TOT Q&A: Nektarios Karkotis, CFP, B Econ, a five-year MDRT member with one Court of the Table and four Top of the Table qualifications from Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

What were the biggest challenges to overcome to move from Court of the Table to Top of the Table?

Needing the mindset to continue the hard work. I had diligently tracked my prospecting in considerable detail and made it into a game, which motivated me to make one more call, send one more email until it became the norm and resulted in pleasing returns. Then I got tired and bored and treated it with less fun and enthusiasm. It became less of a game when the results started drying up.

What are the most significant changes you made to overcome those difficulties, and how could you tell the changes were working? How should others follow your example?

First, I went back to my original goals and why I set them to confirm whether they meant the same to me and held the same importance. Then I stepped back and looked at my tracking spreadsheets and realized the amazing results and information I had been able to gather about myself, my prospects and my clients in those numbers, words, notes, and graphs. Checking in with myself, I realized my best results happened when I didn’t take the results as seriously but instead had fun through calling, emailing chatting with people and refining my words. When I took it less seriously and personally and had more fun, the results came in spades. Check in with yourself, track your progress, keep it fun.

What roadblocks did you encounter during this process? What else had to be adjusted that you didn’t expect?

I was doing the same thing and expecting the same results, and they weren’t coming, so I had to refine my words, actions, time of contacts, length of contacts, type of contacts, etc. This in itself became a test or a game, which made it fun again.

How did you utilize MDRT to help move to the next level?

I listened, read and visualized some of the amazing words, sentences and catch phrases of MDRT legends I was fortunate to see in real life, such as Van Mueller and Bruce Etherington, and incorporated those things into the Australian landscape. That motivated me again to be greater.

How long did it take between when you first became an MDRT member and when you first reached Top of the Table? How long did it take to go from Court of the Table to Top of the Table?

The very next year I was able to make Top of the Table from Court of the Table.

How else have you grown and changed to get to where you are now, and how do you track these changes to measure your performance? What specifically would you advise to other MDRT members looking to make the same progress?

I rely less on my own prospecting now and more on referrals, but I still use the same spreadsheets to track my progress. I still keep it fun and make it all about the client. Want the business, but don’t show you need the business. Go a step further and ensure this is truly your mindset and your reality. That has worked well for me.

How have you engaged with MDRT during your membership?

I attend the Top of the Table Annual Meeting and the Top of the Table events at the MDRT Annual Meeting.

How can MDRT help support members once they reach Top of the Table?

Creating groups of advisors who can regularly catch-up via Zoom, etc., and rotate them to ensure a mix of age, experience and type of financial services provided. Pick topics from a set agenda that can be prepared and discussed together.