[quote=MsBroker]28 appts. Mostly at their houses. (Hoping this will help prevent no-shows.) Should I send out reminders or just show up? (I’m not going to call because that will open up the door to a cancellation.)[/quote]

I ALWAYS ask clients and prospects alike if they would like a meeting reminder.  Half do, half don’t.  The half that do are the flaky ones and you’d probably lose 1/4 of those appts if you didn’t send out the meeting reminder. 

I always prefer to send it through the mail if it’s a prospect, for clients it doesn’t matter if it’s snail mail or email.  There’s a woman in our office that does exclusively email for setting and confirming appts and it seems that she has a much higher cancellation rate than we do using letters and envelopes.  It’s easy and impersonal for someone on the fence to shoot off an email canceling the appt than to have to actually pick up the phone and CALL YOU to cancel, and if they do call to cancel you can re-assure them of your good intentions or re-schedule them right then and there.  The other nice thing about mailing the confirmation letter is that people will put it on their table, or on the fridge, or by the phone,   It doesn’t get glanced at once and deleted from their inbox.

Alright, so a lot of my appointments "I'm going to stop by, drop off some more information..." types. Any tips to getting in the door and getting statements?

[quote=MsBroker]

Alright, so a lot of my appointments “I’m going to stop by, drop off some more information…” types. Any tips to getting in the door and getting statements?

Just stare at a half-empty form, ask them for their statements, and don’t budge until they give them to you…it’s called trust building! They taught you this at KYC.

I think I’m becoming too jaded…

I feel like each day is one step forward ten steps back. Can’t wait til that ratio flips. I’ve gotten much better on the first contacts.

[quote=MsBroker]I feel like each day is one step forward ten steps back. Can’t wait til that ratio flips. I’ve gotten much better on the first contacts. [/quote]

Keep doing them, it’s amazing how much better you get.  How are all those appointments going?

Fantastic  Yesterday- One not home, One held, but didn’t get anywhere, One cancelled, but said she is definitely going to do business with me, but grandkids in town, etc.

[quote=MsBroker] Fantastic Yesterday- One not home, One held, but didn’t get anywhere, One cancelled, but said she is definitely going to do business with me, but grandkids in town, etc.

I’ll echo what Morean says.  My gross is not nearly as high as it should be this month because of advisory solutions and C shares, nor will it be for the rest of the year.  I’m not segment obsessed like some others.

Pick three products and live them.  You don’t need fancy hypos and all the other jazz.  NOBODY WILL READ THEM!  Get some one pager on 1 fund, 1 stock, and a bond - and tell people why you like them.  You can become more strategic when you sit down with them after seeing what they have.

I use Franklin Income because I like the story.  At&T because people know it and the div. is sweet and whatever bond looks good.  Once I’m in the door we can talk the rest.

Oh, and don’t fret about those appts. - they don’t teach you how to set serious appointments in eval/grad. - PC about the 25 contacts when you get a moment and I’ll give you some feedback on what has worked for me (although i struggle with it)

Volt, I’ve been using At&t also.



As far as American Funds go, I could present them in my sleep because I’ve been selling them for 4 years. At this point, I’m a bit overwhelmed to try to add learning another fund company. I do exactly what you said as far as using one page. For a small DCA, I use Capital Income Builder, with just the fact sheet to sell it. For rollovers, etc, I will use the sample portfolio. The reason I use the portfolio analyzer on the AF site is for the cover page that shows total # of stocks (2000+ for balanced towards growth) total # of bonds (also 2000+), and fund managers with average tenure (27 years, I believe). I sell it on that. I think it’s a great piece that’s short and to the point. Also, the sample portfolio is supposed to reduce overlap. I haven’t used the piece yet since I’ve been at Jones, I just wanted to have it ready to go when I do need it.



I do plan to use advisory solutions. I just haven’t had an opportunity yet. I would love to do 40-50% of my business this year in it. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I have a Vanguard client tomorrow that I have a great relationship with. I may give it a shot on him. I believe he has (had in Feb at least) about 70K in it.

I’ll have to check it out but American funds does not pay you 12b1 fees the first year and I’m greedy. 

There are many here that will debate the merits of American funds (i tend to agree with them).  However my opinion is sell what you have faith in, what you like, what you are excited about. Forget the noise of others.

MsBroker - check out either Franklin Templeton or Hartford. They pay better w/ immediate trails (I think on both) and they have some very good performers. It’s worth your time. I must say though, American is unmatched in website tools and sales material.

Ok Ms. Broker … wow, that is a cool tool.  American has the best marketing team I’ve seen.  Thanks for showing it to me, I’m going to give it a shot next week. Too bad their funds don’t perform as well as Franklin 

I’d take a serious look at Hartford.  People know the name.  Whether it’s from the insurance or the annuity side, Hartford does a great job marketing themselves to the general public.  And Cap App smokes Growth Fund.  Call your Hartford mutual fund rep and have him take you out to breakfast or lunch and tell him your plan is to sell American Funds non stop for the next three years unless he can prove to you why you should use his funds.  Get him to tell you their stories.  If you can supplement your American Funds story with some better growth and aggressive funds your clients will be better off in the long run.   

Volt, I’ve been using At&t also.

As far as American Funds go, I could present them in my sleep because I’ve been selling them for 4 years. At this point, I’m a bit overwhelmed to try to add learning another fund company. I do exactly what you said as far as using one page. For a small DCA, I use Capital Income Builder, with just the fact sheet to sell it. For rollovers, etc, I will use the sample portfolio. The reason I use the portfolio analyzer on the AF site is for the cover page that shows total # of stocks (2000+ for balanced towards growth) total # of bonds (also 2000+), and fund managers with average tenure (27 years, I believe). I sell it on that. I think it’s a great piece that’s short and to the point. Also, the sample portfolio is supposed to reduce overlap. I haven’t used the piece yet since I’ve been at Jones, I just wanted to have it ready to go when I do need it.

I do plan to use advisory solutions. I just haven’t had an opportunity yet. I would love to do 40-50% of my business this year in it. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I have a Vanguard client tomorrow that I have a great relationship with. I may give it a shot on him. I believe he has (had in Feb at least) about 70K in it.

[quote=Spaceman Spiff]I’d take a serious look at Hartford.  People know the name.  Whether it’s from the insurance or the annuity side, Hartford does a great job marketing themselves to the general public.  And Cap App smokes Growth Fund.  Call your Hartford mutual fund rep and have him take you out to breakfast or lunch and tell him your plan is to sell American Funds non stop for the next three years unless he can prove to you why you should use his funds.  Get him to tell you their stories.  If you can supplement your American Funds story with some better growth and aggressive funds your clients will be better off in the long run.   

So I have a prospect that within the last month called Wells Fargo on his previous employer’s 401k. He let the guy talk him into doing a rollover over the phone. He got the docs requiring his signature (including trade tickets, which I found odd.) I happened to call him from eval/grad, and we met today. They are all in B shares. He has not signed the docs, and didn’t understand the share classes. He does not want to be stuck in this.



I’m wondering what recourse we have. Someone suggested having him threaten to file a written warning, but I would feel bad having him do that. It’s not that the advisor did anything wrong, (unless you count not taking advantage of the breakpoint and going in B-shares wrong) the client just didn’t understand it.



I’m tore on this one. I really think it’s irresponsible to have advisors doing rollovers like this over the phone. I’m pretty sure it’s hard to “know your customer” simply over the phone. I can see with fidelity, since they are no load and self-directed, but rolling a 401k into B-shares with a CDSC seems quite risky.

You never have the client call for a rollover on his own. You do it from your office on speakerphone so you can deflect that type of crap. I also learned this the hard way.

$50K+. Good point on the KYC. At least I had met the in person, though.



I didn’t have him call them. He did it on his own before I talked to him. It was pretty sh*tty timing. He just doesn’t know anything about investing. I really like the guy. I will at the very least transfer in the funds.

It seems like he would have some recourse if he hadn’t signed the paperwork and if he wasn’t told a breakpoint was available.