1. There is no “I” in “team”

Christie came to us as a referral from a client. She is the first face you see at my office, and she makes sure our clients are greeted and made to feel important as soon as they walk through the door.

Helen helps me with my asset business. She has 23 years of bank experience, most of that with her mutual fund license.

Shannon, my daughter, approached me in May 2011 feeling uncertain about her teaching career. She left her job, is now life and mutual fund licensed and started with me in August 2011. She has since completed her CFP and CLU. She is my right-hand person and is responsible for financial plans. I plan to transition my business to her and the team.

Diane, my partner in life and in my business, started as my first admin assistant in 1989, and in 2002 became life and mutual fund licensed. She has filled many roles for me as I’ve needed her to in my business, and I owe much of my success to her.

We also need to have good support people on our team, such as estate and financial planners, disability insurance contacts, group specialists, mutual fund wholesalers, accountants, lawyers and other successful advisors.

2. Education and knowledge

Advocis is my professional association in Canada. Dentists and doctors have a professional association.

Belong to a professional association in your country; this shows that you want to raise the bar and grow your business. Associations allow you access to other advisors from different companies and backgrounds. You can exchange ideas and best practices, which helps you grow your business.

MDRT has been a life-changing association, which I joined over 37 years ago. My first Annual Meeting was in Dallas, Texas, in 1994. I soon realized that I was rubbing shoulders with some of the best financial advisors in the business and in the world.

Many of those successful advisors shared ideas with me to help build my practice. One of those ideas was that a good consistent work ethic is the key to success. Knowledge is power.

I started a pre-MDRT study group at my company to encourage my fellow advisors to qualify and attend the Annual Meeting. Part of the invite to my study group was that you had to pay your dues to MDRT and attend the Annual Meeting. The ideas exchanged from that study group over the years, I can honestly say, have changed many advisors’ careers. Some of those attendees have been Main Platform MDRT speakers.

Remember to never stop learning.

3. Plan/vision

We all need to have a plan. As your business grows, you will build a valuable book of clients — not customers. Part of my plan/vision was to connect my staff’s income to my income, rewarding the team for growing the business.

• How many days a year do you want to work?
• How many appointments do you need to achieve your sales goals?
• How much premium do you need to sell to achieve your income goals?
• Close your eyes. What does your business look like five years and 10 years from now?
• What clients are you dealing with?
• What is the mix of your business?
• What does your team look like?

4. Be holistic

Don’t be a one-product person. We need to give full financial services to our clients: life, health and wealth. Build your team to provide these products to your clients. Be the financial “advisor of choice.”

5. How much insurance is enough?

At my first MDRT meeting in 1994, I went to Millard J. Grauer’s session. He spoke on how much life insurance is enough. He used multiple case studies, one of which focused on a 44-year-old truck driver who made $24,000 per year. The court awarded his beneficiaries $1.2 million in a wrongful death suit. Do your clients have enough insurance? Follow up on those clients to whom you first sold and revisit their insurance needs.

6. Take ownership

Write your plan down and take ownership. It is your plan.

• Review your plan.
• Be realistic (dream big).
• Take personal ownership.
• Track your plan.
• Adjust your plan when needed.

Always remember: Advisors fail because they don’t have a plan.

7. Be trustworthy

Ask yourself these questions:

• How do your clients perceive you?
• What value do your clients put on you?
• Do you want to be the person they call when they have a child? Buy a new home? Retire?
• Are you their first point of contact for financial decisions?
• Do they refer friends or family to you?
• Do you treat your clients like you would treat your parents?

If your clients trust you, then the business will come easily. If you treat your clients like your family, then they’ll trust you wholly.

8. Be ahead of the curve

Be knowledgeable about new products, current trends, social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.), your personal website and the way you engage clients.

Be flexible: Meet in person, by email, over Zoom/Teams and the good, old-fashioned telephone.

9. Get to your peak

Like many professions, the longer you are in business, the better your skill level becomes.

10. Balance and give back

Some may say I have had a measure of success over my 37-year career in this great business: MDRT membership, Court of the Table, Top of the Table, company recognition. These things are all great, but if I don’t have balance in my life, it would mean nothing.

Work when you work, and play when you play, and don’t mix the two. Still have fun, though, when you work.

Advisors have shared their sales ideas and best practices with me over the years to make me a better advisor. I have an obligation to give back to future advisors, to pass knowledge down and empower them to be productive and better advisors for their clients.

Conclusion

These 10 secrets, once we know them, seem simple in principle, but the secret is in pulling them all together to achieve great success. My challenge to you is to commit to your growth, see what MDRT has to offer and invest in yourself. After 37 years I can attribute my success in this business to committing to these principles. Pulling them together landed me on this stage in front of you “taking care of business.”