Gethardgetraw's 2009-2010 Cold Calling Journal

Did your parents take it hard when you came out of the closet?

Did your parents take it hard when you came out of the closet?

I am interested especially since you said what part of the country you are in. I wonder if it differs by area. Also because we know your firm I wonder if that plays a roll.

I am waiting anxiously to hear about this.

you scrubbing those numbers against the DNC before you cold call residences…or are you canadian, eh?

Where do you get your list?

I will post mine tomorrow…

update?

Yes please.

You better hit it hard tomorrow!

167 dials

oh an 1 appt. kind of a cheap one… Prospect sounded interested, so reverted back to EDJ format and said I would be in the area Friday visiting a client and would like to stop by to show him an idea i have been using with a lot of my clients

[quote=chief123]167 dials

No a contact is someone who actually talks back… “no thanks” I don’t consider that a contact, but I will call them back in 30 days

I’m thinking about wrapping the handle of my phone with a few $1 bills 

ok g2g have a regional holiday party an hour away gonna drink so much kool-aid

Drive safe.  That EDJ kool-aid can make you do silly things. 

Thats a better day. Nice

I am just wondering, why are you focusing on cold calling your entire day? I am sure you will snap soon. Why not work the people you already know? or try to get additional business from your existing clients, provide value, get recommendations and introductions.

Terrible schedule.  I’m not trying to be negative.  It’s just that a schedule that you won’t be able to follow will quickly lead to failure.  You need success.  For instance, if your schedule was changed to the following, I bet that you’d have more success:

I agree…just finished the Chris Gardner book (basis for Pursuit of Happyness). He went from homeless black man to making over $1MM/year within 5 years by making 200 calls a day. His secret was not about burning himself out making as many calls as possible…just making 200 quality cold calls every single day before he went home. Without exception.

PS: I recommend the book over the movie.

I am just wondering, why are you focusing on cold calling your entire day?  I am sure you will snap soon.  Why not work the people you already know?  or try to get additional business from your existing clients, provide value, get recommendations and introductions.

[quote=anonymous]Terrible schedule.  I’m not trying to be negative.  It’s just that a schedule that you won’t be able to follow will quickly lead to failure.  You need success.  For instance, if your schedule was changed to the following, I bet that you’d have more success:

[quote=anonymous]Terrible schedule.  I’m not trying to be negative.  It’s just that a schedule that you won’t be able to follow will quickly lead to failure.  You need success.  For instance, if your schedule was changed to the following, I bet that you’d have more success:

[quote=Still@jones]
I agree…just finished the Chris Gardner book (basis for Pursuit of Happyness). He went from homeless black man to making over $1MM/year within 5 years by making 200 calls a day. His secret was not about burning himself out making as many calls as possible…just making 200 quality cold calls every single day before he went home. Without exception.

PS: I recommend the book over the movie.

[/quote]

In 20 years newbies will be reading the book about a young struggling advisor who was kicked out of Edward Jones, switched to the insurance side, and became the Ben Feldman of our generation.

The book will be titled “Not@jonesNow@TopoftableMDRT”

[quote=Squash1][quote=anonymous]Terrible schedule.  I’m not trying to be negative.  It’s just that a schedule that you won’t be able to follow will quickly lead to failure.  You need success.  For instance, if your schedule was changed to the following, I bet that you’d have more success:

Haha yeah I suppose checking tomorrow's schedule is pretty ridiculous, but every now and then I have a call session or a regional breakfast the next day that I absolutely would not have remembered.

Also, I downloaded The Pursuit of Happyness a few days ago and watched it halfway through and turned it off b/c it's spectacular and want to read the book before I watch the movie. Its been recommended to me by 2 regional vets as well as mentioned on this forum many times, think I'll spend the whole $0.01 on a used copy from amazon.

What you sow is what you reap

First off let me say I am new to the business and new to the forum.  I am a recent hire at a wirefirm and am still studying for Series 7 etc. so I have not begun my cold calling yet. 
I applaud Gethard for holding yourself accountable on this forum, but did anyone else notice a problem with his time management?  According to the new schedule (which maybe Gethard has not implemented yet) he is calling for a total of 10 hours yet only made 114 calls.  This averages out to a little over 5 minutes per call which seems really long to me.  Am I right or can someone show me where my math is wrong?

[quote=gethardgetraw]

Also, I downloaded The Pursuit of Happyness a few days ago and watched it halfway through and turned it off b/c it's spectacular and want to read the book before I watch the movie. Its been recommended to me by 2 regional vets as well as mentioned on this forum many times, think I'll spend the whole $0.01 on a used copy from amazon.

First off let me say I am new to the business and new to the forum.  I am a recent hire at a wirefirm and am still studying for Series 7 etc. so I have not begun my cold calling yet. 
I applaud Gethard for holding yourself accountable on this forum, but did anyone else notice a problem with his time management?  According to the new schedule (which maybe Gethard has not implemented yet) he is calling for a total of 10 hours yet only made 114 calls.  This averages out to a little over 5 minutes per call which seems really long to me.  Am I right or can someone show me where my math is wrong?

As many people have pointed out on here before, there are free ways to get lists as well. 

The one I think works the best is to check with your local library and see if they have access to Reference USA (My library did not, but my parent’s library had online access so I just used my mom’s card number to access it).  On there you can search people and businesses (which give you the manager’s and people of power’s names).  If you want to solely call residences, you can put a income qualifier on the search and find those most likely to qualify (those making $100,000+/yr).   You can only print out 25 names per search, but if you want to just pull it up and work off there, it would be much more efficient.  Or better yet, take some time at night or early in the morning to create your list of 200+ for the day.

That’s what my plan is at least.

Yeah, I’ve found a few sources of free lists. Salesgenie gives you 100 free when you sign up for their trial.

Sparty is right with Reference USA, thing that sucks is the 25/search, so it gets annoying, but you can do 200 each night before you leave so you are set up for tomorrow…

Have a $200 list of 3,333 names on my Christmas list and until then I'll spend more time gathering numbers while I'm at home. Wish there were more than 24 hours in the day.

brb out getting a library card

Just remember that the DNC only applies to residences, so you can call businesses all day long.

brb out getting a library card

ReferenceUSA... wow this is awesome thanks guys.

[quote=gethardgetraw]

My current script:

How is this more efficient than doorknocking? 4 prospects created? Was the 25 doorknocking not working for you? I’ve thought about cold calling myself, but not sure with the results…

[quote=gethardgetraw]

Went and got a library card.

[quote=fa09]How is this more efficient than doorknocking? 4 prospects created? Was the 25 doorknocking not working for you? I’ve thought about cold calling myself, but not sure with the results…

[quote=anonymous][quote=gethardgetraw]

[quote=gethardgetraw]My current script:

[quote=buyandhold] [quote=fa09]How is this more efficient than doorknocking? 4 prospects created? Was the 25 doorknocking not working for you? I’ve thought about cold calling myself, but not sure with the results…

[quote=chief123][quote=anonymous][quote=gethardgetraw]

[quote=gethardgetraw]My current script:

[quote=ccmachine] [quote=gethardgetraw]My current script:

I randomly make phone calls… I don’t understand calling businesses doesn’t make sense to me.

Squash1, if I had a product pitch, I would call randomly.

Damn, 9 cups of coffee per day. You must be one jacked up cold caller.   

"Thanks for taking the time to meet with me.  I want to very quickly find out one of three things. It makes sense for us to sit down and have a serious financial conversation.  Or, it doesn't make sense now, but it may in the future.  Or, let's decide that we should never talk again (always draws a little chuckle). "

[quote=anonymous]Squash1, if I had a product pitch, I would call randomly.

[quote=Squash1] 

141 Calls

Why don’t you Jones guys find an FDIC CD paying a good rate and go lead with that?  Tell people you can offer a higher interest rate because you’re a 2 person branch and you’re much bigger than their local bank.  You can even tell them the company offers good rates because they hope that by showing them a solution for their “safe money” that some people will want to do their “invested money” with you as well, but that’s for them to decide in the future.

My company is about 9-15 months away from letting us sell CDs and it’s going to open so many doors when they do.  I’m going to sell a ridiculous number of fixed annuities when I show prospects how we split that CD that came due into a 2% CD solution for their short term cash reserves and a 3.2-4% fixed annuity for their CD money with a 5-7 year time horizon.

[quote=chief123] [quote=gethardgetraw]My current script:

Squash … you call cold call residential? Buy a list or generate yourself?



Care to share your pitch and times you call? I call business 100% of the time.

[quote=gethardgetraw]141 Calls

Why don’t you Jones guys find an FDIC CD paying a good rate and go lead with that?  Tell people you can offer a higher interest rate because you’re a 2 person branch and you’re much bigger than their local bank.  You can even tell them the company offers good rates because they hope that by showing them a solution for their “safe money” that some people will want to do their “invested money” with you as well, but that’s for them to decide in the future.

My company is about 9-15 months away from letting us sell CDs and it’s going to open so many doors when they do.  I’m going to sell a ridiculous number of fixed annuities when I show prospects how we split that CD that came due into a 2% CD solution for their short term cash reserves and a 3.2-4% fixed annuity for their CD money with a 5-7 year time horizon.

Squash … you call cold call residential? Buy a list or generate yourself?

Care to share your pitch and times you call? I call business 100% of the time.

[quote=BerkshireBull]Why don’t you Jones guys find an FDIC CD paying a good rate and go lead with that?  Tell people you can offer a higher interest rate because you’re a 2 person branch and you’re much bigger than their local bank.  You can even tell them the company offers good rates because they hope that by showing them a solution for their “safe money” that some people will want to do their “invested money” with you as well, but that’s for them to decide in the future.

My company is about 9-15 months away from letting us sell CDs and it’s going to open so many doors when they do.  I’m going to sell a ridiculous number of fixed annuities when I show prospects how we split that CD that came due into a 2% CD solution for their short term cash reserves and a 3.2-4% fixed annuity for their CD money with a 5-7 year time horizon.

[quote=WarRoom] [quote=chief123] [quote=gethardgetraw]My current script:

[quote=Squash1][quote=BerkshireBull]Why don’t you Jones guys find an FDIC CD paying a good rate and go lead with that?  Tell people you can offer a higher interest rate because you’re a 2 person branch and you’re much bigger than their local bank.  You can even tell them the company offers good rates because they hope that by showing them a solution for their “safe money” that some people will want to do their “invested money” with you as well, but that’s for them to decide in the future.

My company is about 9-15 months away from letting us sell CDs and it’s going to open so many doors when they do.  I’m going to sell a ridiculous number of fixed annuities when I show prospects how we split that CD that came due into a 2% CD solution for their short term cash reserves and a 3.2-4% fixed annuity for their CD money with a 5-7 year time horizon.

i'm no expert, but it seems to me like theres alot of dilly-dallying.  I'm a rookie as well and still find time to crank out 300-400 dials a day minimum.  as far as my calendar is concerned on days where i don't have meetings (i try to block them all on 1 or 2 days) there are two letters on the whole day. C.C.  As far as your pitch is concerned i'm going to agree with those who shortened it up a bit and kept it more basic.  I've learned that the more basic you can be, the better the results. People learn to tune you out when your dragging on and on and on and on

[quote=gb0413]

i'm no expert, but it seems to me like theres alot of dilly-dallying.  I'm a rookie as well and still find time to crank out 300-400 dials a day minimum.  as far as my calendar is concerned on days where i don't have meetings (i try to block them all on 1 or 2 days) there are two letters on the whole day. C.C.  As far as your pitch is concerned i'm going to agree with those who shortened it up a bit and kept it more basic.  I've learned that the more basic you can be, the better the results. People learn to tune you out when your dragging on and on and on and on

[quote=Squash1][quote=gb0413]

i'm no expert, but it seems to me like theres alot of dilly-dallying.  I'm a rookie as well and still find time to crank out 300-400 dials a day minimum.  as far as my calendar is concerned on days where i don't have meetings (i try to block them all on 1 or 2 days) there are two letters on the whole day. C.C.  As far as your pitch is concerned i'm going to agree with those who shortened it up a bit and kept it more basic.  I've learned that the more basic you can be, the better the results. People learn to tune you out when your dragging on and on and on and on

Then why in previous posts do you say you are at an indy? If you are going to lie, at least keep your stories straight or you lose credibility…

Then why in previous posts do you say you are at an indy? If you are going to lie, at least keep your stories straight or you lose credibility…

So it is hard to take you or your post seriously if you post different information everytime… Disclosing you are at a wire, doesn’t really narrow it down for us, because there are like 50,000+ at wires…

haha you guys are good at snooping my old posts, i should figure out how to do that for those who i like following.  you should also notice that i post mainly on topics regarding cold calling, thats my favorite.  Truth?  Indy.  Started out at an indy interning, did a good job, they are giving me the opportunity to open my own book. 

Damn i was betting on wire…

sure do. 

There you go… now care to expand…

oh ok, interesting, results i’ve had have been pretty good.

Just had someone ask me what the dollar was worth. Some old guy. I asked him which currency he was comparing it to. Then he got upset asked again what it was worth and I told him you have to pair it with another currency and I didn’t understand what he was asking. He said yesterday it was 88 cents and hung up. <3 cold calling

47 calls

This is what happens to most people, not able to make a consistent number of calls over 175 each day for long stretches of time…

It’s also why my suggested schedule of making 2 hours of calls a day is better for him than his schedule of 10 hours of phoning.

Like Nick Murray says most people get all fired up and make 400 dials monday, 150 tuesday, 50 wednesday and by thursday they are out sick with a mysterious stomach ailment. You have to create a baseline for yourself of what YOU can handle and build slowly from there. If that number is only 25 then fine, start from there and build up. I am no good at being consistent either. It is hard to do.

It’s also why my suggested schedule of making 2 hours of calls a day is better for him than his schedule of 10 hours of phoning.

Just had someone ask me what the dollar was worth. Some old guy. I asked him which currency he was comparing it to. Then he got upset asked again what it was worth and I told him you have to pair it with another currency and I didn’t understand what he was asking. He said yesterday it was 88 cents and hung up. <3 cold calling

[quote=Squash1]

What is a regional that just formed?? What is a regional besides STIFEL or RBC?

That isn’t a regional… It’s barely a firm…

Windy and Volt formed Ben Dover Securities. Maybe that is where he is.

Ok who is dialing today… Starting in 30 minutes, going for 2 hours… lunch and then back again… anyone calling?

I got you chief after lunch. Let's see who can get the most calls from 1pm CST to 6pm CST.

btw, The Pursuit of Happyness is a terrible novel. After halfway in, Gardner is still in the character development stage (so boring and written on a 5th grade level), and it’s been riddled with “arrrgh we did _____ which is absolutely illegal but it wasn’t our fault the white man is supressing us again. arrrrgh just stole more stuff which was illegal. arrrrgh illegally took welfare support even after having a full time job wasnt my fault and the white police man locked my mother up. arrrgh just murdered someone hope I don’t get caught by the white man” etc…

[quote=gethardgetraw]btw, The Pursuit of Happyness is a terrible novel. After halfway in, Gardner is still in the character development stage (so boring and written on a 5th grade level), and it’s been riddled with “arrrgh we did _____ which is absolutely illegal but it wasn’t our fault the white man is supressing us again. arrrrgh just stole more stuff which was illegal. arrrrgh illegally took welfare support even after having a full time job wasnt my fault and the white police man locked my mother up. arrrgh just murdered someone hope I don’t get caught by the white man” etc…

Yeah haven’t gotten to that yet. And I’m halfway in…

[quote=gethardgetraw]

I got you chief after lunch. Let's see who can get the most calls from 1pm CST to 6pm CST.

Windy and Volt formed Ben Dover Securities. Maybe that is where he is.

I would agree. I found the chapters where he specifically discussed the brokerage business and his efforts to be very helpful. The other information I just couldn’t read.

48 calls

175 dials

Good work chief, going to push to post some similar numbers today

I am on my way to getting my first $5K month… have 1800 so far done. with 20 days left.

Only 3200 left?  Easy… that is 50-60K in VA,EIA,Private REIT…

Yeah that is what I am calling for…

You boys need to bump your calls up.  No reason you can bust 40 calls an hour and still have time to screw around.  Do two sessions in the morning and one before you head home.

74 calls

I will call 200 people tomorrow.

[quote=gethardgetraw]74 calls

Dont rip his activities unless you are going to post yours day in and day out.

[quote=Ron 14]

Dont rip his activities unless you are going to post yours day in and day out.

161 dials

You boys need to bump your calls up.  No reason you can bust 40 calls an hour and still have time to screw around.  Do two sessions in the morning and one before you head home.

So you are telling me you talk to 30 clients a day, 20 working days a month that is 600 client contacts a month. How many clients do you have ? And if you aren’t keeping track you are doing half of what you think. That is based on my cold calling statistics.

Chief I am pretty sure he is talking to gethardgetrawgetahooker

[quote=Primo][quote=Ron 14]

Dont rip his activities unless you are going to post yours day in and day out.

So you are telling me you talk to 30 clients a day, 20 working days a month that is 600 client contacts a month. How many clients do you have ? And if you aren’t keeping track you are doing half of what you think. That is based on my cold calling statistics.

[quote=chief123][quote=Primo][quote=Ron 14]

Dont rip his activities unless you are going to post yours day in and day out.

I think this is just a miscommunication… PRIMO is well into his career and doesn’t need calling anymore.

[quote=Squash1]I think this is just a miscommunication… PRIMO is well into his career and doesn’t need calling anymore.

No offense but I disagree contacts can be controlled, I think dials can be controlled. But I have no control over if someone answers the phone or if I can get through a secretary…

[quote=Squash1]No offense but I disagree contacts can be controlled, I think dials can be controlled. But I have no control over if someone answers the phone or if I can get through a secretary…

Mind telling us what your LOS is and how long you called for?

Mind telling us what your LOS is and how long you called for?

I am just wondering, why are you focusing on cold calling your entire day?  I am sure you will snap soon.  Why not work the people you already know?  or try to get additional business from your existing clients, provide value, get recommendations and introductions.

What are you calling with, product or service? Going for appointment or mail out? Who are you calling? How are you qualifying?

[quote=WarRoom]You boys need to bump your calls up.  No reason you can bust 40 calls an hour and still have time to screw around.  Do two sessions in the morning and one before you head home.

You should be embarrassed to post such ridiculously low numbers. You keep saying, “I’m gonna do this tomorrow, I’m gonna do that TOMORROW”. Do it TODAY. 48 calls one day, 78 calls the next? Are you kidding? We can always come up with excuses as to why we don’t make the calls necessary (myself included), but for the love of god, what in the world are you doing all day!!! Not a rip on you, but just a smack in the nose for a reality check. You’ll never make it with those numbers. Pump up the volume!

Booyah

When i first got into the business, my manager who was awesome at training people always said you should strive for 40-60 contacts per day.  Btw, i could never average those numbers.  My ratio of contacts to calls has always averaged 10%.  200 dials will yield 20 contacts and on average I would get 1-2 prospects for 20 contacts.  To me a contact is getting the entire script out and waiting for a response.  My script is the traditional muni bond script.  Obviously the length of the script will also dictate how many contacts you will get.  Once the person engages me in conversation and I can qualify for money and or need I will call that a lead/prospect.

[quote=gethardgetraw]Booyah

heh heh heh working on a Saturday don’t tell mom

0 calls

[quote=gethardgetraw]0 calls

[quote=Primo][quote=gethardgetraw]0 calls

[quote=gethardgetraw] 0 calls

[quote=gethardgetraw]0 calls

[quote=WarRoom] [quote=gethardgetraw] 0 calls

That does not take all day senior squash - a few hours at the most.

You said you couldn’t do it in a day, that is all I was responding to.

You said you couldn’t do it in a day, that is all I was responding to.

How is polk any different than Reference USA?

They are all owned by the same company and offered under referenceusa, sales genie, Polk Directory etc…

I can’t help you, I’m sorry.

31 calls

What kind of track are you on in regards to production?  How much GDC do you need to have by what point in order to be appointed/keep your job/etc.?

JOnes is all done by 4 month average… So I think by year 2 you have to have a rolling 4th month of $8K, which is what 96K/year on average…

[quote=gethardgetraw]31 calls

Primo is absolutely correct. When I was at Jones consistency was my problem as well. My activities were hit and miss like yours. I would string together maybe 3 weeks making 100 dials a day and then frustration would set in and the next 2 months I would be at 30 or 40. The frustration built up and I wasn’t making any money. 27 months in I jumped ship to become a teller. My 4 month rolling average was 10k and I was meeting, but that isn’t good and it doesn’t pay the bills.

Everybody does that at Jones because the numbers are so easy to hit…Rolling $15K by year 4 or 5 that is just too easy, you need a rollover each month with some trails and you are there…

Primo… with 40 contacts/day =400/week(not saturdays) how many accounts are you opening a month 8-12?

It’s wrong for me to joke about anyone’s production…but I will anyway!

[quote=gethardgetraw]

[quote=Still@jones] It’s wrong for me to joke about anyone’s production…but I will anyway!

[quote=gethardgetraw]

[quote=Still@jones] It’s wrong for me to joke about anyone’s production…but I will anyway!

[quote=gethardgetraw]

haha nice still@jones… fair enough

still@ - If you did that you wouldn’t have failed at EJ. If you call that often it wouldn’t matter what you said or who you said it to. Especially at EJ with the low production standards you would still be around.

I know…

You just said you did more than that and it wasn’t enough. ???

Well the payout isn’t 40% after office expenses, advertising, toilet paper, etc. Also, if I remember correctly the health insurance comes off of your net and that was about $500 a month. I live in the Chicago suburbs, my mortgage at the time was $2200.

I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be one of these jerks that makes fun of people. Unfortunately, it seems, many people are on here to criticize others and try to prove how much they know.

So lets say $4,000 net.

[quote=nonews]I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be one of these jerks that makes fun of people. Unfortunately, it seems, many people are on here to criticize others and try to prove how much they know.

Primo… with 40 contacts/day =400/week(not saturdays) how many accounts are you opening a month 8-12?

[quote=Ron 14]Primo is absolutely correct. When I was at Jones consistency was my problem as well. My activities were hit and miss like yours. I would string together maybe 3 weeks making 100 dials a day and then frustration would set in and the next 2 months I would be at 30 or 40. The frustration built up and I wasn’t making any money. 27 months in I jumped ship to become a teller. My 4 month rolling average was 10k and I was meeting, but that isn’t good and it doesn’t pay the bills. [/quote]

Curious about this.  $10K @ 40% payout = $4,000/month.  There are plenty of people that don’t make $48,000 a year and do OK.  What part of the country were you in?

Granted, nobody is in this business to make $50K a year,  but how does it “not pay the bills?”

It’s a serious question.

173 calls
31 contacts
11 prospects created

Good work my man !

GHGR-

Well the payout isn’t 40% after office expenses, advertising, toilet paper, etc. Also, if I remember correctly the health insurance comes off of your net and that was about $500 a month. I live in the Chicago suburbs, my mortgage at the time was $2200.

[quote=nonews]I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be one of these jerks that makes fun of people. Unfortunately, it seems, many people are on here to criticize others and try to prove how much they know.

[quote=chief123]Primo… with 40 contacts/day =400/week(not saturdays) how many accounts are you opening a month 8-12?

[quote=Primo][quote=chief123]Primo… with 40 contacts/day =400/week(not saturdays) how many accounts are you opening a month 8-12?

When I “check the markets,” I’m actually just settling in for the day. Make coffee, delete all worthless emails (3-4), check pending wires, see what’s cleared of my GTC orders of my good clients. Doesn’t take more than a few minutes.

What do you guys call with - product or service? What is your script?

[quote=iceco1d]

[quote=Ron 14]Well the payout isn’t 40% after office expenses, advertising, toilet paper, etc. Also, if I remember correctly the health insurance comes off of your net and that was about $500 a month. I live in the Chicago suburbs, my mortgage at the time was $2200. [/quote]

So @ EDJ, your payout is 40% (unless you’re selling B or C shares), and THEN you hafta buy toilet paper, toner, copy paper, etc.?

If so, that really sucks!
[/quote]

Yep.  And postage and long distance phone. 

You don’t have to pay for black toner I believe though.  One of the reasons independent guys talk about how hugely different the payout is.  also why whem guys like windy say it isnt that big of a difference they are talking out of their asses.

Ron leaves out the milestone bonus in his figures. Those are very nice.

[quote=hotair1]Ron leaves out the milestone bonus in his figures. Those are very nice.[/quote]

Ron wasn’t receiving milestone bonuses when he was there I believe.

I was only there to receive half of the milestone bonuses - they don’t go back and say “Your production was this, so we’re going to pay you this milestone bonuses”, and they aren’t that much.  Once again, the payout is low for the work you do.

He probably also wasn’t there for the nice new account bonuses you guys get now.

[quote=on my own]GHGR-

I think I received 1 milestone bonus. I don't think I won any new account bonuses even though I received that queer gold shovel award for new accounts open in first year.

I’m not chiming in much anymore, but alot of this information you guys are giving is misleading. So someone has to correct it.

[quote=gethardgetraw][quote=on my own]GHGR-

Those were not the milestone bonuses 4 years ago. I posted my numbers on here long ago so why the hell would I lie about meeting expectations. If I was going to lie I would say exceeding. There is no way in hell you get 17k over the 1st year for meeting expectations and 28k in year two for doing the same. No way.

What is Seg 3 now? Rolling 15?

Nice signature ! LOL ! Yeah that is the Seg 3, but Ronnie Douche is over 25k by now, just ask him.

The biggest thing is the insurance by far, which you failed to mention.  

What is Seg 3 now? Rolling 15?

Where are you guys getting your info, because Segmentation is still based on rolling 4. I’m moving to Seg 3 at 13 months. Thats not a rolling 15.

He means a rolling $15k average, not 15 months.

He means a rolling $15k average, not 15 months.

[quote=SometimesNowhere]He means a rolling $15k average, not 15 months.

Truth time… who is a gk or took over an office?

[quote=Ronnie Dobbs][quote=SometimesNowhere]He means a rolling $15k average, not 15 months.

[quote=SometimesNowhere][quote=Ronnie Dobbs][quote=SometimesNowhere]He means a rolling $15k average, not 15 months.

[quote=Ronnie Dobbs]I’m not chiming in much anymore, but alot of this information you guys are giving is misleading. So someone has to correct it.

Truth time… who is a gk or took over an office?

Truth time… who is a gk or took over an office?

Sometimes, what do you mean you are behind?

[quote=Hey Kool-Aid] 

[quote=Ron 14] The biggest thing is the insurance by far, which you failed to mention.  

Dumb would involve failing out of Jones…and uhhhhhh yeah… If your not going to talk like an adult, i’m not answering your posts. I got off this site for that reason and i’ll continue to ignore the ignorant banter from now on…

Sometimes, what do you mean you are behind?

[quote=Ronnie Dobbs][quote=Hey Kool-Aid] 

Yeah, besides having a place to hang my hat, raising my standards is really all getting this small office did for me…

Yeah, besides having a place to hang my hat, raising my standards is really all getting this small office did for me…

Yeah, besides having a place to hang my hat, raising my standards is really all getting this small office did for me…

yes he did

Milestone Bonuses total $38k.

[quote=Ronnie Dobbs]Yeah, besides having a place to hang my hat, raising my standards is really all getting this small office did for me…

Hey Wind, we can always count on you to do everything possible to make sure that the the thread talks about what you are doing.   How about just starting a thread entitled, “I’m Wind” and respond just in that thread so that you don’t particpate in helping to turn all threads that mention you into threads about you?

Hey Wind, we can always count on you to do everything possible to make sure that the the thread talks about what you are doing.   How about just starting a thread entitled, “I’m Wind” and respond just in that thread so that you don’t particpate in helping to turn all threads that mention you into threads about you?

Here, I’ll finish this so we don’t have to spoil the thread with it:

Any regular poster: Windy, you always make the threads about you.

Windy: I never make the threads about my $40k gross months or the fact that I now have $100mm under management.

hotair1: Liar

Ron: Yeah, you are a liar and homo. Why don’t you go give Volt a reacharound.

Windy: Ron, why don’t you go flirt with a tellar/hand out some suckers/work the drive through.

There, finished. Can we talk about something else now?

You know you get a kick out of these threads, Sometimes.  Don’t lie

I didnt make it about you. You jumped into a thread 21 pages in and started spewing the wrong information and bragging about yourself at the same time.

I am all in favor of bringing this thread back to ghgr and his daily dials… I will await today’s results.

[quote=3rdyrp2]You know you get a kick out of these threads, Sometimes.  Don’t lie[/quote]

- True

I just want new gay jokes.

[quote=anonymous]Hey Wind, we can always count on you to do everything possible to make sure that the the thread talks about what you are doing.   How about just starting a thread entitled, “I’m Wind” and respond just in that thread so that you don’t particpate in helping to turn all threads that mention you into threads about you?

Again, blame Windy. Lets not blame Ron for his gay ignorant bashing. Nothing I said on my orignial post was wrong Ron. If I remember correctly, you don’t work at Jones. How about you let the Jones guys answer the questions about Jones and you stop attacking what I say.

Windy, you can’t take control over what Ron posts, but you have a choice about what you post.  You continuously post in such a way to ensure that the threads stay about you.  If you don’t want them to be about you, don’t respond.  If you want them to be about you, keep responding.  Don’t respond to this post unless you want to continue to make this about you.

So I am to blame for the site wide hatred of Windy? Ok. Fine. I will ignore you from now on. I am sure you will never be ripped again.

Windy, you can’t take control over what Ron posts, but you have a choice about what you post.  You continuously post in such a way to ensure that the threads stay about you.  If you don’t want them to be about you, don’t respond.  If you want them to be about you, keep responding.  Don’t respond to this post unless you want to continue to make this about you.

So I am to blame for the site wide hatred of Windy? Ok. Fine. I will ignore you from now on. I am sure you will never be ripped again.

Think I ate something bad for lunch only got 78 dials today… going home sick…I guess it’s another saturday for me…

193 calls
40 contacts
15 prospects created

[quote=chief123]Think I ate something bad for lunch only got 78 dials today… going home sick…I guess it’s another saturday for me…

[quote=gethardgetraw]193 calls
40 contacts
15 prospects created

[quote=chief123]Think I ate something bad for lunch only got 78 dials today… going home sick…I guess it’s another saturday for me…

good work, gethardgetraw

GHGR-

Not leaving messages I assume ?

who’s prospecting next week?  how about the week between christmas and new years?  I’m coming in and going to give cold calling a shot, people should be in good moods   I don’t know what sort of luck i will have though.  Cold calling businesses are out, and residentials might be shaky with people traveling/family but i’m gonna give it a run

I’m planning on purely doorknocking next week and the week after. People will be home, so I think it’s an excellent time to add a hundred or more prospects.

who’s prospecting next week?  how about the week between christmas and new years?  I’m coming in and going to give cold calling a shot, people should be in good moods   I don’t know what sort of luck i will have though.  Cold calling businesses are out, and residentials might be shaky with people traveling/family but i’m gonna give it a run

[quote=on my own]

GHGR-

[quote=Ronnie Dobbs]I’m not chiming in much anymore, but alot of this information you guys are giving is misleading. So someone has to correct it.

I concur, we do not pay for any paper, toner, ink, etc. out of net.  It all comes off P&L.

212 calls
43 contacts
17 prospects created

GHGR-

Three in a row-Buy yourself a pitcher of beer.

Good job. You are on your way.

What changed over the last 3 days that made your activity more consistent and do you feel you can stay at that level?

[quote=gethardgetraw]212 calls
43 contacts
17 prospects created

GHGR— great job with the calls.  Are you setting any appointments?  It seems you’re adding a good amount of prospects each day, I’d think atleast one of them would bite for a face to face meeting. 

[quote=Hey Kool-Aid]

[quote=on my own]

GHGR-

Three in a row-Buy yourself a pitcher of beer.

Good job. You are on your way.

What changed over the last 3 days that made your activity more consistent and do you feel you can stay at that level?

Using this Sunday to set up this week's calls.

[quote=gethardgetraw][quote=on my own]

GHGR-

Three in a row-Buy yourself a pitcher of beer.

Good job. You are on your way.

What changed over the last 3 days that made your activity more consistent and do you feel you can stay at that level?

110 calls

212 calls

Ok, now have you set any appts, got an order or something similar? Or are you just blowing through people to get to your 40/day?

Was not shooting for any appointments, however that is going to change.

Yeah, dude, you gotta start getting in front of these people.  They get too stale, their basically cold leads again.

How long is it taking you to make 220 calls?  What is the value per dial, roughly 300?

[quote=gethardgetraw]Was not shooting for any appointments, however that is going to change.

GHGR



I read thru the thread- good work! But I may have missed it if you posted- have you been able to open any accounts from the December calling campaign?



Was your intention to push a month for prospects, then transition to working them into the meetings/client status?



Is it taking you a while to get a residential list clear of the DNC list?



Thanks!

GHGR

I read thru the thread- good work! But I may have missed it if you posted- have you been able to open any accounts from the December calling campaign?

Was your intention to push a month for prospects, then transition to working them into the meetings/client status?

Is it taking you a while to get a residential list clear of the DNC list?

Thanks!

Where’s gethardgetraw? I figured we would have some more postings by now.

[quote=MainStreet]Where’s gethardgetraw? I figured we would have some more postings by now.[/quote] I was thinking the samething.

I’m back bitches…

[quote=bennew11]

I’m back bitches…

[quote=gethardgetraw]I’m back bitches…

[quote=SometimesNowhere]Did your parents take it hard when you came out of the closet?[/quote]

You never answered my question.

No but they were pissed when they caught your mother sneaking out afterwards

[quote=chief123][quote=gethardgetraw]I’m back bitches…

[quote=gethardgetraw]No but they were pissed when they caught your mother sneaking out afterwards[/quote]

GHGR-

GHGR -

I agree with WarRoom and SportsFreakBob! What happened with pounding the phone, and setting appointments? Not “seeing if they would like to drop by!” I think you think TOO much. Stop analyzing everything, and just get the job done. I have read this post since day one, and all I have read is Zero Sales and a Quitters Attitude.

Suck it up. Get it done. Make the Money.

Period!

Maybe he want to switch it up a little. Cold call, drink coffee,Cold call, candy bar, cold call, hot tea, cold call, than back to coffee. It all makes sense to me

I must admit. That’s a lot of coffee in one day

GHGR-

Oh sh*t I definitely need to clarify that I am absolutely asking them for an appointment, but I'm wording it as a "meeting" rather than an "appointment." And I'm not being casual about when they stop by; I'm offering 2 specific times next week of when I'm available.

[quote=Sportsfreakbob]GHGR-

[quote=gethardgetraw][quote=Sportsfreakbob]GHGR-

I like the hourglass idea actually.



Getraw … Here is a novel idea. Do something. Stop planning and do.

Why no sales. I just read 29 pages and didn’t see a single sale. Pound the phone all you want, but 2 prospects and no sales is going to hurt you each day. Get out there and walk around. Don’t be afraid to see people face-to-face for the first time. It is harder for someone to turn you down when they’re looking at you than it is when you’re just a faceless person on the phone.

Been hitting the phones hard today; catching people at home seeing that it’s President’s Day.

“A very powerful piece of software”??  Come on man. 

Im a bank boy so I am not the most knowledgable script writer, but I did do a good amount of cold calling when I was at EJ. I like what you have here, but I would reword the “very powerful piece of software” line and also eliminate the “checkbook at home” comment and “financial doctor” comment. I think the rest is very solid.

Oh, and pre-qualify too. 

I have a very powerful piece of software

Don’t patronize people.



[quote=gethardgetraw]and I stress, leave the checkbook at home[/quote]

Are you not wanting to be a closer?



[quote=gethardgetraw]And this is where I kind of play the financial doctor[/quote] Really? Financial Doctor?



On a serious note:

How are your sells coming along? You haven’t posted an sells in 29 pages. New Accounts? New AUM? Revenues?

I think your script is way too long.   The key to cold calling is making the prospect talk and not vice versa. Have a conversation with the prospect and ask open ended questions such as " how do you feel about your investments? You’ll be surprised by the responses

Any updates?

You all know it when you see it. That smokin’ hot local bond that has <$1mm inventory thats flying off the shelf. You pick up the phone. Call your best prospect. Refresh the inventory. $100k left. You inform him that this is one of the good ones and it’s going extremely quickly. He asks the price, the quantity left, confirms the coupon rate. And he pulls the trigger. “Buy all that’s left. I’ll be in this afternoon with the check.” What? What did you just say? Are you f’ing serious? Hope to god you weren’t thinking out loud. Ok ok focus. Jesus. Never opened an account this fast. Flying through all the key questions, nailing all the disclaimers. He’s answering as quickly as possible. Account opened. You slam the phone. Refresh the inventory. Still $100k. You place the $100k buy. Refresh the inventory. The bond is gone thanks to you.

It’s been a good day.

So you finally made a sale. Good for you (seriously).

Now stop posting and get back on the phone. Use that good mojo to get another.

On to the next one, on to the next
On to the next one, on to the next
On to the next one, on to the next
On to the next one, on to the next
And I’m on to the next one

this thread is usually the last 10 min of humor in my day. unreal. 

Just what I would be looking for. Some 20 something who doesn’t know sh-t, calling me wasting my time. Go somewhere for 10 years and get some experience junior. The only money you’re going to get is a few “I feel soory for the little prick” dollars.

gb0414 - you’re 26 years old.
 
 navet - you’re a newbie in his first 3 years at Edward Jones.
 
But I concede. You guys are right. Edward Jones is the worst firm to start with while garnering experience in this industry. Better to start in your 30s than your 20s in my opinion.
 
And damnit you’re right again, $100k orders are dog-shit transactions. $250k minimum.
 
The two should know that it takes balls of steel to criticize someone for the sole reason to bring them down. It reflects positively on yourselves and makes you look like even bigger of a man. It shows character. You’re the 2 FA’s standing on the parameter at the Regional Meeting gauking at how phony the meeting is, so angry at everyone else for being in such a positive mood.  The fact that you visit my journal to slam every post while refusing to offer constructive criticism shows self confidence and a humble ego.
 
 

[quote=gethardgetraw]gb0414 - you're 26 years old.    navet - you're a newbie in his first 3 years at Edward Jones.   But I concede. You guys are right. Edward Jones is the worst firm to start with while garnering experience in this industry. Better to start in your 30s than your 20s in my opinion.   And damnit you're right again, $100k orders are dog-shit transactions. $250k minimum.   The two should know that it takes balls of steel to criticize someone for the sole reason to bring them down. It reflects positively on yourselves and makes you look like even bigger of a man. It shows character. You're the 2 FA's standing on the parameter at the Regional Meeting gauking at how phony the meeting is, so angry at everyone else for being in such a positive mood.  The fact that you visit [b]my journal[/b] to slam every post while refusing to offer constructive criticism shows self confidence and a humble ego.    [/quote]

even though you couldn't spell my username right i'll just assume your talking to me.

1.  i didn't criticize you i laughed (and laugh) at other peoples comments, so get your panties out of a bunch

2.  i'm at an indy so i don't have regional meetings

3. i've never slammed any of your posts, and i'd probably offer the same constructive criticism that gets written by someone else, so again, stop freaking out.  your very emotional

$10k gross day

dish girlfriend!

hahaha what?!

Give us the scoop sister-friend!

Haha nice. Basically closed on a million dollar account I've been working on for the past 2 months. Transfer came in yesterday and placed the buys today. $300k of it was straight cash from Merrill Lynch =)

The client and I just hit it off and he transferred it all.

This is what it's all about!

Is that off a cold call?

and, how many calls have you made before you found that one?

Just wondering.

L

Whattup Lawrence. Love the name/avatar.

That was off a warm call. He was listed as a beneficiary on one of my clients. I've cold called him a few times with high yield Build America Bonds. He mentioned the horrible service at Bank of America's Wealth Management team. I distincly remember him saying "Wealth Management" so I asked for a ballpark estimate of how much he had over there. He actually just straight up and told me the amount. Then, I faxed him a few sample portfolios of options available to him with his huge money market (he actually timed the '08 correctly). He liked what he saw and just transferred it all. Side note - Merrill Lynch had trouble transferring the money market, apparently that's a difficult asset to transfer

Before the transfer, I've probably talked to him a roughly 4-5 times.

Now I get to coast for 2 months and take a break from cold calling.

[quote=gethardgetraw]

Whattup Lawrence. Love the name/avatar.

That was off a warm call. He was listed as a beneficiary on one of my clients. I've cold called him a few times with high yield Build America Bonds. He mentioned the horrible service at Bank of America's Wealth Management team. I distincly remember him saying "Wealth Management" so I asked for a ballpark estimate of how much he had over there. He actually just straight up and told me the amount. Then, I faxed him a few sample portfolios of options available to him with his huge money market (he actually timed the '08 correctly). He liked what he saw and just transferred it all. Side note - Merrill Lynch had trouble transferring the money market, apparently that's a difficult asset to transfer

Before the transfer, I've probably talked to him a roughly 4-5 times.

Now I get to coast for 2 months and take a break from cold calling.

[/quote]

Common rookie mistake.  Don't shut it down.

[quote=gethardgetraw]

[/quote]

You forgot to put RR breaks on there!  With all of that coffee you will need some of those!

The Greatest Salesman in the World

"... the rewards are great if one succeeds but the rewards are great only because so few succeed. Many succumb to despair and fail without realizing that they already possess all the tools needed to acquire great wealth. Many others face each obstacle in their path with fear and doubt and consider them as enemies when, in truth, these obstructions are friends and helpers. Obstacles are necessary for success because in selling, as in all careers of importance, victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats. Yet each struggle, each defeat, sharpens your skills and strengths, your courage and your endurance, your ability and your confidence and thus each obstacle is a comrade-in-arms forcing you to become better... or quit. Each rebuff is an opportunity to move forward; turn away from them, avoid them, and you throw away your future."

Just fired a $600k client for complaining about commissions lol

You did not...

You are an idiot..

What kind of assets are guys bringing per year calling on product?

Squash - She literally sat next to me and asked what the commission was before we placed a trade, and said "I'm not going to pay that." And I pointed to the door and out she went. No way in hell I'm doing $50 trades which have no commission payout. You're literally working for free at that point.

Otane - It's hard to tell. You open the account with a $5k - $10k bond sale and afterwards you bring in everything else after running FAST and Morningstar hypos (everything else being their stagnant accounts, 401k rollovers, new money from selling land, house, etc) . In the past year, in terms of bond sales, I'd say... $300k new AUM. However, transfers after those bond sales have brought in roughly $3mm, which I've heard is average during your first year. Nearly all of my new AUM have come from the cold calling and making the small, initial bond sales. Otherwise, I've had 4 walk-ins totalling around $250k new AUM.

Journal update: What do I think about this career choice at this point in time? I absolutely love it. I'm past the first-year stage of working solely out of fear of losing your job and being more mindful about who I bring on as a client. I'm worlds apart of when I first started in terms of facing rejection. It really doesn't phase me anymore. I have no problem asking exactly how much money is in their CD coming due or how much they're able to invest when we're discussing a bond during a cold call. No more "Do you have a ballpark estimate of roughly how much is in that CD coming due?" I'm now asking point blank "How much is in that CD?" If they don't feel comfortable answering, "Thank you very much" and hang up. I've also noticed it's the people with little to no money that don't feel comfortable discussing their finances whereas the million dollar client has no problem letting you know exactly how much is coming due and when it comes due. Cold calling to disqualify the prospect has worked wonders, and it makes cold calling enjoyable in a tongue-in-cheek way. They have no idea that you desperately want the commission but you speak as though you couldn't care less. Haha. It seems the less I give a fck about whether or not they say yes, the better I perform. The ball's in your court after ask how much money they're able to put to work. If they give some BS about a $1200 rollover, "Thank you very much" and hang up. Jones needs to teach that one $100k client is far better than ten $1500 clients. The $100k client says "Ok that sounds good let's do it," whereas the $1500 clients say "How much commission will this cost me? Ok what's the expense ratio? What's the P/E ratio? What do you think of Vonage? Hmm I don't know let me talk it over with my wife."

Edit - Jones will tell you, "Yeah but the ten clients with $1500 can refer their friends and family to you. They may even come into money in the future." But that's exactly the case with the $100k client, and he'll refer other $100k clients to you in just the same fashion.

I understand how their business model works - Most FA's don't last their first year and they get a ton of new households that slowly trickle up to the bigger FA's. Which is why they have the Ted Jones prospecting award. However, the Ted Jones prospecting award doesn't mean sht for your checking account.

I refuse to do stocks. Big money is put in mutual funds and bonds. Play money is put in stocks.

The three million dollar producers in the area have all built their businesses on muni bonds, which has got to mean something. Sell them that first bond and later transfer in their mutual funds to collect the trails and build your AUM.

[quote=gethardgetraw]

 If they give some BS about a $1200 rollover, "Thank you very much" and hang up. Jones needs to teach that one $100k client is far better than ten $1500 clients. The $100k client says "Ok that sounds good let's do it," whereas the $1500 clients say "How much commission will this cost me? Ok what's the expense ratio? What's the P/E ratio? What do you think of Vonage? Hmm I don't know let me talk it over with my wife."

[/quote]

Haha!  So true.  That's why small clients drive me crazy.  I have very few small clients that I actually like as clients.  I also stay away from younger clients in general.  Age 50 is sort of the magic number to me.  It's the age at which you've now developed enough wisdom to know what you don't know, that you don't know everything, that you don't WANT to know everything, and that you have enough assets that messing up bad will REALLY fukc yourself over.  So to me, it's sort of like the pro baseball player - Age 50, $250K investment assets, 100K income is sort of like .285, 20 HR, 85 RBI's - the low end of "good".  Personally, I prefer .300, 35, 100 (age 55, 500K, 150K income).  Of course, you can throw in them having a pension with lump-sum provision, that helps.  Maybe a "no-debt" situation so their expenses are low (thus small withdrawal rates). 

The age 35, $8500 rollover, $62,500 income ("Hey, maybe he'll buy insurance and refer his parents!") is the same as the Center Fielder that hits .242, 9 HR's, 42 RBI's but "steals a lot of bases!".

GHGR check your inbox.

FA86 - The PM system is all crunked up for me right now. These new forums are pretty ghetto. Anyway, you asked what led me to cold call and why I've decided to go the route I have in regards to the investments I'm using.

My response: I went into this business pretty much blindly. I had not even considered cold calling until stumbling upon this forum. What originally led me to cold calling was the fact that I absolutely hate door knocking. I don't believe it's effective in today's world. It definitely worked 30 years ago for brokers in rural Joplin, MO, but it's not as effective as cold calling these days. That comes from a dose of common sense as well as experiencing both for myself. When I would door knock, I'd come back with 15-20 prospects. WEAK prospects at that. It's difficult to be taken seriously when you're going door to door and asking about their finances. With me being in this industry, there's no way I'd discuss that info with a stranger in a suit at my doorstep. In the time it took to gather those 20 prospects (all day), I can get that in half the time through cold calling. Those prospects are also better qualified b/c I'm calling about a product. I suppose you could go door to door with a bond idea, but it's definitely more difficult. As far as the way I'm shaping my business, that too comes from common sense and a bit of experience. I've never seen real money in these bogus investments, nor have I heard my +$500k clients talk about these bogus investments. They're all in mutual funds and bonds. When I say bogus investments, I'm referring to variable annuities, stock trusts, individual penny stocks, etc. Warren Buffett says to invest in what you understand. People don't understand annuities. When it takes a wholesaler an hour to explain a VA to a FINANCIAL ADVISOR, something's wrong. A lot of these products are over-engineering at its finest, and totally unnecessary to boot. Twenty years down the road, what kind of book do you want to be dealing with? A grab bag of different investments or quality bonds and your preferred mutual funds from the fund families of your choosing? I choose the latter.

Seriously, these Jones computers are so bad. eMachines, 512 mb of ram, satellite internet connection, INTERNET EXPLORER 6.0

It takes my desktop 5 minutes to load after logging in.

The problem with these busto computers is that it makes it very difficult to establish and maintain momentum during your day. JonesLink has way to many links. The equity screen is on a java platform, which also takes way too long to load, the navigation through bondnet is a joke. The layout to practically anything on these computers is horrible, plus once you find what you're looking for, it takes 4-5x longer than it should to load. Can you still get the job done? Yes, obviously. However, it definitely negatively impacts our performance through frustration and a terribly disjointed and slow software system.

Plus we pay over $100/month for these computers. A slap in the face.

At least give us Mozilla Firefox. Adblock + tabbed browsing

Variable Annuitiy - "But it has guaranteed income for life, and it starts at 5%!"

The total cost of a VA is around 3%.

How do you outlive a 40 year, 6%, AA-rated bond if you're 50 years old? Which costs 0% annually. Which has far more liquidity.

Variable Annuity: "Yeah but if the market does well..." blah blah blah

Mutual funds + bonds = There's your variable annuity and it doesn't take 20 pages to explain it and it doesn't cost the client 3% each year. You actively manage your mutual funds and bonds and earn your wage. A VA is selling, not advising. I can't believe VA's exist.

Variable Annuity: "Well you're right, which is why we say they're appropriate for A PORTION of your money." REALLY, REALLY?! YOU BELIEVE THAT?! What does that even mean?! If an investment isn't good enough to put all your money into, and please note: Diversification issues aside, how is it appropriate at all? That's like saying smoking a cigarette is fine as long as you don't smoke the entire pack.

How did your mutual funds survive the 40% "correction" in '08. Have you ever lost 1/2 million dollars? The VA is an insurance policy for butter and eggs money. You are much too young to realize the fear in experiencing a waterfall financial event right before retirement. 3% is a bargain to a 55+ customer when that occurs.

How long have you been in this business navet?

Not counting tomorrow too long.  I'm not just arguing with you about your investment choices. For the most part they are spot on. The issue about VA's begs the question about safety. A 5% lifetime payout is the most you can hope for in any investment portfolio without running the risk of outliving your assets. In an VA you can invest in mutual funds without ever running the risk of having a down year. Ask any of your 55+ age clients if they wish their money had grown by 5% minus expenses in 2008? I mentioned your age because it has been my experience that the younger the FA, the more likely they don't use VA's. And while I'll admit they are not for everybody, a VA is a tool in your belt that has a place.

I agree with Navet. Not piling on you GHGR but I think the downside protection and the relative piece of mind is well worth the cost to some clients.

You can get the same downside protection by purchasing Puts on the S&P. Maybe even cut your costs more by selling the same Put but at a lower strike price. The advantage of annuities are ,arguably I might add, the tax deferral, creditor protection and state guarantees of insurance products.

The biggest problem with a VA is you can't get at your money. The biggest benefit with a VA is you can't get at your money.

Well said Navet.

[quote=iceco1d]

You cannot get the same protection of a VA by buying puts on the S&P.  Have S&P puts helped you at all with any of your European equity OR fixed income holdings lately?  Nope...

...Just thought you'd like to know, before you look dumb(erererer). 

[/quote]

Excuse me for dumbing it down. I simply used the S&P puts for an example of protecting the entire portfolio which is typically benchmarked to the S&P. You can diversify your puts to better match your portfolio or you can only buy puts on the portion of your portfolio that has the potential for excessive volatility and unacceptable downside risk.

thanks for the clarity that I guess I needed. you must think it is so much easier to explain to a client the mechanics of an annuity with riders and the various expenses then a long put position, plus if you work them right and sell a lower strike price put you have the option to buy back in at a better level and cut your costs on the entire package. With your knowledge of annuities and the hopes of not wearing blinders, I am sure I don't need to go further.

ND, I think it's much easier to explain to a boomer who lost big in '08 that he could invest in the market, get 5% or the market increase, never a down year, and a 5% stream of income that he can't outlive. For a portion of your portfolio it's a no brainer. I'm not pooping on your put strategy, I'm just saying that the VA offers more protection and is actually pretty easy to explain.

Ice - all those spaces can be hedged by shorting or to buy puts on those positions by using the respective ETFs. For those unable to place options trades they should work a little harder to track the markets. For example, playing the euro trade and buy currency ETFs to hedge the PIIGS crap.  Make sure your clients are not just traditionally diversified but tactically diversified. If money is coming out of the real estate market then it is going into another market. Look at the TLT over the last 3 months versus EFA. Real money does not ever come out it just moves around. You can either lead it join it or follow it.

Navet - I am talking about people over 5 years from retirement. I personally think annuities are great for creating a stream of income aka a personal pension but not so much for the accumulation stage. Just my opinion and not set in stone by any means.

The entire purpose of an annuity is to transfer the risk to the insurance company. The insurance company does not buy risk unless they can make money on it from the big picture point of view. There is no one single tool to use and no matter what I say there will be a situation when <fill in the blank> is not appropriate for the client. If they are scared shitless about the market then yes an annuity with an accumulation rider may be appropriate. But otherwise I prefer to manage the risk myself.

If someone simply got out of the market as it drifted below the 200dma they would have been great over the last ten years but for the most part advisors buy and hold/gather so Navet would be right about ‘08 clients.

deleted duplicate post.

(thanks admin, your sorry ass page takes so long to load it makes some of us click save over and over ughhh why do I keep coming back here?)

Can I plug advisorheads here?

I guess not. How about a d v i s o r h e a d s. c o m?

Here's my cold calling station. Fan, coffee heating plate, hour glass, script, list of names with a ruler, phone, picture of a gorilla. Gotta be a gorilla on the phone. Fortunately I have a back room where I'm set up. No distractions. My BOA can't hear me. No chair, no computer.

Props to TakingNames for PM'ing me about a year ago telling me how to set up. (He got a lot of ideas from Bill Good ;) ) Also have the index card system utilized for call backs.

[quote=FA86]

Can I plug advisorheads here?

[/quote]

Apparently not huh, but if your name is Yonglian01, you can endlessly spam this website? Huh?? Why haven't the mods at least, pulled the guys account?

I have been looking for a good flat iron

Because they have not caught on to it yet after countless threads asking for mods to delete yong dong king kong.

GHGR, Since this campaign began what are your numbers total calls, contacts, accounts, etc? Curious to hear, in the beginning you sounded frusterated now I would guess you are knocking the cover off the ball!!!

 Please update and share any lessons of success and failure.

PS I am in week two and currently feeling frustration. Only calling businesses.

Roger - I have no clue. I stopped keeping my calling records after a few thousand calls. By then I knew my contact ratio, prospect ratio, and client ratio. I've probably called a little under 10,000 phone numbers. Only been residential.

Not knocking it out of the park just building up AUM and hoping for the best.

My best advice would be to stick with tax free bonds and use the script I mentioned in your thread. And don't leave the office until you've dialed 200 numbers. You'll get the sale on the last 10 dials for the day. Always seems to happen that way.

God I love bonds. No talk of commission, sales charges, which chinese equity is the best at the moment.

A low interest rate environment has actually helped my business. Bank paying you 60 bps? Maybe 1%? And you only keep 75% of what you make? On $100k investment at 1%, you're paid $83/month from the bank. Only keep $62. Has your bank ever called you up and said, "These rates stink. Let's look at something else." That's where you come in. Tax free bond. $416/month. Keep every dime.

Love me some bonds.

You like bonds now because they are easy.  You'll hate bonds three years from now when your clients get statement shock. No matter how much you've thought you've prepared them for rising rates, it's not enough. 

If you have balls you'd be selling equities.

Prospecting with hard to sell things, is flat out..stupid. You've somehow divined interest rates beyond an "opinion"? Really? All our clients need tax efficient income, and that doesn't change, even if interest rates are likely to go up. Clients like/need getting a paycheck that doesn't bounce....

You'd need more than balls, to prospect with some hot stock tip...

FYI, in my practice, old school, we have guard rails on asset allocation. Our clients have stocks, sector plays, mutual funds, uit products, cash equivalents, pretty much the entire story, along with serious financial planning. But, if I wanted to get accounts, via the phone, no doubt about it, my nearly 20yrs of exp says to use fixed income. Especially so, when they are staring at bank statements where their deposits are making zero percent.

So you built your business in 1990? Where were interest rates back then?  Ever sell LT bonds to open accounts when rates were this low? If he's selling 15yrs and below I say kudos - anything about that is going to get slaughtered.

Jump knows, bonds are gonna get hacked, just like they did last time.

Who's buying bonds for capital appreciation? I thought you buy those for paychecks.

Buy low sell high = stocks. Not bonds.

Bond drops 20% below par? Paycheck does not change. Bond is called in 6 years? 100 cents on the dollar. Hold the bond until maturity? Pass it along to your kids, just as you would with a CD at the bank? 100 cents on the dollar.

Bond appreciates 20% above par? Why? Because interest rates fell. Do you sell the bond to "lock in" a "profit"? No. You're buying it for the income. Why would you lock in "profit" if you're going from a 7% bond to a 4.5%?

Bonds = Paycheck. Every 6 months. Not going to change.

Far different from equities.

Ah ha! But GHGR, what if your client expects to need the money in 3 years? And their bond is only worth 80% of par? Hmm?

Answer = Then they shouldn't be buying intermediate or long term bonds.

GHGR - You are killing me kid! ....AND you're absolutely correct....  Keep it up! +1

[quote=gethardgetraw]

Here's my cold calling station. Fan, coffee heating plate, hour glass, script, list of names with a ruler, phone, picture of a gorilla. Gotta be a gorilla on the phone. Fortunately I have a back room where I'm set up. No distractions. My BOA can't hear me. No chair, no computer.

Props to TakingNames for PM'ing me about a year ago telling me how to set up. (He got a lot of ideas from Bill Good ;) ) Also have the index card system utilized for call backs.

[/quote]

Sweet calling station, dude. Doesn't the hour glass make all the difference?  Haven't read Bill Good - but drank some kool aid from a trainer who lived and breathed him.

[quote=gethardgetraw]

Who's buying bonds for capital appreciation? I thought you buy those for paychecks.

Buy low sell high = stocks. Not bonds.

Bond drops 20% below par? Paycheck does not change. Bond is called in 6 years? 100 cents on the dollar. Hold the bond until maturity? Pass it along to your kids, just as you would with a CD at the bank? 100 cents on the dollar.

Bond appreciates 20% above par? Why? Because interest rates fell. Do you sell the bond to "lock in" a "profit"? No. You're buying it for the income. Why would you lock in "profit" if you're going from a 7% bond to a 4.5%?

Bonds = Paycheck. Every 6 months. Not going to change.

Far different from equities.

[/quote]

Good grief, I'm looking at this conversation.... Ok, I'm apparently the only person that employs real asset allocation? My clients have guard rails of equity/fixed income. 20/80-80/20...

Furthermore, we have added some precious metal eft/funds to manage inflation risk, nothing crazy, but 3-6% per hhld. We manage equity risk by removing sectors we believe to have unusually high risk.

I tell my clients, there are 4 things they can do with their money. They can buy cash, bonds, r/e, or stocks. The trick isn't guessing which one is "right", but putting the correct amount of money into each, then being patient enough to let the chips fall where they may. I tell clients that I'm going to encourage the new purchases into the CHEAPEST of the 4, which also means that they're the most out of favor/most inclined to feel fear about making that purchase.

But hey folks, maybe that's just me.

I'm sure that GHGR is smart enough to go after the clients other assets, which may very well be equity holdings. GHGR, please, make sure you don't fall into some trap where you think equities suck just because your young career has experienced that. I've never known a long term success in our biz that had negative feelings about "the market".

In the past week:

1 new account, 25 bonds

1 new account, 20 bonds

1 new account, 20 bonds

Existing account, 10 bonds

Today: 400 calls. No exceptions. Will update every 100 calls.

Everything's falling into place.

LETS DO THIS

100 calls - NOTHING. No prospects, no interest. 300 to go

Nothing? what you mean?? You've gotten closer to your next big fish! Keep going!!

Rawhide!

Ok 150 calls completed and it turns out there was a scheduling snafu with some friends for an out of state college football game I'm attending. I need to take off right now rather than tomorrow morning, otherwise a friend is stranded for the evening. Hitting it hard on Monday.

Gethard

Do you call residences before 9 am and during the dinner hour 6pm to 7pm?  I do not, but if you are not getting your head taken off, maybe I will start as well.

Thank you

Honestly, most mornings I start at 9am. I'm a coffee freak and if I finish my 2 cups before 9am, I'll start. But on average that's right at 9am. During dinner hours, I call no matter what. I have my best conversations from 5-7pm. Every now and then I'll call someone right in the middle of dinner and you apologize and mark "before 5pm" next to their name. Or "dinner." And I've never had someone extremely upset that I called. Having the sit down 5pm dinner with the entire is a fading fashion. I'd imagine 40 years ago it would be a huge faux pas to call from 5-7.

GHGR, how broad geographically is the list of people you're calling? Within how many number of miles of your office?

Thanks- good information-

FA86 - Anyone in my city making $100k per year and above. You can download that info into excel for free. I use my one of my local library's online databases available called referenceusa.com.

[quote=chief123]oh an 1 appt. kind of a cheap one.. Prospect sounded interested, so reverted back to EDJ format and said I would be in the area Friday visiting a client and would like to stop by to show him an idea i have been using with a lot of my clients[/quote]

It's hilarious Edward Jones FA's get bashed on here non stop but the one actual appointment you got came from using EJ methods. 

gethardgetraw

gethardgetraw,

Do you set a minimum with your prospects?

GHGR, hasn't posted in some time. Either he's hunkering down and working hard, or something happened. Hope he's ok, he certainly had the fighting spirit.  

Hope he comes back!

working hard

just cant quit

salary elsewhere, viewed as a salesman, $0 days, hung up on, lonely, no one from top respects you (they shouldn't, yet): all reasons to quit. take the $40k/year job. no more stress.

just cant quit

then

superstar. that is what you are.

ferrari in driveway.

the general public is retarded. can't be sensitive. they will hang up on you. you are a salesman. thank god you are.

60 hour work weeks. $40k/yr. can't golf with buddies on tuesday at 2pm. you have to work. $40k/year. but at least you have steady paychecks. you've got that.

salary job "IM AN ANALYST AT A BANK HURRRR EXCEL FACT CHECKING"

call a millionaire. $80k day (this has not happened to me, yet). "yeah but that hardly ever happens." really think that won't happen at least once every 2 years calling 200 numbers of wealthy people every day? if that's all that happened, you're still even with the $40k/yr salary. you call, it happens, you leave and cigar and golf.

friends ask me about vacation days. what? let's go golf, i'll let me assistant know i'm leaving early. i'll let her know.

just cant quit

$30/hr? want an hourly rate job? ouch

what do you do? "i'm a stockbroker." don't care how old you are, people still light up when they hear that. it will never lose its appeal.

just cant quit

top professions: doctors, attorneys, brokers

health, law, money

think about hours, stress, involvement, colleagues. tell me broker isnt best.

open account w bonds. everything else in wrap. play money: stocks, commidities, futures, gold, silver, nickel, copper, artitrary metal, 403b's, 401k's, 529's, IRA's, "financial planning" (whatever that is), insurance, annuities. big money wants tax free bonds. rollovers into mutual funds inside wrap. "hello alsjdfhsldjkfh would you like to make a $5k contribution to your IRA." worthless. "we've got 5% tax free, insured. thats 8% to you." "how much is left? $2.mm?can i buy it all?" heard this several times. you want to be successful? thats successful. want to be a "full service financial advisor"? open $5k IRAs and door knock business for 401ks. set up 529 with grandma. go hand out refrigerator magnets with you name on them. be a full service financial advisor. be well liked in your community. have 800 clients avg hh account 30k. all with magnets with your name.  30 min phone convos about where to invest $2k

stay conservative. dont shoot for best returns. no one wants to lose money. thats it. beat the banks. tell me broker isnt best profession. regardless of firm. no one else has this. its insane.

just cant quit. simply cannot stress this enough.

GHGR, lady stumbles into our office last week. Thought we could help in real estate, a mortgage. So, we say "no, we are investors of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds". So lady says to us (black lady with N. Carolina accent) "you mean people buy that stuff still?"

We had a good old laugh at that.

Defy the times, defy the odds, just say "F#$% it, I'm a stock broker for life, good or bad"

stay conservative. dont shoot for best returns. no one wants to lose money. thats it. beat the banks. tell me broker isnt best profession. regardless of firm. no one else has this. its insane.

It's still stressful. The guy is over painting my new office (real light tannish color) - I tell the guy my last office of ten years is supposed to be a happy color (light yellowish).

Painter says, no, yellow is stressful. It's a really stressful color, what do you do for living?

[quote=BigFirepower]

GHGR, lady stumbles into our office last week. Thought we could help in real estate, a mortgage. So, we say "no, we are investors of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds". So lady says to us (black lady with N. Carolina accent) "you mean people buy that stuff still?"

We had a good old laugh at that.

Defy the times, defy the odds, just say "F#$% it, I'm a stock broker for life, good or bad"

[/quote]

I am still trying to figure out why you felt the need to highlight the skin color of someone that came in to your office...but I really can't come up with a good reason.

It wasn't just someone, it was a black woman from North Carolina stumbling in unexpectedly and calling them out on their own turf about the wisdom of buying stocks.

Maybe more detail would reveal they are the Cohen brothers running a boiler room out of frozen snowey Fargo in the middle of the winter. Then it's black (Black) humor.

From his description, it looked like whoever came in to his office thought it was one thing, and it turned out to be something different than she thought.  Unless I read that incorrectly, i don't see where she "CALLED them out on their own turf about the wisdom of buying stocks"...but feel free to spin it in whatever manner bolsters your arguement.  I simply asked a question and your response is, well..typical. 

Actually, Stone, your responce and question is typical. I think we can infer by your question and avitar you are a black man.  Don't hijack a thread to press your agenda.  As a black man I am embrassed by young brothers like you.

Black..ha ha.  That is REALLY funny.  My children would beg to differ.  I am as white as the snow sitting on the ground outside of my office window.  As for the Avatar, wrong again.  The avatar is something one of my soliders came up with when we were one of the first on the ground in Iraq.   It has special meeting that you simply would not understand based on what we went through.

So, SuperMan, you need to be embarrassed for yourself because you have basically displayed how completely out of touch you really are.  Your assumption is so far off base that it isn't even funny.  Actually it is funny.  Oh, and the "young brother" comment, wait until I show my wife that one.  She is REALLY going to get a kick out of that.  Here is a hint.  I already collect a full military pension dumbass!  

GHGR,

I apologize for screwing up your thread...there was not planned agenda on my part.  I am sure it has been helpful to many others, myself included, and I will not make any further posts in your thread.  Again, sorry for the trouble and keep up the good work.

Here's something funny: a naive snow white man defends that avatar while calling attention to race; disses a black brother while waving the red, white and blue.

"Thanks for your service." You're welcome for (and to brag about) a full pension.

Congress is going to take a full day to honor the dead killed by a mentally ill person, instead of working to repeal the health care bill, even while the President addresses the tragedy in person.

A thread about cold calling on an anonymous forum gets "hijacked" by political correctness.

Stone, gee whiz....

I wanted to create the visual of a southern woman, with a north carolina accent, black, so that people could imagine her style and sound.

Would you be so offended if I said a redneck stopped by from Arkansas, or a Hillbilly fella from the Ozarks, or a surfer dude from Laguna, Vietnamese guy from the deli, or an Indian guy at the 7/11?

All those I just described, speak with a certain style and flair, that adds to the humor of something they say that is either intentionally funny, or by accident.  

7:45 PM on a Friday evening

New Account - 10 bonds - First call never met

Never stop calling

God I've nailed my script. Cash cow. Never going to stop. Never look back. Run with it.

"Mr ____? Hi this is ____ with Edward Jones here in town. The reason for my call is the State of ____ had released a 5% tax free bond. Would you like to hear about it?" SHUT UP

-bond details-

"And you know CD rates are just in the toilet right now. (They ALWAYS chuckle and agree with you.) I mean last I checked they'll pay you ZERO.85. (Right now on the other end of the line, their heads are nodding in agreement with you. Selling to their emotions.) And well I wasn't sure if you had the funds available today, but I'd reserve a portion of this bond while it's still available." SHUT UP

*I use released instead of issued when I mention the bond. For some reason it works. I think the prospects feel like the bond just became available and it won't be here forever. Released sounds new, issued sounds boring. Bands release albums; they don't issue them. I'm very analytical ><

**I stress the ZERO as hard as possible, sometimes even repeat for emphasis, with regards to the CD rate. They will always cross the line to your side when you say this. You're on their team now and use those few seconds of the convo to build as much rapport as possible.

***I feel like the intro can't be more solid. I've tried everything and I can't believe how well this one works.

I was listening to a Bill Good seminar last night and he had a top producer come in and talk to the group. The FA said, the instant you walk into your office in the morning, become a professional actor. If you were being pitched a bond on the telephone, would you rather listen to an actor playing a financial advisor or a college professor playing a financial advisor?

All too often we're the professor. And we bore them to death and they just want to hang up the phone as soon as possible. You get Tom Cruise calling you up with a bond, and he's going to inject a hell of a lot of energy and emotion into his bond presentation.

That's why this job is so mentally exhausting. If we want to become successful, we've got to go into each and every call thinking the prospect is sitting on $100k cash and is very willing to invest with us. 200 times per day, 6 days a week. We've got to sell on emotion, not logic. One of the hardest jobs in the world. Phone book and a bond. Work your magic.

Disclaimer: I'm still not knocking it out of the park, but dear god I love this profession.

Proud to be a salesman. Those who don't like us generally aren't the ones who matter.

I've tried to quit many times every time I look on careerbuilder I just can't find a better profession. I believe we've even got it better than the doctors and attorneys. I think your right of entry into this career comes only after you've sent out your resume for a different job.

gethardgetraw

thanks for update on ur progress. u have me amp. going to make calls. saturday night at 7pm

GHGR,

Can I get in touch with you?  I'm a newer advisor in the DC metro(out 9 months) and would like to pick your brain because I want to start cold calling more as doorknocking has been a waste of time.  (not sure if its my market or me - I'm a younger FA).  

PM me.

Damn good post GHGR. 

Very motivating, It's monday and I'm still hung over from the wedding on saturday that spilled over into Sunday morning. Ughhhhh

GHGR, the script is good stuff. And, so is the approach to find a bond and make the calls.

Sounds like you are putting out the effort. Why, aren't you hitting it out of the park?

Is there an aspect of your process that is holding you back or could be improved?

Your script works wonders, because it has name recognition, a tangible rate of return, sense of urgency, it's 35 seconds or less. The only area you could improve upon, might be "special offer".

(Are you able to take advantage of this "new issue", or would you like me to contact you in the future if we have a "special offer".)

GHGR, nice job, nice enthusiasm. Apply what you're doing in decent numbers of calls, and by the end of this year you might have the base of a lifelong book.

success in sales is about quantity and QUALITY. What EXACTLY are you saying on your call?  Would you be open to improving your picth and getting more results?

good point ryan. going forward i will try to remember what i've been saying. i'll also try to find some sort of medium in which to keep record of my pitch. looking forward to success in sales.

Yeah GHGR that would actually be immensly helpful if you were able to record a (mock) call. I've found your posts very useful, just seems to be a key ingredient or phrase I'm missing. Thanks in advance

[quote=gethardgetraw]

I was listening to a Bill Good seminar last night and he had a top producer come in and talk to the group. The FA said, the instant you walk into your office in the morning, become a professional actor. If you were being pitched a bond on the telephone, would you rather listen to an actor playing a financial advisor or a college professor playing a financial advisor?

All too often we're the professor. And we bore them to death and they just want to hang up the phone as soon as possible. You get Tom Cruise calling you up with a bond, and he's going to inject a hell of a lot of energy and emotion into his bond presentation.

That's why this job is so mentally exhausting. If we want to become successful, we've got to go into each and every call thinking the prospect is sitting on $100k cash and is very willing to invest with us. 200 times per day, 6 days a week. We've got to sell on emotion, not logic. One of the hardest jobs in the world. Phone book and a bond. Work your magic.

[/quote]

Which seminar do you find most valuable at this point?

Gone...

Indy!!!

I will get to everyone's PM's, requests, etc soon. Give me a minute; never done this before :)

Dude, just post it in here!  Dying to know your story.

I am with SuperMan, let's hear it. 

Congrats!

Details man, we need the details. Specifically, how you are handling your NonCompete.

I'm with the others. Please post up the details. You can do it and keep your anonymity.

So what's the story??

[quote=gethardgetraw]

Gone...

Indy!!!

[/quote]

I'm starting to think he's just gone.

All PM's responded to that weren't asking for too much personal info. Still don't want to discuss compensation, city/state, or AUM. Just not comfortable with that. I'll give up my full name, AUM, etc when I make Barron's Top 100 :)

Ok my story - 3 years at Jones and I met with a local indy and was offered an absolutely incredible offer. Wells Fargo FiNet. He had locked in a lease with a collegue who left the business shortly after the lease was signed. Literally an empty room other than desk/comp just sitting there. 90% payout. We split lease, utilities, part time assistant (min wage), tech. We each pay our own ticket charges, transfer fees, etc (anything that has to do with advisor's own clients).

As for the noncompete - no trouble so far. Jones took their full 30 days for the license transfer. Longest 30 days of my life. Really nothing bad to say against Jones even after leaving. Great firm to start with. I'm paying the $95 account transfer fee out of my own pocket and only talking to clients who I genuinely enjoyed talking to while at Jones. No a-holes will transfer.

The two main reasons for going indy -

1) Wow we have a great bond inventory here. A 5% muni at discount with $10mm inventory at Jones was gone before the end of the day. Here, we have several of these available, and some even at 6%. Jones had Jones-specific inventory. We have access to the entire open market.

2) 90% payout. The broker I'm sharing a roof with is meeting the full payout and has been for the past 10 years. Not to get too much into it, but even bringing on a collegue, we're still at 90%. Nice guy and knew him for a while too. Outside of fixed income, all fee-based. He makes a killing and works 2 days a week, maybe 4 hours total. Very nice guy. Been in this area doing business for 30 years. Briefly mentioned wanting to retire but I'm not going to even bring it up. Brick and mortar real office. No shopping mall, no suite number. How I always imagined it could be in this business.

Ok I had three reasons. 3) You'll have to excuse the rough math, but after taxes and expenses, doing Seg 2 numbers at Jones nets you roughly $45,000/yr. Indy and you're making $100,000/yr. Materially different lifestyle. You've just got to be honest with yourself. Are you REALLY getting $55,000 worth of "support" from Jones? This is just on Seg 2 numbers. And you've got to remember, assistant, lease, tech are all fixed expenses. It blows my mind that there are million dollar producers who are still at Jones.

Anyway, I'm still moving over clients and my anxiety is still through the roof.

All I know is no more regional meetings dodging your $450 loafers from cow shit on some guy's farm while having to listen to some wholesaler preach Met Life Variable Annuities. There's so much more to this business.

Also is it weird to feel more "solidified" while in this huge transition? I'm not leaving this business and I feel so much more like a permanent fixture in my city and business after the move. Shedding the Jones green sport coat and I feel... liberated. I mean, no more recruiting emails about how we need more Jones in the area. No more monthly newsletters reading about how some 22 yr old rookie claims he wakes up at 5am (come on...) and who says they're in this business to "help people," yet they're selling annuities which they don't. even. understand. (But hey, they pay 6%.)

I feel like I now really do eat what I kill. Like, "Welcome to the Big Leagues, son."

Let's do this.

congrats gethardgetraw, I'm very happy and excited for your new adventure.  Don't forget us and keep in touch.

beer monday

Congrats on the move!

If you have a 7/63 and live in NYC email me at [email protected] This position involves NO opening accounts for a senior broker. I'm looking to add to my desk.

Another that deserves a "bump."

GHGR - Any update on how things are going?  What are some of the pros/cons that you have seen now that your on your own?

 Did you join a office or open your own ?

Aiyyo they wanna be like me, recreate my flow
Imitate my flow, then relate my flow
But while they try an' take my flow I make my dough
Aiyyo I can make it rain cause I be makin it snow
But yo, I've been takin it slow, I wasn't around
But the car crash couldn't lay the hustler down, nah
I'm still here f'real I'm still here
It wasn't lookin pretty but Swizzy I'm still here
They said I coulda been braindead in a wheelchair
But I'm standin in the booth and the skills are still here
Yeah, the hustler home, the hustler home
Let's celebrate a toast with a cup of Patron

Still here. Working hard. Been hitting the phones harder than ever. $100k min initial investment. Makin it rain. No time for forums!

~ttyl~

GHGR,

are you still selling bonds?

[quote=gethardgetraw]

Aiyyo they wanna be like me, recreate my flow
Imitate my flow, then relate my flow
But while they try an' take my flow I make my dough
Aiyyo I can make it rain cause I be makin it snow
But yo, I've been takin it slow, I wasn't around
But the car crash couldn't lay the hustler down, nah
I'm still here f'real I'm still here
It wasn't lookin pretty but Swizzy I'm still here
They said I coulda been braindead in a wheelchair
But I'm standin in the booth and the skills are still here
Yeah, the hustler home, the hustler home
Let's celebrate a toast with a cup of Patron

Still here. Working hard. Been hitting the phones harder than ever. $100k min initial investment. Makin it rain. No time for forums!

~ttyl~

[/quote]

What is the pitch these days?

You're about 6 months in since the switch, any regrets?

wow geez im a couple years late into this post but I gotta say mad inspirational and motivating

I can totally relate Im a young gun to and a year into the game still at a rookie level cold calling 500 calls a day but its so inspiring to hear success stories like this guy who also seems mad funny and cool striking it big after so many failed attempts…The story of my life currently atm Im actually working at a boilerroom just got sponsered 24 yrs old making the jump into Wells Fargo can’t wait! for more cold calling adventures to make it to the top of the ranks

wow geez im a couple years late into this post but I gotta say mad inspirational and motivating

I can totally relate Im a young gun to and a year into the game still at a rookie level cold calling 500 calls a day but its so inspiring to hear success stories like this guy who also seems mad funny and cool striking it big after so many failed attempts…The story of my life currently atm Im actually working at a boilerroom just got sponsered 24 yrs old making the jump into Wells Fargo can’t wait! for more cold calling adventures to make it to the top of the ranks