After a long day working with a firm in St. Louis, a number of advisors who I’ve gotten to know took me to a sports bar for burgers and beer. We had become friends over the almost two years I have been working with the firm. Burgers, beer, friends, baseball on TV - not the worst way in the world to end the day.
Teddy, one of the advisors at the table seems to know everyone in the joint. He waves and says hello to people at the bar as we grab a high top table. One of the guys at the bar comes over to us and Teddy introduces Steve. Seems like a good guy as he shakes hands, makes the rounds and returns to the bar. We eat, drink, laugh, and barely talk about anything business related.
Teddy needs to leave but offers to reconnect me to Steve because he works for a big firm and thought it would be a good networking connection. Cool! Teddy takes my business card and brings it to Steve. He returns with Steve’s card and says that Steve will return to learn more about my work and how I help reps network and grow their business. Teddy leaves and gets kudos for a job well done.
Steve returns to our high top and asks what I do. I turn it to one of the advisors at the table to see if he can talk on my behalf as a third party endorsement (kind of a recap of a seminar I delivered earlier). Steve’s reaction was indifferent as he turns to me and asks if I have a mortgage and if so, what’s my rate? I asked why he wanted to know and he said that he could get me a low rate if I refinanced my house with him right then and there.
Now we all laugh because we think that Ted put Steve up to this since I tell a very similar story about a mortgage broker trying to shake me down for business. The funny thing was that Steve wasn’t kidding. No joke. No put on. Steve persists as he talks about conversion rates and two to one ratios. He even implies that he would connect me to his firm if I did business with him. Heck, the Cards were still tied with Atlanta in the third. I tell Steve that I’m not the least bit open to having this discussion with him. He leaves me my business card while taking his back. Of course, Steve leaves in a huff. We’re still not sure if it was a put on or not but decided that it wasn’t. No one could do such a great job trying to look so stupid.
Later, one of the advisors calls Ted to tell him what happened. Ted calls Steve. Steve mentions that I don’t know how to do business and don’t understand the concept of “one hand washes the other”. Really Steve?
So what did Steve accomplish?
Convinced me that his firm really does need me.
If his firm (a big company by the way) allows, encourages, and even trains their reps (even the ones with a VP title) to peddle mortgages at the local sports bar or wherever, it’s losing sales, retention, and repute. Luckily, we don’t see this sort of thing in the insurance industry.
Taught a group of advisors how to not do business, not make friends, and not get referrals.
Naturally, there are plenty of advisors and agents that prescribe to Steve’s philosophy in the form of hitting people over the head with scheduled appointments, fact finders, applications, and sales pitches. Bottom line - it doesn’t work (not in the long run), you look bad, you play right into negative stereotypes, you come across as self centered, it isn’t nice, and you lose business – lots of it.
Lost a referral source (and possibly a friend).
I don’t see Teddy referring Steve business (if he ever has) any time soon or introducing him at his next dinner party. I’m sure Teddy was just a little embarrassed to learn that an outside consultant that teaches advisors to network and build relationships was assaulted by his “former” friend.
Made it to the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)
Steve became the opening to my presentation the next morning for NAIFA’s Taste of MDRT Conference. I got to tell a first time story and help over 250 advisors learn what not to say, what not to do, and hammer home that relationships come before sales.
Could be a nice idea for a blog!
This past week I was the guest speaker for a client with 85 attendees in a Marriott property in Northern New Jersey. I was scheduled to speak from 10:45am – 12:15pm. After that presentation, I was scheduled to deliver a tele-seminar from 1:00 – 2:00pm to over 450 attendees so I needed a land line for the call.
I arrived at the property early to meet with management to discuss my scenario and see what arrangements could be made. Given my connection to the paying guests (my client) at the hotel, my hospitality background and extensive travel experience staying at Marriott properties, I did not anticipate a problem.
The Sales Manager was happy to charge me $180 plus the cost of the phone call. I asked to speak with the General Manager but the Sales Manager insisted he would say the same thing. It was shocking to me that management seemed more interested in standing their ground rather than brainstorming a solution for me. This went back and forth for quite a while.
I finally spoke with the Assistant General Manager who said he would charge me a day rate of $70 plus the cost of the call in a sleeping room. He said if the cost of the call was excessive, he would “work on it” for me. All I required was a phone in an empty conference room (there were several) or a house phone somewhere for one hour and I would have been more than satisfied. Even the front desk staff shook their heads at how badly this situation was being handled by management.
I was too upset to continue my debate, especially over $70. Also, I needed to speak to my live audience at the hotel with a positive mindset and realized the management team was not prepared to handle the situation properly.
So after my live presentation in Ballroom A, I delivered my tele-conference in a sleeping room and paid a total of $80.50. There was no charge for the call since it was toll free.
In retrospect, the $80.50 is minutia; it’s more about how I was treated as a Marriott Rewards Elite Gold Card member (or any guest for that matter) in a Marriott property and as a service professional with a simple problem with an even simpler solution. Wonder how I would have been treated if I wasn’t a Gold Card member!
You MUST have a focused communication strategy and a targeted network for your networking efforts to be effective - especially in the beginning.
Serendipitous Networking: Meeting someone by chance and having the opportunity to introduce yourself and learn about one another. In this type of situation you might exchange business cards and helpful information.
Strategic Networking: Having a laid out plan to go to the right places, say the right things, meet the right people, and follow up accordingly to achieve a specific goal.
Networking is a process, not an event. It should be continuous and cyclical. It takes time to develop relationships and establish enough trust for others to feel comfortable referring you. The goal is to learn and create a mutual attraction where you will ultimately be introduced to prospects and referral sources that are interested in learning more about you and your services.
Speed networking that is! From a fun standpoint, this is one of my favorite types of networking venues. It’s based on the format of speed dating (talk about fun!). I used to facilitate and run these speed-networking events. And even that was fun! Speed networking groups and those that organize them are very selective about the people who sign up for their events. Everyone at the event is prescreened to insure that they’re in different professions. They don’t want to have 14 financial advisors attending; that would defeat the purpose. But imagine attending a speed networking event as a financial advisor and connecting with a CPA, estate planning attorney, and banker who understood (like you) the value of giving? Now that’s not a bad blind date.
There are usually 20 to 22 participants. If there are more attendees, they will be split into two groups. You start off face to face, nose to nose, belly to belly with somebody. A bell rings, and you have five minutes to spend with each person—that’s two and a half minutes each—to talk about who you are, what you do and with whom, to collaborate, and if you can help one another. You are not pitching people on your services. You’re pitching them on what you do and with whom you are looking to work. If there is a great connection there, you exchange cards. After the five minutes are up, the bell sounds, and the inside row circles to the right. Now you are face-to-face with somebody else. And so it goes.
Within an hour and a half, you have connected with 13 to 15 people. Sometimes food and cocktails are served. The time flies by, and it is a lot of fun, but by the end of the event, you are exhausted because you are “on” each time you meet a new person. It’s like you’re doing 15 takes of the same commercial. (Remember the movie Groundhog Day?) But you can walk away with 15 business cards which can equate to 15 follow ups, meetings, conversations, and who knows how many prospects. Beats cold calling!
Speed networking events are a missed opportunity for a lot of networkers, and certainly for plenty of financial advisors. Again, it’s an untapped resource. You meet a lot of people, and you never know where it’s going to lead you. You could end up with a date!