This business is about introducing yourself, asking if they have a need for the type of work you do, and asking them to take the next step (whatever that means in your process).  The key is making introductions.  Meeting someone at a networking event, golf course, calling them via a referral, calling them cold, knocking on their door, walking into their business, it does not matter.  When it all said and done, it comes back to making introductions.  And although there are different levels of quality introductions depending on the source, the biggest driver is still quantity.

Cold calling in itself in not unprofessional.  However, it can be done unprofessionally.  Same as all the other methods mentioned above.

I'd love to see this thread get rolling again. Tenth you still around, I know BG is?

Stockguy - I'm with you. Do you think Tenth is still trying to draft his answer to the bond question BG asked him? 

My first post

I work at a wirehouse in CA.  We have just started a new program for trainees who are behind in production.

Guess what is required for those folks who need to catch up to meet their number?

Setting x number of appointments/day using the......................telephone

I have been reading this thread between BG and TT.

I am just getting back into cold calling. When I frist started in the business in 1991 cold calling is all we did. It worked beautifully back then. Call on a local prefeerred stock was all it took to open an account. Many on the first call! While I think the days of the one call account opening are long gone(people are way more skeptical of Wall Street these days). I still believe cold calling can work to jump start a business. The lead time is probably longer than back in the early/mid 90's but I think it can still work if you have DISCIPLINE and DETERMINATION. Without those two elements you will never make it cold calling.

Let me give you guys a little background about me. I am a former wirehouse advisor who decided to leave my firm as the markets were recovering in 2009 to move to a more indepenedent firm. at the time I was doing about 400k in commissions. When I made the move I lost some very key accounts. It killed my business. Clients who I had for years who I built from 10k accounts in one case over 4mm decided to stay with my old firm. It hurt like hell and I was depressed for awhile but now I am fighting back and am going to rebuild via cold call and speaking engagements. It can be done and it will be done! beginning in July I am going to post a thread with my real world weekly results. I am going to give cold calling a year and see what my results are. If they are good I will keep doing it to get to the level I was formerly at and beyond.

ww

will be very interesting to read...good luck

Squash2,

When I begin in July, I am also going to try to mix it up and try some days with a product approach and some days with a service approach and keep records. We will see which one works better. I know from my past days Cold calling the product approach worked better. Appeal to their greed and get them hooked. callback one or two times and close them as quick as you can. I will never forget my first BM, "open an account with anything, because once they are a client you ALWAYS have the right to call them again"! Plus, in my expereince the service approach just take too long to close them for lack of urgency. I am going to start by approaching with product for the month of July to get my feet wet again. For a month at least I will try the service approach and see how it works. We will see how this will go.

ww

I spit up my coffee when I saw the line about the Chamber. Man, what a waste of time! I went to every single Chamber event for about four months. TheThe main positive that came out of it was the occassional free beverage. I did make a few friends, but I did not make much for money.

WW, good luck! I too will be intersted in how well you do. Look at newguy44's post on on the Prospecting thread. Also, search for DMAN another rookie sensation who grabed cold calling by the balls, so to speak!

I think tenth was a temporary name for a guy who kept changing his screen name from one arguement to the next. Unfortunately, many of those who posted on this thread, are no longer around.

Haha. How's that hope and change thing working out for you, BG? I thought you retired on your boat and sailed off to Camelot. Another year has just blown by.

[quote=TimesSeven]

Haha. How's that hope and change thing working out for you, BG? I thought you retired on your boat and sailed off to Camelot. Another year has just blown by.

[/quote]

Only made it as far as Conception Island.

Nice! It's hard to quit.

I have a question about your fixed income strategy. Why are you worried about portfolio volatility?

I still have my concerns, not AKA Bill Gross crazy, but I do believe this president (your president) and his friends are running the economy up on a coral reef.

We have had a nice equity run, and I'm using short to intermediate stuff like BSV, BND, AGG, TIP - without fear.

We witness the attack on Boeing by the NLRB in Seattle and wonder what this president is thinking, and then see him campaigning in PR and know it is all about political power and the next election. Not strictly good for investing, but I remain optimistic in the Nick Murray sense about the long-term power of equities.

And of course, without volatility, clients wouldn't need us.

Who said anything about quiting?

My question still stands. here we are almost three years later and interest rates aren't goin up anytime soon. Lotta yield and profit left on the table by you manage to a mean guys. Sure sounds good to clients though. Shame they don't wake up to the fact that it's the blind leading the blind. If their advisors could think beyond their asset allocation programs and had at least a set of medium sized balls maybe they could have made some money instead of getting the milktoast ride.

So, I guess my question is How's that short term thinking working for you?

Check it out, it's milquetoast.

The ballsiest bond guy right now is Bill Gross. He probably thinks you're dumb. On the other hand, we'll see who is right.

I prefer to keep the fixed short to intermediate as much to hedge geopolitical risk as interest rate risk - it's easy to look back and claim you are a genius because you didn't go short too soon, and maybe you are in the business of scurrying to the exits if things get scary (inflation #s kick up, if and when the printing of money and the debt catch up to real interest rates, aka Bill Gross thought).

I'll take my risk in equities, and some real there for that matter, using shorter term fixed to "hedge" that risk ( the more conservative stuff can go up when stocks plummet). Now that trailing P/E ratios are your Progressive debt are high, we may see some increased volatility.

Who is calling who a pussy? You're just doing what you always do. Just like you encourage guys to cold call, or maybe even teach them how, and then when they blow out you keep the accounts. Cold calling guys and pitching a bond yield is so old-fashioned. Like eating milk toast every day. You can rationalize your strategies by saying, if you hold everything to maturity, you will get your yield. How ironic that you would mentor young people while attacking social networking as a real way to build a consultative business, and make fun of people deploying bond strategies different than your middle of the road retail sellling.

You never answered my question, how's that hope and change thing working out for you?

Moderator where are you????

What is the title of this thread guys?

I need help, not a lesson on spelling or the yield curve

Thanks

We have a real d**# measuring competition here. I feel like I am sitting at Harry's listing to a 22 year-old trading assistant.

You're right. Sorry. Carry on!

I had hoped posting......what a mistake.  These types of forums which are all over the web now are alot like TV.

I have learned good things here as a lurker but I think some of you would agree it's often not worth sorting thru the drivel and vomit to get to it, as evidenced by some of the recent posts.  Good luck to all.  Almost all of us are going to need it.  My last post

THX for the French version, but check it out, I was using it as an adjective not a noun.

 I guess I've got to ask, for a guy who doesn't cold call, why would you even waste one second reading a thread entitled "Nick Murray Prospecting Script?"

As for Billy Ray- Goodbye and good luck. This thread derailed over a year ago, so what's the problem? And, the drival on this thread ain't nothin' compared to how things were a few years ago. You needed a pretty thick skin to dare to post. But, most are gone, one way or another. With RR forums you get use to taking the good with the bad. There's not enough of one and too much of the other. That's the challenge.