High Net Worth Success: The Short and Long Term

Originally posted at Secular Change on Dec. 8, 2005

12/08/2005 - By Paul Karasik, President and Founder The Business Institute.

Very few people dream of becoming a seller of financial products and services. Yet each year, attracted by the riches of Wall Street, tens of thousands of people make their way into the business.

For some, wealth becomes a reality. The financial industry allows for an endless number of successful business models, as well as the freedom to create a business that is suited to your personality, your products and services, and your target market.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of newcomers to the business leave in a matter of months. And sadly, many of those who generate enough sales to stay in the business fail to achieve anywhere near their potential because they have made a critical mistake in focus. Too many people in the business are short-term oriented rather than long-term oriented.

In the short term, making enough to pay the rent is enough of a motivation. That’s why, for rookie advisors, a sales focus often works. But your long-term prosperity requires a different focus. For long-term success, you must focus not on fees or commissions but on clients. The secret to making really big money in the business is to maintain a client orientation, not an advisor-based, reward orientation.

Successful veteran advisors know this. In the first five years, no matter how well they did and how fast their careers took off, the amount of money they made was peanuts compared to what they made in their second, third or fifth years – and the years beyond. But long-term success is different from a successful jackrabbit start. It requires a true client focus.

Don’t get me wrong. Being client-oriented does not mean ignoring prospecting or sales. It means targeting clients, rather than sales. If you add just one new client per week, for example, over the course of three or four years you will have added about 200 people qualified to be called clients. These are people who rely on you; and you rely on them. That’s the basis for building a business. If you maintain such a focus, you’re in business. In fact, with 200 clients, it’s almost impossible to get out of the business.

So don’t focus on how much money you make. Instead, focus on how many client relationships you are creating. The secret to doing that is to become conscious of why you do what you do. You must become clear about the reason you exist. You must understand what business you are in and understand the effect your products and services have on the people you sell them to. That’s why you’re in the business. That’s the compelling reason people should do business with you. Maintain your focus on your mission or purpose and you will attract clients, not customers.

If you are just entering the business, your purpose or mission will act as a guide, a compass, for achieving your professional goals. When you have a clear mission, strategic questions are simple to answer. Every activity makes sense when it is congruent with your mission.

If you’ve been in the business for more than five years and you find yourself plateaued because you have too many customers and not enough clients, you need to define or redefine your mission. A defined mission statement will provide identity and a foundation on which you can go forward. Your mission becomes a focus that everyone in the organization can rally around; you can all work together to accomplish your common objective.

Write your mission on a piece of paper. It should be brief and explain, in just a few words, why your business exists. Write one today. It will keep you focused on what really matters; relationships.

Source: ProducersWEB.com