Читать книгу The Magic List - Brandon Gadoci - Страница 5

About Me

It should be noted that I am not a writer. I haven’t written anything besides email, term papers, and the occasional thank you note (if my wife pushes me enough). I say this because what follows is my attempt to put my process, philosophy, ideas, and opinions into a format that can hopefully help others realize what I believe to be the best way to succeed at becoming a financial advisor in a short amount of time. Starting in the business at 22 years old, I was forced to cold call because of my lack of experience, knowledge, social network, and confidence. I often say that when I got into this business the only people I knew with money were my parents’ friends. Being fresh out of college, I found these people hard to approach about managing their life savings because I had either borrowed money from them, or slept on their couch. With no other option, I took to the phones. I did this for two reasons: rejection was easier to handle, and confidence was easier to find.

Additionally, I am not from a wealthy family. I don’t run around in affluent circles. I don’t have any formal education in financial planning. I don’t balance my own check book (see: Reasons I Got Married). I don’t find enjoyment in watching CNBC and hearing reporters talk about an eighth of a point move in XYZ’s share price on a Tuesday in June. I don’t have an MBA, and I can’t count, in 5 seconds, how many toothpicks spilled on the floor.

So now that you know what I am not and didn’t have – let’s talk about what I am and what I did have. When I started as an advisor trainee, I had two suits, three ties, and one pair of shoes. I had a 700 square foot apartment where I would drive my wife out on Sundays by cranking up the volume of football game after football game. I had a six week old pug puppy, $60,000 in student loan debt, and $10,000 that I owed Visa for the purchase of my wife’s wedding ring, (which she has since been nice enough to help me pay off). In addition to the above listed, I had ambition, excellent work ethic, drive, and a healthy sense of competition. This brings me very quickly to Step #1:

Step #1 – Taking Inventory of Yourself

 Discover what you have and don’t have.

 Understand your natural strengths and weaknesses.

After watching my dad wear a suit and tie every day for most of my life, I swore that I wouldn’t do that, so after high school, I went to an art school in Savannah, Georgia, to draw pictures and play soccer. I soon discovered that Savannah wasn’t for me, and after my freshman year, I headed to Austin, Texas. After a transitional semester at community college, I slipped into the University of Texas at Austin, where I finished my studies. With a only year of “drawing pictures” behind me, the only major that would allow me to graduate remotely on time was Advertising. My first semester was a definite eye opener that culminated in a letter from the dean informing me that I had one semester to get my Grade Point Average above 3.0, or I was out of there. They called it “scholastic probation.” Nice. Luckily, I met my wife, and we spent many of our early dates in the library, where I figured out how to study. I got my act together, and graduated with a 2.99 GPA. Not bad for a “C” student who was good at drawing pictures, but NASA wasn’t knocking on my door.

During my last two years in college, my buddy and I had a web design and marketing company. It had a decent level of success before the crash of the market in 1999 when everybody stopped spending money. I always say that the above sounds cooler than it actually was. It wasn’t like the two of us had a business plan. We were just trying to figure out how to make money without getting a job. We never made a sales call, but somehow it worked. I guess it was just “beginner’s luck.” Nevertheless, shortly after graduation, I got married. I felt it was necessary to get a “real job,” which I did – selling copiers. With all due respect to those who sell copiers for a living, it just wasn’t for me. I found myself hating my work for three main reasons: 1) I didn’t care about copiers, 2) I was micro-managed, and 3) being a copier salesman didn’t “sound cool.” Number three may not be a good reason, but I was 22. “Sounding cool” was important!

A typical day in the life of a copier salesman, at this particular company, started at 7 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. At 7 a.m., you were to be at the office to prepare your day. You were to pack up your stuff and head out by 8:30 a.m. I began by cold walking. I had a three zip code territory where I randomly dropped by businesses to inquire if they were satisfied with their current “document replication processes.” I would get in my car and drive to office complexes, strip malls, and one-off business locations. I would walk in the door in a full suit and casually try to build enough rapport with the receptionist to find out who the “copier decision maker” was. I would keenly notice if they had a dilapidated machine because that meant there was an opportunity. “Got ‘em!” If I was successful during the day, I would visit 20 businesses and have one conversation. I would stroll back into the office to log my process into the “funnel” to be reported to my manager. This repeated all five days of the week. On Friday, my numbers would sync into the system, and on Monday morning I would talk about my progress with my manager.

I soon realized that this approach was terribly inefficient. My thinking was that buying a copier was not a highly emotional decision, and if I could just spend my time finding people that had problems, I could avoid burning up all that gas and save some money. Not to mention that is was September in Texas, and temperatures routinely got in the 90’s. Yes, this company had a dress code requiring a suit to sell copiers. I asked my manager if I could stay in the office and call instead of walk. His response was to berate me about my level of commitment to the process, and the company. Didn’t I think that they did their research? Didn’t I think they knew the best way? I disagreed, so I improvised.

I continued to check in like a good employee in the morning, and then drove back to my apartment. I set up shop in my living room, petted my pug, made 200 calls, and asked a simple question: “Is your copier broken?” If it wasn’t, I would ask how long they had it and then hang up. If it was, I got the appointment. My meeting count was off the charts, and I was recognized in front of the other salesmen for my level of activity. I laughed, inwardly, at the irony.

After three months, a neighbor suggested that I think about becoming a financial advisor. He offered to arrange an interview. I told him about my first date with the woman who would later become my wife. It was Halloween and I was broke, but I wanted to purchase a pumpkin to carve. Remember, I went to art school, so I was great at coming up with creative date ideas! To fund this idea, I wrote a check for $1.50. The check bounced. Later that summer, I found out that I never paid the grocery store’s “bounced check fee,” and the issue had been turned over to the District Attorney’s office. I was to be charged with a misdemeanor for “fraudulent check writing.” Whoops! To avoid the charge, I had to take a correspondence course on how to balance my check book, which I did. Nonetheless, he got my point. I didn’t think that I was cut out to “advise” anyone on matters financial. He assured me that they would teach me everything I needed to know, and if I shined my shoes and looked them in the eye, I should be okay. I went to the interview and got the job, much to my surprise.

I soon had what I call my “aha” moment. It was shortly after I passed my Series 7 exam (which I thought I had no chance of conquering). I was still a bit concerned that I cheated the system, so to speak. I mean, after all, they did hire a former artist and website designer who had a history of bad check writing. What was I doing here? I began to look around at all the people who were successful at this job. As I got to know them, I realized they didn’t have some magic skill that I did not. Then it hit me, and I remember specifically when it was. As I walked into the office one day, I remember hearing an advisor talking to a client/prospect. It was awful, cheesy, and fake. He used every cliché in the book and, you would have though he was talking to a four-year-old. At that moment, I remember thinking, “If that guy can do this, I can do this – and better.”

I worked with two senior advisors, for two years, and to give credit where credit is due, they were a big part of the reason that I made it through the first year. Without them helping me hit some of my goals, I’m not sure I would be writing this today. That being said, I learned a lot in that year. I spent the next eighteen months cold calling in what I now feel was the wrong way. I honed my skills, but wasn’t building anything. Eventually, I realized I held a different vision than my co-workers did. I changed firms, and brought a portion of my clients with me. As I began at my new firm, I felt excited that I had a fresh start.

As I made this transition, I took a weekend to sit and reflect on my experiences thus far. I formulated a business plan and marketing system that proved to be the key to my success. As I started at the new firm, I had about 5 million dollars in assets. In the subsequent two and a half years, I managed to bring in 35 million more dollars. Sure there were advisors bringing in more money than me, but they knew people, were on teams, or had been in the business before. I was doing it the only way that was available to me. I have a long way to go to get to where I want to be. What I do know is that without the plan and process I formulated that weekend, things would be very different.

What follows is a combination of what I discovered that weekend and the three years that followed. My career as a financial advisor took me to three large financial services firms and had me wear the hat of both an FA and a manager. I was a Series 7, 66, 9 and 10 registered rep, I managed 100 million dollars, and lead a training program of roughly 60 financial advisors which was the largest in the country for the most well known wealth management firm their was (prior to 2008). Through this journey I have had the unique opportunity of watching the different approaches that many advisors use in the pursuit of success. Many fail and few succeed. What I have taken from this is that the fastest way to success involves some form of cold calling.

It is not easy. I have come to believe that when getting started you should take every motivational speech and sports cliché that you have heard and put them into your pocket because you will need them at some point. Many refer to cold calling as a brute force, unskilled, numbers game approach. I disagree. Cold calling today is a different animal, and the level I have taken it into my business requires organization, practice, education, commitment, and a very high level of strategy. I would challenge anybody who feels my system is a “shotgun” approach to success to spend a day learning it. It is the furthest thing from the drone-like long distance sales rep that calls you during dinner. Becoming a financial advisor is a journey that requires one of the highest levels of sales strategy around. Yes, cold calling, or as I like to refer to my process “Cold Networking”, works.

To-Do’s

 Clear your calendar for a weekend and set aside time to get prepared.

 Make a list of all the reasons why you want to be successful.

 Make a list of the things you are willing to sacrifice to achieve this goal.

 Make a list of your biggest failures, and a second list of lessons that can be learned from each of them.

 Make a list of your greatest successes, and a second list of the one thing that made them possible. Be honest. Luck and timing are perfectly acceptable answers…if they are true.

 Incorporate all of these things into a “Life Plan.” Write down your goals for all the different areas of your life: personal, spiritual, family, professional, etc. Place this book on your desk next to the phone. Do this to remind yourself where you are going and why. You’ll need it.