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Apr 10, 2008 3:39 pm

skippy’s right. Snaggletooth’s warning occurs when the new person settles for the easy work & the mentor doesn’t push them. We all have administrative work to do & it’s a lot easier to do that than call. No, you don’t want to be someone else’s admin unless there’s something in it for you. This, however, is how a lot of people come in. You have to put things in their own time & get it all done.

Apr 11, 2008 2:15 am

Financiallady, I'm reposting what I wrote earlier.  The answer to these questions are important if you are seriously asking for help.

Why don't you want to call on friends and family?   Are they not worthy of your services?

What is your job?  Tell us a little more about your work situation.  For instance, is a 30 year old attorney who makes $100K and has very little saved, but can afford to put away a $1000/month a good prospect or a waste of time prospect?

Apr 11, 2008 2:35 am

I should have answered those questions…they just seemed to cause a tangent on the post and I was hoping we could get back to the personnel issue. They are good questions, though.

The candid response to why I won’t call on friends and family is because I am stubborn and told myself I wouldn’t do it. They don’t have enough to get me through my hurdles. Plus, there is something inside me that wants to do it on my own, which is really what is bothering me about this mentor thing…because I feel like I am going to be good at this, and I don’t want to “get married too early to the wrong person” career wise.

My job is to gather assets. The most in the shortest amount of time for the time being. That being said, I do have discretion over bringing in some smaller accounts if I think the relationship is worth it in the long run, however, I do need to be realistic and spend most of my prospecting time getting in front of a lot of people who have significant assets.

Skippy, Snaggletooth, and Ashland, thanks for your advice. I look forward to hearing more suggestions if they are out there on how to handle this situation.  I’m definitely not a pushover, it is just a small office, this person is in charge, and so I am trying to pick my battles carefully but build the business that is best for me long term.

Apr 11, 2008 3:26 am
Financiallady:

I should have answered those questions…they just seemed to cause a tangent on the post and I was hoping we could get back to the personnel issue. They are good questions, though.

The candid response to why I won’t call on friends and family is because I am stubborn and told myself I wouldn’t do it. They don’t have enough to get me through my hurdles. Plus, there is something inside me that wants to do it on my own, which is really what is bothering me about this mentor thing…because I feel like I am going to be good at this, and I don’t want to “get married too early to the wrong person” career wise.

My job is to gather assets. The most in the shortest amount of time for the time being. That being said, I do have discretion over bringing in some smaller accounts if I think the relationship is worth it in the long run, however, I do need to be realistic and spend most of my prospecting time getting in front of a lot of people who have significant assets.

Skippy, Snaggletooth, and Ashland, thanks for your advice. I look forward to hearing more suggestions if they are out there on how to handle this situation.  I’m definitely not a pushover, it is just a small office, this person is in charge, and so I am trying to pick my battles carefully but build the business that is best for me long term.

  You sound EXACTLY like me, RIGHT NOW!  The only difference is that I'm at an insurance company, and you're at a wirehouse environment.   My production hasn't been the greatest - and it's been stressful.  I've been matched up with an MDRT producer who also has the CLF (Chartered Leadership Fellow) designation in my office.  His practice is growing significantly and needs help with his case work.  In exchange for my help, he'll split the business according to my level of involvement in the case.   But I need to build my own business & practice.  I had my own ideas on how to do prospecting.  He's a fan of networking, and I know that networking will take a long time to find prospects to turn into business.  But since he just did $45k in FYC last week, I think I'll follow his lead.   Because he's willing to pay me for my case work involvement, I'll get paid a little more NOW for helping him, and he's going to be introducing me to some of his networking groups and how he works with them.   I'll still be doing my cold-calling by having certain days structured (time-blocked) for that activity.  If anything, it just makes me FEEL productive by making a whole lot of calls that might not get me anywhere.  But practice makes better.   It really helped that I communicated what my expectations are, and he communicated what they should be based on his experience.  And since my priority is to get paid sooner (than later), my time would be better spent INITIALLY in helping him with case work - then learning how to network for my own big cases.   The guy is doing quite well, so I think I'll just humble myself and do what he says.  We're still working out a partnership agreement in writing, but it will be modeled after the MDRT mentoring arrangement.
Apr 11, 2008 2:00 pm

Financiallady,

  Since you are new here, I just want to make sure that you understand that when you get criticism, the purpose is to be helpful, even when it's hurtful.   The questions that I asked you were important because the answers give us a good idea of how you should be prospecting.    Despite what Edisfree was inferring from my posts, I was not suggesting that you call on friends and family.   In fact, I think that calling on friends and family would be a mistake.   They probably don't have the assets that you need and even if they did, since they know that you are brand new, you probably can't capture them now.   Skippy is the polar opposite.  His best chance to succeed is to call every single friend and family member and sit down and talk to them.   There are several reasons for this.  1) They are almost all legitimate prospects. 2) He can get referrals from all of them.  3) These referrals will almost all be legitimate prospects.  4) It is much easier to work with referrals.  5) It doesn't matter if his friends become clients now or not.  The referrals are more valuable.  However, by calling on friends and family now, they will all become clients in the future.  6)A friend of Skippy's will die or become disabled and leave behind a financial wreck of a family.  If he doesn't call on them, some of the blame belongs on him.  He'll never forgive himself.  7) Because his friends are giving referrals to their friends, they (the friends' friends) will give referrals to their friends.  When you get a client via referral, they are more apt to give referrals.  He'll then only have to cold call because he wants to get into a different market.    "The candid response to why I won't call on friends and family is because I am stubborn and told myself I wouldn't do it. They don't have enough to get me through my hurdles. Plus, there is something inside me that wants to do it on my own, which is really what is bothering me about this mentor thing...because I feel like I am going to be good at this, and I don't want to "get married too early to the wrong person" career wise."   Your mindset really needs to change or you won't succeed.  I see two problems.     1) Nobody does it on their own.  We all need help.  No points are given for degree of difficulty.  Part of your job is to get help from every place that you can possibly get it.  If your dad can introduce you to the CEO of XYZ corp, take the introduction!  A mentor can help.  A sales manager can help.  The broker in the next office can help.  Your CPA can help.  Your clients can help.   If you aren't going to accept help, you will never be anything other than a cold caller.    2) You don't believe that the work that you do is important.   You don't believe that you are helping people.  I say this because you have a refusal to work with people with whom you have a closeness.   Again, I agree with your decision to not work with F&F for now, but it's your mindset that makes me question whether you can succeed.   You don't have to get married to your mentor.  Schedule lots of appointments and you won't have to worry about being in the office doing grunt work.