Talk to friends and family and find out if they are happy with their brokers.  But try to ask someone who is in a similar situation as you.  (i.e  small biz owner, retiree, CEO, etc.)

thanks

A few questions:

What is your experience?  How long have you been doing this business?  Where do you get your clients from, how and why?  What is the focus of your business?  How do you service your clients?  How many clients do you currently have?  How large a client base to you plan to grow to?  Who am I going to talk with when I call your office and why?  What are you going to do for me?  How will I know I am getting my money's worth?  What's your goal in working with me?  How are we going to determine success?  How will we measure it?  How do you build a portfolio for me and your clients?  Why are you using what you are recommending?  What are the costs associated with that and what are they for?  Will you provide me with a written investment policy that outlines my goals and objectives, expected rates of return adjusted for risk, how we will measure the returns, your service objectives for me, our communication plan (and whatever else is important to you)? 

go here

http://pdpi.nasdr.com/PDPI/

You can look up anyone registered with the NASD.  You can see his
work experience and see if the broker has any "disclosure"
events.  If he/she has any (disclosure events) you should be able
to order a report from the NASD. This might help you know who you are
dealing with.  There are a lot of “shady” people in this industry
who only care out making their wallet fatter. 

What state are you in?