person addresses paradoxical
choices that face them daily in the
business. The two critical issues are
prospecting courage and flexibility and the
ability to effectively ask for the order.
Evaluation. We all know persons who
appeared to have all the right
characteristics — yet did not succeed.
We also know persons who did not have
the “right” visible characteristics and yet
who turned out to be magnificent
successes. What our “Black Box” needs
to do is measure those inner qualities that
are the determinants of success for this
business. None of these qualities can be
seen by how the person looks, talks,
writes or interviews.
And what is “this business” anyway? The
business (or profession, if you prefer) is
not the same for a broker at a wire house,
as it is for a new entrant in a multi-line
insurance organization, a credit union, or
a smaller independent financial advisory
firm. And the market to be served also
makes a big difference — small business
owners, corporate executives, very wealthy
retired blue bloods, or start-up dot com
millionaires.
The right tool. Therefore, the “Black Box”
needs to know what type of organization
you have, what markets your prospective
hire will be serving, what kind of support
will be offered, and the amount of
independence that will be required.
These are only a few of the factors that
increase the complexity of selecting the
right person for the right job in your
company or firm.
Now, if those elements are used to screen
the inner characteristics of the candidate,
the optimum results could be more
predictable. Not 100% of course, because
there are always some unforeseen events
that may impede success — family crises,
health, casualty, etc.
What kind of person will succeed in your
organization? Are you looking for average
performers? Not likely! What you really
want are individuals who are highly
productive and perform very effectively
Page 22
candidates with the optimum
characteristics for success.
over time. You want those people who
offer you the greatest long term return on
your investment. You want to deal with
the superior candidates. Knowing they
have a proven success profile, you will
make the maximum effort to support their
entry, and to provide effective guidance.
Ideally, before you interview a candidate,
you want to know that this person, all
other things meeting your criteria
(education, experience, skills, back
ground — what we call eligibility) is
someone you want to recruit. The typical
interview with an employment candidate
takes a couple of hours when you
consider the time in greeting, presenting
information and materials, plus the
interview, asking questions and taking
notes and then preparing them for a file,
so you will not run afoul of EEOC.
Use the Black Box. I have recently
discovered that there is, in fact, an
evaluation process that can achieve the
results we have just discussed. It is called
the Harrison Assessment. The
assessment was developed by Dr. Dan
Harrison. We are directly partnering with
William J. Schwarz, head of The CEO
Alliance and the Center for Inspired
Performance to build a black box
customized for financial advisors. I have
worked closely with Bill and I believe we
have developed the breakthrough
selection, recruiting and development
resource needed by our industry. The
assessment model has been finely tuned
for career success, on-the-job
circumstances and management support.
Many employee evaluation reports are
complicated. They are filled with
psychological jargon that seems to say,
“Ms X-Ray could be successful in these
circumstances, or not successful in
those.” Wouldn’t you like something
simpler, like, “Mr. Zebra received a score
of 82? Our guideline calls for a minimum
score of 75.” Of course, you’d prefer, “Mr.
Brown scored 92” rather than, “Ms Jones
scored 42.” But if Ms. Jones is really not
going to be successful, then you can
devote all your resources and energy to
Use a simple guideline. If, for instance,
the guideline is 75, it is easy to interpret.
If you have confidence in the evaluation,
then your decision process is very simple.
Consider interviewing those over 75 and
decline only those under 75. If you are
well staffed, then move your acceptable
guideline higher, and accept only those
with 85 or 90.
All you need to do is require all
candidates to be tested before the
interview, which can be handled by phone
and email. This will save you time by not
scheduling an interview with those who
do not exceed your minimum guideline
number. Your time is worth money, so
why not save some? What do you say?
Mr. Brown, we have an attractive position,
with substantial economic future, that is
available to the right qualified candidate.
We’d like for you to take a simple
assessment online that will tell us both
whether there is a high probability for
your success in our profession.
Schwarz and the IARFC have made the
guidelines easy to interpret regarding each
candidate you are considering; you will
even be coached in how to recruit certain
individuals to fill your unique needs.
Optimizing Performance. After you have
selected the ideal candidates, wouldn’t it
be nice to have a very extensive profile on
how to supervise and motivate each new
hire to achieve the pinnacle of success?
For a small additional sum you can get
the full 50 page supervisory report. It will
tell you how this associate will respond to
different stimuli, how to motivate them,
when to leave them alone, etc. At this
point you are already spending lots of
money on your new hire — as
compensation and training — so it makes
sense to have professional and
psychological guidance to maximize
performance.
Does it work? Some, but not all, of the
offices of a major mutual life company
have used the Harrison Assessment to
screen applicants — with a success rate
many times greater than those not using
the evaluation process.
A smaller multi-line firm wanting to
expand into financial services by
attracting a different caliber of associate
continued from page 22 Having the Right People
has used the Harrison Assessment to
screen new hires. They have experienced
an amazing 80% success rate. What
does that mean? 80% of those scoring
over 75 are still successfully employed.
Those few who scored less than 75, and
were hired anyway, have failed.
Financial Advisor Application. I have also
met with Arthur Farr, RFC®, based in
Atlanta, who reported interesting results,
“With Bill Schwarz’s guidance using this
system I contracted with several persons I
would have passed up — and they are
quite successful. I also went against the
Harrison results and hired a few people
that scored poorly, and they did not
succeed. That made me a real believer.
Meanwhile, several very attractive
candidates didn’t score well, and with
some misgivings I did not recruit them.
They went elsewhere, and surprise —
Harrison was right — they didn’t succeed.
Today I conduct no recruiting interviews
unless the Harrison Assessment has
already indicated a probability of success.”
Increase your Recruiting and Supervision
Skills. You will probably want to undergo
training in why the Harrison Assessment
works, how to interpret the full report and
how to use it in a coaching and
counseling mode to stimulate the superior
performance you seek. You can acquire
that by attending an intimate training
IARFC Selection Development Academy
with Bill Schwarz, the president of The
CEO Alliance. These two day sessions are
usually held in Atlanta, but if there are
enough people the site could be moved.
At the end of this article I have included
some of Bill’s accomplishments.
How to Get Started. To achieve the
desired level of competence in using the
Harrison Assessment you will need to
become certified or use our IARFC
association services through a
subscription. Here is how it works and
how, being an IARFC member benefits you.
Superior Performance
(Candidate selection and guidance)
Cost to become associated
Cost per candidate Evaluation (test)
2-Day Selection Development Academy
Phone Consultation (1-2 candidates)
Phone Consultation (3-6 candidates)
Extensive Report for supervision
Personal report and oral consultation
The IARFC has done most of the
homework for you. We have removed all
of the psychological jargon and given you
very hard numbers (a percentage or
success probability number, i.e., 75). This
is based on validated templates for
specific positions. Then we will provide
you with structured interview questions
developed for financial planners and
highly self-managed individuals, along
with guidance on how to manage each
person you ultimately choose.
Ready Internet Access. When you wish to
have a candidate evaluated, you start with
access to Bill Schwarz’s website for more
information: www.theCEOalliance.com
You can view Case-studies of the use of
Harrison Assessment that are extremely
convincing. From there your can elect to
have a candidate take The Harrison
Assessment and pay by credit card. You’ll
receive the preliminary evaluation directly
by e-mail. A copy will also go to Bill, so
you can have a phone consultation, if
desired.
Bill Schwarz
and directed two Executive MBA programs
in Organizational Leadership and Change.
He then built an interactive satellite
television network for business, working
with CEOs to transform their own
organizations. Several years ago, Bill
formed the CEO Alliance and established
the Center for Inspired Performance.
Training on the Full Harrison System. If
recruiting is critical to your operation, then
call Bill and schedule to attend the next
IARFC Selection Development Academy, in
Atlanta, June 27-28 or September 4-5.
E-mail: [email protected] or
phone: 404 875 4180
CEO Alliance members focus on achieving
a competitive advantage through the
design and execution of growth strategies
and core competency development.
Members align their organizations around
their highest leverage points to achieve an
optimum rate of growth and create
inspired performance.
Bill Schwarz is an internationally recognized
expert in the design and implementation of
organizational growth strategies. His
innovative work in building learning
organizations, change, leadership and
quality has made him a sought after and
popular keynote speaker. He serves as a
consultant and advisor to many Fortune
500 companies. Bill also serves on the
board of several rapid-growth organizations.
Schwarz is the author of Building
a Generative Organization and
Mastering the Forces of Change plus
Six Strategies for Controlling Your
Organization Destiny. His three other
books in the works are: Responsibility
Management and Personal Leadership,
Mastering the Paradoxes of Leadership
and Developing Emotional Intelligence,
and Generative Conversations.
After a distinguished 30-year career,
including successfully forming and
running his own businesses, he founded
As an early pioneer of the principles that
result in real change and long-term
commitments, Bill has trained thousands
of executives in Leadership, Interventions
and Change skills. His wife, Laurie, is the
author of Entrepreneurship, The Art of
Embracing the Unknown, Spiritual
Resources for Entrepreneurial Living.
IARFC
Member
Non
Member
0
50
1,500
200
300
150
350
1,500
150
2,500
500
1,000
250
650
Ed is the Chairman and CEO of the IARFC.
He specializes in enabling financial
advisors to increase their sales
production and client service, by building
their practices through effective client
relationship management. For
information on his services:
[email protected]
Page 23
IARFC Cruise
Conference
International Association of
Registered Financial Consult ants
Cruise from New York, to New England and Canada, September 16–23, 2006
on Carnival’s Victory Fun Ship. Experience the glory of a northeastern autumn
when the summer is still in the air and this foliage is magnificent. Explore
Boston, birthplace of the American Revolution. Stroll among the red-brick
buildings and lighthouses of Portland, Maine. In Sydney, Nova Scotia, you will
be charmed by specialty shops, museums and historical homes. In Halifax
you’ll begin to understand the Atlantic fishing industry and the unique
Canadian/American relationship. On the cruise, you’ll be pampered with
outstanding service, great food, fine wines, marvelous entertainment and the
company of the world’s leading and most charming financial advisors.
Ports of Call
x New York City
x Portland, Maine
x Boston , Mass
x Sydney, Nova Scotia
x Halifax, Nova Scotia
Register Now
Rules and Conditions
Professional Continuing Education. The presenters and
the attendees will be among the most elite in the
financial services profession: authors of many books,
articles and popular speakers. You will spend seven
exciting days and evenings in the company of the
world’s leading professional advisors.
Optional Pre-Cruise New York City tour and Broadway
show September 14th – 15th. After you register we will
send you options for arrival one or two days early and
enjoy a marvelous evening at Café-Des Artistes and a
Broadway show.
Airfare is not included in any of the quoted cruise
prices. Contact Talgood Travel for their suggested
airfare options at 877 651 9997.
Deposit of $500 per person by April 12 to reserve your
stateroom. Final payment due June 26, 2006.
Cruise and IARFC Registration Refunds. Up until July 2
,15% penalty. July 3 – August 17 penalty of 30%.
August 18 thru September 8, 50% penalty. After
September 8 non refundable. Contact us for special
insurance to cover unforeseen medical circumstances.
Port Charges and Government Fees. Presently $226.
These charges are subject to change and beyond our,
or Carnival Cruise’s, control or authority.
Identification Requirements. Passport or a state
issued photo id and birth certificate with raised seal.
IARFC CE Cruise Registration
Number of Adults
Balcony
$880
$780
Oceanview
Interior
$630
International Association of Registered Financial Consultants
Name
Address
Companion
City, State, Zip
Phone
Country
Fax
E-mail
Per Guest (based on double occupancy)
Financial Planning Building
2507 North Verity Parkway
P.O. Box 0506
Phone: 800 532 9060
Fax: 513 424 5752
E-mail: [email protected]
www.IARFC.org
Method of Payment
Check payable to the IARFC
MasterCard
Discover
Credit Card #
Port & Government Fees $226
Airport Transfer (optional) $74
LaGuardia or
Newark Airport
Fees & Transfers are Per Person only
Visa
American Express
Exp. date
Subtotal:
Less Deposit
Balance Due:
Signature
Cruise rates are in U.S. dollars, per guest, based on double occupancy. Government taxes, fees and air transportation are additional.
My signature indicates that I have read the cruise/conference policies and fully understand the charges involved, and if requested above, I am
authorizing the amount indicated to be charged to my credit card. I agree to the terms and conditions of the IARFC Cruise/Conference refund policy.
Page 24
IARFC Cruise Conference for Financial Advisors
September 16th - 23rd, 2006 Ƈ CARNIVAL’s VICTORY FUN SHIP
7 Day Canada/New England from New York, NY
Staterooms
7 Day “Fall Foliage” CE Cruise Itinerary
Experience the glory of a
northeastern autumn when
summer is still in the air.
Explore Boston when the
Faneuil Hall Market has piles
of fat pumpkins and Boston
Common is carpeted with fall
flowers. Stroll among the
red-brick buildings of Portland, Maine, in the clear
September sunshine. In
Sydney, Nova Scotia, you can
spend a day being charmed
by specialty shops, museums and historical homes. The same is true of Halifax where the picturesque beauty of Peggy’s Cove will always be framed in
your memory. On the cruise, you’ll enjoy one fun experience after another.
IARFC CE Cruise Cabin Rates (per person)
Carnival Victory Canada/New England from New York
Cabin
Regular Rate
IARFC Special Rate
Balcony
$929
i $880
Oceanview
$779
i $780
Interior
$629
i $630
iConference Registration fee is already included.
iConference is only available with the purchase of the IARFC
Cruise Package and is not sold separately.
iRequired deposit $500 per person, American Express, Visa,
MasterCard, Discover or check payable to IARFC.
iUpgrades & Suites possible upon availability.
Does not include port and government fee charges of $226 per
Dates, Ports, CE at Sea
Arrival, Departure & CE Schedule person. Transfer Option $74 per person round trip, from LaGuar-
Sun, Sept. 17 • Boston, Mass
dia and Newark Airports. Optional items: Insurance not included.
Please let us know of special dietary, medical need or personal
Arrive: 2:00 a.m. Depart: 10:00 p.m. celebration, such as birthday or anniversary.
Mon, Sept 18 • Portland, Maine*
Arrive: 8:00 a.m. Depart: 6:00 p.m.
Tue, Sept 19 • CE at Sea Sessions
Open: 9:00 a.m.
Sat, Sept 16 • New York City
Depart: 4:00 p.m.
Close: 1:00 p.m.
Wed, Sept 20 • Sydney, Nova Scotia** Arrive: 7:00 a.m. Depart: 6:00 p.m.
Thu, Sept 21 • Halifax, Nova Scotia
Arrive: 9:30 a.m. Depart: 1:00 p.m.
Fri, Sept 22 • CE at Sea Sessions
Open: 9:00 a.m.
Sat, Sept. 23 • New York
Arrive: 8:00 a.m.
Close: 3:00 p.m.
* Optional shore excursion to Kennebunkport is available from Portland.
** Optional special shore excursion for the Cabot Trail available from Sydney.
Continuing Education Sessions. Presentation and advanced ideasharing by the world’s leading advisors — our cruise conference attendees. Details available later. Conference workbook materials included.
Page 3
Balcony Upper Deck 6
Oceanview Main Deck 2
Interior Riviera Deck 1
The IARFC Opportunity
i7 fabulous days aboard the Carnival Victory elite vessel.
iCocktail Welcome Reception
iInformal “get-togethers” and dinners with some of the world’s
top financial advisors
iVegas style and Variety Shows nightly on board the ship
iFull spa services and personal care available
iCE Sessions have been valued at $1,500
(may be tax deductible, consult your tax advisor)
IARFC Cruise Conference Ƈ 800 532 9060 Ƈ [email protected]
New RFC and RFA Members
Jamie Anderson TX
H. Mitchell Baker NC
Wade W. Belote VA
Sharon Berger AZ
Daniel M. Betzel OH
Scott A. Bigley FL
Jeff Bishop IL
Thomas Gately Blair NY
Nancy A. Bradli NJ
Audrey Brahamsha NY
Patrick W. Bransford DC
Robert Vance Burnette OH
Buddy W. Camper TX
Cheryl L. Caracansi CT
James P. Carroll FL
Jack M. Carstens MO
Stephen Carter TX
Harvey A. Charbonneau OK
Sandy ML Chong HI
Randolph W. Christensen CA
I. David Cohen OH
Jean Jacques Dalpe CA
Michael R. Dinich PA
Phillip A. Dottenwhy CO
Brian N. Drake MA
Anthony Duong CA
Arthur D. Farr GA
P. Andrew Forson Canada
Carol J. Garroutte MN
Nancy M. Hairsine CA
Wendy O. Hamilton FL
Robert A. Hardies MI
Christopher R. Herlong GA
Timothy W. Hyde OH
Yvonne Idahosa CA
John W. James TX
Mark B. Johnston PA
Jonathan R. Jones NC
LaDonna M. Kelly KS
John C. Kempf AZ
Jack Kinder TX
Jordan Kreiner PA
Mark Kupfer NY
Paul A. Kyrimis AZ
Ingrid K. Lamb MD
William W. Lim ON
Angel V. Marcano FL
Jonathon D. McAdams TX
Nicolas E. Medina NY
Bradley A. Meeks IL
Gary D. Mesward CO
Michael Noel NJ
Kehinde Ademola Okubadejo IL
Sharlene J. Paul MD
Steven Jay Perlman PA
Mary Anne Mayer Redmond TX
Barry J. Reid WA
John Paul Reising CA
Diana B. Rice TX
Pamela K. Russell DE
Mark Bryant Ruyle CA
Richard P. Sabo PA
Michael Samples TN
Scott E. Schayot LA
Joe L. Seaton CA
Gregg C. Stamler NY
Stephen Russell Story GA
Justin R. Townsend OH
R. Jeff Walters NC
David A. Warner OH
Michael A. Wilson TX
John Wolverton TX
Michael D. Worch MD
Robert B. Yost NC
phone
800 532 9060
fax
513 424 5752
email
[email protected]
web
www.IARFC.org
Members Who
Recommended New
IARFC Members
Jim Bales
Joel A. Goodhart
Label Kaufman
Brant M. Keller
Ed Ledford
Robert Love
Chris Luedke
Burnett Marus
Ed Morrow
Lew Nason
Len Pappas
Dan Randall
Ruben Ruiz
the
International Association of Registered Financial Consultants
Financial Planning Building - 2507 North Verity Parkway
P.O. Box 42506 - Middletown, Ohio 45042
Financial professionals helping people do a better job of spending, saving, investing, insuring & planning

Masters of Training Kinder Brothers International

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