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May 28, 2008 5:19 am

I was a year and a half in building my practice with patience and professionalism at ms then johnny boiler room came on board kicked me out of my office in front of everybody then fired me two days later.  I am going indy but do not have enough gross to go it alone but have a lot of leads as to where to go next but need help in fully deciding on what is the best option.  Basically, I have figured out that the hard part in this business is finding enough clients (without cold calling) and those that have “made it” were in the right place at the right time i.e. bought a book or were given a chip at the table with the guarantee that they could have the “c” book or better or at least have access to the book.  I was screwed over with this and was tired of being strung along to do the bitch work.  So, I am controlling my own destiny now. 

  If an independent wants to take me under his wing, give me a base plus a 50% cut but not give me access to his book then I am back to square one: I am still out there bird dogging it on my own.  The advantage now is that I believe I will have less restrictive marketing capabilities through LPL and the base to pay the bills.  My other option is to find a way to get at least $30k in gross to appease LPL, work from home, put up my own capital for marketing myself in the community and go get the clients I knew I was going to get over time under big blues boiler room watch.  The advantage to this would be the higher payout through LPL thus not having to share.  The third option is go back to banking with my full licenses, build relationships with their clients, have a base then when it is time go independent take as many clients as possible with me and be free!   Thoughts?  Comments?
May 28, 2008 6:20 am

I think you are dreaming.  No independent is going to give you a base plus 50%.  You are delusional. 

  An aside: you weren't "screwed over" you just didn't make it.  You are correct that the hard part of this business is finding clients -- not sure why you put in "without cold calling."  No one, including you, cares how you come up with the assets and clients.    You also won't have the option to "find a way to get at least $30k gross" if you don't have a BD.   I'm guessing your only option would be to go back to banking. 
May 28, 2008 12:54 pm

Reality check time. The first step in any professional endeavor is to stop blaming others for your situation and start accepting personal responsibility.  It wasn’t your “boiler room” managers fault, nor is it remotely true
that everyone else made it because they were handed a book.  Blaming other doesn’t do squat to improve your situation, other than to divert your focus from the important task of figuring out what REALLY needs to happen if you want to reach your goals.  Your friends outside the business probably buy that line, but we know better.

Try starting with your recent realization that attracting clients is a key, combined with an apparent aversion to cold calling.  You may be patient, as you say, but all the patience in the world is not going to cause prospects to knock on your door and ask you to please manage their money.

OldLady is right, as usual, about your dreams of indy life being delusional.  If you have to struggle to hit $30K, your options are very limited.  If you aren’t willing to aggressively prospect and cold call, you future in the business is bleak.  I’d agree the bank route is your best bet.  At least there you have a small chance of clients finding their way to you without you doing much.

May 28, 2008 3:32 pm

“Got boiler roomed”???

  How does your situation have anything to do with a boiler room?  Were you expecting a Ferrari in your first year?    Humor us for a little bit:  How much in assets did you manage to bring in over that year and a half?   Also, how old are you?  From your post, I would guess mid-20's.  Don't you think people would wonder why you're working from home when everyone else that age is working in an office?
May 28, 2008 9:04 pm

Hi,

  I agree somewhat with snaggleteeth, however I believe you can do anything that you set your mind to do. If you have great family support, and family with money, you would have it made in the shade. However if you still dont think you could handle door knocking, then start with a company that sells vacs door to door. Thats what will give me the great leg up in this business. After 3 or 4 years of selling vacs, I believe you would be a top seller.
May 28, 2008 10:35 pm

[quote=saul4paul]Hi,

  I agree somewhat with snaggleteeth, however I believe you can do anything that you set your mind to do. If you have great family support, and family with money, you would have it made in the shade. However if you still dont think you could handle door knocking, then start with a company that sells vacs door to door. Thats what will give me the great leg up in this business. After 3 or 4 years of selling vacs, I believe you would be a top seller.[/quote]

Do you really think this kid would last a week selling vacs door to door?
May 29, 2008 1:29 am

There are some really funny newbies on the forum these days.

  Selling vacs -
May 29, 2008 2:04 am

May 29, 2008 2:20 am
joedabrkr:

[quote=Ferris Bueller]Sounds like you failed out of the business.  It’s pretty common.  Can you still flip a burger?[/quote]

Would you like some fries with that shake?

  C'mon Joe get a clue.  The question is "would you like to supersize your order?"
Jun 2, 2008 1:43 pm

Speaking of Boiler Room… There is a quote from the movie that says, " Don’t Pitch the Female Dog."  Does anyone support this philosophy ?

Jun 2, 2008 6:45 pm

I have no problem with it. I know its not politically correct, but some guys do avoid speaking to a potential client who is female because they assume they aren't the decision maker.

Jun 2, 2008 6:54 pm

And some guys piss on an electric fence to see what will  happen.  Either one is a stupid decision that can shock you. 

  The wife a lot of times can make a deal, just by telling the husband that it feels right.  He may analyze the thing to death, but that gentle nudge from his loving spouse can make all the difference.  Quickest way to lose out on a nice account is to completely ignore the wife. 
Jun 2, 2008 6:56 pm

[quote=GT Key]

I have no problem with it. I know its not politically correct, but some guys do avoid speaking to a potential client who is female because they assume they aren't the decision maker.

[/quote]   I actually do avoid calling them if I have males left on the list.  Not to be chauvinistic about it, but I've found too many women just don't make sense when talking about investments.  They frusturate me to no end sometimes.  If a man has a knee-jerk reaction to hang up on a cold call, women are 10 times worse in my experience.  Also, I've found that men have been more likely to at least listen, where as women immediately hang up.
Jun 2, 2008 6:58 pm

There we go. To each their own. I can see both sides.

Jun 2, 2008 11:17 pm

[quote=snaggletooth][quote=GT Key]

I have no problem with it. I know its not politically correct, but some guys do avoid speaking to a potential client who is female because they assume they aren't the decision maker.

[/quote]   I actually do avoid calling them if I have males left on the list.  Not to be chauvinistic about it, but I've found too many women just don't make sense when talking about investments.  They frusturate me to no end sometimes.  If a man has a knee-jerk reaction to hang up on a cold call, women are 10 times worse in my experience.  Also, I've found that men have been more likely to at least listen, where as women immediately hang up.[/quote]   Absolutely. You should avoid discussing investments with women at all costs since they have no comprehension of money, budgeting or investing.  They certainly haven't any goals for their future or their children.  I mean, watching Oprah is difficult enough so why confuse her with stuff about money.   If you have an appointment and the wife inconveniently shows up you should avoid making any eye contact with her and treat her as if she were a piece of furniture.  If she asks a question direct all the answers to her husband.  If a woman answers the phone you should quickly hang up...or maybe a little heavy breathing and then hang up.  Don't worry if she has caller ID. Women are unable to understand what that means.    By all means, you should avoid women business owners since they probably just married into the business anyway or really have their son or husband running the business  After all she is probably just a pretty figurehead.  You know how you men need to keep women happy.  It's the little things like giving them an illusion of competence and control.  When visiting the business be sure to ask for the "man" who owns the company and tell her you don't want to waste your time with a glorified secretary.   Do all of this and you will never have to worry about dealing with women (and probably their husbands either).  Don't worry.......I'll pick up the slack..
Jun 3, 2008 1:01 am

Two points:

The first decent size client (by trainee standards) that I ever opened up on a cold call, was a call I made to a guy who i could never get on the phone on the follow up call. So I called him at home on a Saturday, and his wife answered. He was out, and she asked what it was about. I told her that I had talked to her husband about possibly reviewing their portfolio, and doing some financial planning. She asked some questions, and said he would be home in about an hour at which time she would talk to him. She did, and called me back an hour later. They came in the following Saturday, I did discovery, made an appointment for the following weekend, and that weekend, they signed ACATS for $300k So much for :Dont pitch the "female dog"" Second point- Looking at this from my perspective as a producing ABOM who recruits - So lets say, i am doing recruiting calls from a database. And lets say, every time i get to a womans name, I assume she is on the list because she is S7 registered, but she must be a Sales Assistant. Lets say I am calling a branch with 50 names  and 15 of them are women who I dont call because I assume they are SA's. I would venture to guess that of those 15, there is a good chance that 2 of them are million dollar producers, or close. And maybe one of them is talking to my competition. How assenine would that be?    
Jun 3, 2008 1:16 pm
"johnny boiler room came on board"--A new broom sweeps clean. 

"I have figured out that the hard

part in this business is finding enough clients (without cold calling)"–MS is really awful to have hoodwinked you like that.  At every interview I had before getting into this business, they told me, “You know that the hard part in this business is finding enough clients.”  BTW, I’m not being sarcastic about that last sentence. 
“those that have ‘made it’ were in the right place at the right time”–grapes can either turn into wine, or they can sour.  I truly wish yours had turned to wine.

“So, I am controlling my own destiny now.”–You controlled it before.  Trying the same methods will likely achieve the same results.


I don’t mean to be a wet blanket, but as our other colleagues have mentioned, a reality check is in order.  The others gave it.  It sounds like you don’t like active outbound marketing and you don’t have a network to exploit or family foundation to support you.  I’d go to the bank.

Best of luck.




Jun 3, 2008 3:32 pm

"I have no problem with it. I know its not politically correct, but some guys do avoid speaking to a potential client who is female because they assume they aren't the decision maker."

It's the second half of this statement that matters.  We need to talk to decision makers.  All decision makers have to be in the room.   When I go and talk to a business owner, or a partner in a law or an accounting firm, the spouse typically doesn't have to be present.  This person can make the decision on their own.   If I'm talking to an employee, it is usually a waste of time to not have both spouses present in the meeting.   It's also ok to play the percentages.  If as an advisor, you've had better luck with women, and you are choosing who to call, call a woman, or vice versa.    One of the things that I have found to be interesting is that in situations where I am meeting with both the husband and the wife, it is the wife who is the primary influencer in the decision making process.   However, if I have a quick introductory meeting scheduled with just the wife, the chance of it leading to a "real" meeting with both spouses is much less likely than if I start by having a quick meeting with the husband.   What does this all mean?  I'd rather call on the husband, but wife involvement is the critical element to making the non-business owner sale.    
Jun 4, 2008 6:49 am

[quote=GT Key]Speaking of Boiler Room… There is a quote from the movie that says, " Don’t Pitch the Female Dog."  Does anyone support this philosophy ?[/quote]


Look up the statistics of how many households where the “female dog” controls the finances and tell us if you really want to alienate that portion pf the market.

Jun 4, 2008 11:07 am

If you are using BR tactics, then definitely don’t “pitch” women. 

But if you are interested in developing client relationships, you better be comfortable taling with women.

ExProp is absolutely on point.  There are probably a dozen reasons (off the top of my head) to a focus a majority of your efforts on the female.