I’m not a Tom Gau guy. Barely remember Vanderveen. Linda deane was an AG advisor who brought people into the office for investment classes held in the conference room. Three or four classes, given once a week same time same place. She booked classes three or four days a week. Interesting program, but not my thing. David Bach is well, David Bach. Good talk before he became huge, even though he was pretty big at the time. The other names aren’t ringing a bell. That’s not to say they aren’t worth a listen.

What do you think of the “Winner’s Circle” books?

Not a big fan of the Winner’s Circle books.

[quote=BondGuy]Let’s see:

Mind sharing some info?

For the life of me, I don’t know how anyone cold calls residences anymore… with the DNC list.  How are you guys doing this with any speed?

[quote=BondGuy]Let's see:

[/quote]

Had some free time while eating lunch at my desk..

Like many large producers Ira has morphed into something else. He now commands a large team team.  With 5 mil plus per year in production he no longer need to cold call. His advice to network and use referrals is good, but since he no longer cold calls he's not in a position to judge it's value. He also now works for UBS. Or at least he did when i wrote that post. UBS is the uber anti cold calling firm. While at Paine Webber the managers embraced my calling efforts. The BOM under UBS told me it wasn't in line with the image of UBS, saying do you really think wealthy people will respond to a cold call? UBS became very heavily anti cold calling after the merger. I'm sure Walker has gotten the same messege. Ironically, i know of at least UBS trainee who started in the spring of 2008 and swam against the UBS anti cold call culture. my last contact with him was about 11 months ago, and to say the least, he was doing fabulous.

Williams was a Paine Webber advisor.

if you don't want to cold call do't do it.

BG, surely with all those nice TV commercials, nobody has to prospect at UBS. Doesn't the phone just ring off the hook?? /s

BG, I find it hilarious, for the gazillions in tv spending etc, the wires never bothered to put a simple 800 phone number down, so that an interested person could schedule an appointment with a local office. Talk about stupid...

Bondguy, I am still at UBS and things continue to go well.

For the new guys just starting out my advice to you would be to follow what Bondguy posts on this forum. It will lead to success. I started in production in the summer of 2007. Trailing twelve is 500k with 44 million under managment. This wasnt inherited. Net new assets ytd are 14 million. When I started I read every post Bondguy wrote on the old forum and followed it. I am proof that the system works. I use the Bill Good Tax Free Bond Script only I pitch individual preferreds(usually bank preferreds from a bank that prospects know). It is a call mail call approach. The bottom line is that yield is what prospects want to hear about especially in this low interest rate enviorment.

Everyone says cold calling doesnt work. My fellow trainees looked at me like I was crazy when I explained my client acquisiton strategy when I did my two week training in the home office. Everyone said "I have a huge network....I am on a team..... blah blah blah blah... I don't need to cold call. They really thought I was crazy when I would I go to the phone center and make cold calls after a long day of sitting in the classes.  These guys are all out of the business by the way. We had 50-60 in our training class and I think there are 3-4 left including me.

If you can learn to sell fixed income you will do great in this business especially If you can do it over the phone. A broker once said "If you arent on the phone or meeting with a client or prospect you aren't working". I cant think of a more true statement than this. These are words to live by. Bondguy said this business is simple but not easy. That hits the nail right on the head. Don't get pysched out. All you have to do is call people and ask them to buy. Thats is it. You just have to do it enough to have good results. We are really good at making this business so complicated and it doesnt have to be. It is as simple as finding a bond, preferred whatever and calling every prospect and client you have and getting them to buy TODAY. Not tommorrow, not next week, not six months from now but TODAY.

Bondguy, thanks for all your input on the forum. I dont know if I would still be in this business If it werent for following your advice.

DMAN, thank you. And, thank you for posting this on the open board and not as a PM. Please drop by from time to time with updates. I for one, love success stories.

I'm sure your PM folder is filled or will be soon.

Just buy bonds!!!

DMAN, oh i almost forgot, on the numbers:

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Way to knock the ball out of the park!!!!!

GIVE US MORE DMAN!!!!

BG, kudos to you, DMAN provides a pretty convincing testimonial. And DMAN, congrats to you, this is a tough biz, and you've not only survived, but been successful as well.

[quote=DMAN]

Bondguy, I am still at UBS and things continue to go well.

For the new guys just starting out my advice to you would be to follow what Bondguy posts on this forum. It will lead to success. I started in production in the summer of 2007. Trailing twelve is 500k with 44 million under managment. This wasnt inherited. Net new assets ytd are 14 million. When I started I read every post Bondguy wrote on the old forum and followed it. I am proof that the system works. I use the Bill Good Tax Free Bond Script only I pitch individual preferreds(usually bank preferreds from a bank that prospects know). It is a call mail call approach. The bottom line is that yield is what prospects want to hear about especially in this low interest rate enviorment.

Everyone says cold calling doesnt work. My fellow trainees looked at me like I was crazy when I explained my client acquisiton strategy when I did my two week training in the home office. Everyone said "I have a huge network....I am on a team..... blah blah blah blah... I don't need to cold call. They really thought I was crazy when I would I go to the phone center and make cold calls after a long day of sitting in the classes.  These guys are all out of the business by the way. We had 50-60 in our training class and I think there are 3-4 left including me.

If you can learn to sell fixed income you will do great in this business especially If you can do it over the phone. A broker once said "If you arent on the phone or meeting with a client or prospect you aren't working". I cant think of a more true statement than this. These are words to live by. Bondguy said this business is simple but not easy. That hits the nail right on the head. Don't get pysched out. All you have to do is call people and ask them to buy. Thats is it. You just have to do it enough to have good results. We are really good at making this business so complicated and it doesnt have to be. It is as simple as finding a bond, preferred whatever and calling every prospect and client you have and getting them to buy TODAY. Not tommorrow, not next week, not six months from now but TODAY.

Bondguy, thanks for all your input on the forum. I dont know if I would still be in this business If it werent for following your advice.

[/quote]

I am calling BS on this one... $44MM in 3 years? $15MM/year? Not unless you are on a team...

I agree with the rest of you info, but I think you a bit off on the assets, unless you are on a team

Squash

I am not on a team. I am surprised by the numbers myself. When I started I didn't imagine I would do this well. On the other hand you have to think about how much money is in bank accounts sitting on the side lines. These last few years have been a prospecting gold mine. Break it down by month. That works out to 1.2 million a month, 300k a week with a four week month, 75k a day. When you look at it like this I dont think this is out of reach of any new guy starting out. I know the number sounds impressive but if you get on the phone and ask people to buy its definitley doable, especially for a poor rookie whose only objective is to make it in the buisness. I had no plan B, it was either make it or starve.

Who were you calling? So when you first started were you simply on the phone from 7-8pm...

I apologize for the doubt, but those numbers are insane....

DMAN came to me early on and shared numbers. He also shared some other aspects of his business, concerns, and problems. Added to the types of questions he was asking i had no reason to doubt his performance. I still don't doubt his numbers.

As good as DMAN's performance is, and make no mistake it's top of the class, it's doable for a person who gets it.

Years ago i brought a young trainee into the business.  I advised the trainee to start with SB, as my firm had no real training program. The trainee went through training at Hartford and started in production using only the calling system i had developed from Tennison/Desoto/Bill Good. This trainee was female and called me complaining that her BOM was sexist and she wasn't getting all the leads and inherited accts that the male trainees were getting. I told her  to put her head down and just make the calls.

End result, in her first two years she opened over 700 new accounts, was ranked 60th out of almost 12,000 FAs in new accounts, was top quintile in assets and production in her training class with assets of over 40 million by end of year two. Sound familiar?

 DMAN is another person who has grasped the brass ring.

Squash, another thought here is this: DMAN's process is different than yours. he picks up the phone and asks people to buy something. Just from the way he expresses himself i can tell he's for real.

Here's a little exercise for yourself: Find a fixed income product you like, a bond, a CD, a PFD, whatever. Now write a little script pumping the benefits. Next make a list of 25 people to call today with that product. These can be prospects or clients who you believe would be a good match for the product. Last step make the calls!!! Close every one you call! That is, ask them to buy.  This is the way i run my business, and sounds like the way DMAN runs his.

Do this exercise and I guarantee you that you will sell some of that product today. Not tomorrow, not next week, today. Spendable income made today!!!!

Next step- never stop dialing. If you call 25 people a day and ask them to buy you will become incredibly successful. But don't be limited by my numbers. 25 is fantastic- more would be better.

Now you ask how does this work?

You ask 25 people per day to buy your product. You close big, 50k or 100k minimum. After-all, it's a great product. After a month you've positioned a million dollars and you move to the next idea. You keep doing this every day for the next five years and then one day, that first million dollars you placed comes back to you. The bonds are called, or the PFD is called, or the CD matures. Now you've got a million bucks to place. Add in a 2% sales credit and you've got 20k done in one day. More like two hours of one day. Now some more time goes one and you have 2 or 3 million dollars coming due in one month. Whoo hoo!!! Or you have 4 or 5 million coming due in one month. meanwhile back at the salt mine you are continuing to add at least a million per month to the pot. And so it goes in the fixed income business. Add in some trades that make sense, appointmentments for financial planning that develope from the book, and referrals and all of a sudden you've got yourself a business! A big business!

How hard is it to place a million a month? It's ten people investing 100k. Think you can find ten people per month to buy your very best idea? CD rates are at 1%, people are clamoring for alternatives. Yeah, a 6% BABs looks really good right now.

Simple, just not easy.

But doable?

You betcha!!

So is the Tennison/DeSoto/Bill Good system... that 25 pitches a day?

Sometimes I wonder if the success you have comes because you have a wirehouse brand behind you as opposed to LPL or and indy firm name...