Unless you have a sugar-daddy/mommy, don’t get married and/or have children until you are at least five years in.

[quote=maybeeeeeeee]

Build a fee based business where possible.  You will starve at first, but you will never regret it in the long run.

NEVER sell something you do not completely understand.

NEVER make a sale that wrong for the client because you need the commission.  Or sell something with a higher commission and pass up a lower commission option that was better than the client.   Don't screw with people's money.

Good luck.

[/quote] This ranks as one of the best posts I've seen.   I'm hardly a veteran since this is only my 3rd full year in my practice.    There were some trying days the last 24 months when I wondered if I was doing the right thing.    I saw and still see colleagues who get lauded for their production when I know firsthand that most of their business is 1035 exchanges and annuity products.    I realize not all 1035 exchanges and annuity products are bad but when most of your revenue is derived from these that can't be a good thing.

scrim

Billy Bob is right-on point.

Building a book is like going to war, so you better be prepared to Completley sacrifice your social & family life for 2yrs. The only activity besides prospecting should be physical exercise to relive stress.

You need to raise $20mill in two years to have staying power and make a living.

Go get-em!

Best piece of advice for a rookie...

From 8:00-4:00 do NOTHING except see people or fight to see them.

As someone looking to transition into this field, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who posted on this thread.  It has been very helpful and informative......and inspiring!

Thanks for being detailed!

When I first started one thing that I wasted alot of time doing was mentally role playing how I wanted the cold call or prospect meeting to go.  I would spend so much time thinking about it then actually make the call and it wouldn’t go anything like I wanted.  What I was really doing was “call avodiance”.  So, my advice would be to just make the call or do the meeting, that doesn’t mean don’t be prepared, just don’t waste time going over what you think they are going to say or need to hear. 

[quote=AllREIT] [quote=My Inner Child]

I do the same thing but I hold a Louisville Slugger that a wholesaler gave me while I'm on the phone. Gives me an extra boost of confidence.

[/quote]

I used to play with my 0.38 S&W Airweight revolver. I was such a closer.
[/quote]

anyone just run around naked in their office?

[quote=AllREIT] [quote=My Inner Child] I do the same thing but I hold a Louisville Slugger that a wholesaler gave me while I’m on the phone. Gives me an extra boost of confidence. [/quote]

I used to play with my 0.38 S&W Airweight revolver. I was such a closer.

 anyone just run around naked in their office?

This business is SIMPLE. SIMPLE does not mean easy. If you concentrate and realize what it is and concentrate on what it is you will be fine. <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Prospecting _____ Closing _____ Asking for referrals

Lance, Lance, Lance.  You do understand that we don’t sell mortages don’t you?  Unless you’re just bored, you might want to find some other forum to post in.  Just a piece of friendly advice.

Lance Best or Tom – Do you have list of the dead people in the Midwest that have a $50,000 CD comming due in the next 3 months and have a overdue mortgage payment because they couldn’t pay because they are DEAD?

Lance_best, could you please get off this forum and stop acting like we are a bunch of mortgage brokers. You do not have anything we want and you should be getting advice and not giving it. Here is my advice find out who your customer is before you start selling stuff. Also maybe you should just stop selling stuff.

Methinks that Lance might be a bot and therefore not equipped with digital hearing.

I’m a ML POA.  I’ve made lots of mistakes along the way but at least I can say that those mistakes have let me learn and grow.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

During your first four months you should be doing a <?: prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />LOT more than just studying for the 7, 66, insurance and first assessment.  Spend about an equal amount of time building a list of contacts.  This list should include anyone you know or have met along the way.  Reach out to all of those contacts.  Don’t try to sell them anything just yet.  Instead, work on building/rebuilding rapport with them.  Keep detailed notes on what is important to them and try to determine what your opportunities are.  Make sure that you reach out to these people at least once a month.  You goal should be to reach out to 30 of these people each day, including weekends.  By the end of the four months you should have a very well developed list of opportunities.  I would set a target for a list of 500 contacts.

During your next four months go after the low hanging fruit from your opportunity list.  I suggest that you try to avoid family and close friends at this time.  If you can’t make it past the first year without close friends and family, then there is a high probability that you will not make it.  Considering the high failure rate, it’s not worth jeopardizing those important relationships.  When going after the low hanging fruit, don’t try to know everything about everything.  Instead, learn as much as you can about a few key areas (ex: rollovers, 529s, retirement plans for small businesses) and focus your efforts on them.  If you come across an immediate opportunity for something that you don’t know much about, bring in a more senior advisor to help.  Keep expanding and cultivating your list of opportunities.  By the end of track two you should have a target of 1000 contacts and you should have them ranked.  I classify my list as contacts, prospects and clients.  Each of those is ranked 1-3 with the extra rankings of reach contact and growth client.

Never stop planting seeds!  It takes a number of touches before people start to remember what you do.  It can take a lot more touches before someone actually becomes a client.  If you keep you activity level high then there is a good chance that oyu might actually make it in this crazy business.

--WM