SMAX Update: Common characteristics of top advisors

Don Speakman, a Pittsburgh-based advisor, also has an effective method of keeping himself on track. He works on a daily point plan. He assigns 10 points to a face-to-face interview, five points to a phone call by which he is trying to sell, and one point to dialing the phone. His goal is to hit 50 points–or he does not go home. Speakman believes activity equals success. Who can argue with a guy who makes more than a million dollars in commissions? Sometimes he takes his sleeping bag to the office, knowing a busy day is no excuse for avoiding the prospecting routine that makes him money.

The kind of discipline DeJesus and Speakman demonstrate is what makes true winners. It is virtually impossible to be stopped short of success when you are doing the right things so consistently.

Make the first sale a client-builder, not a quota-maker. One of the things top producers consistently do is develop relationships for the long term. The advisor who just wants to make quick money asks for the big sale first. The one who understands the importance of relationships knows that big money comes only after trust is developed. When you have trust, commissions and fees fly into your arms. Concentrate on getting your prospect to buy the relationship with you, rather than a given product or service–cost matters little.

Clients will give you enough money to test the trust they have given you. Then, they will observe how you treat them after the check is cashed, so protect those relationships like the precious assets they are.

One of my coaching clients, Bill Smith, loves to hear a prospect say at the outset he will only gain a portion of their assets. He knows it is only a test to see if he has built a relationship instead of a transaction.