[quote=peanutbroker]Been in the biz for 4 years. It is still month to month production. Always starting over each new month. I do a range of financial products...stocks, cds,bonds, funds annuities and life, DI, and LTC. I get some referrals, walkins, seminars. It has grown, but it is always the same every month....find more business. Do I still have to go out and prospect/cold call? Can you point out some secrets or point me in the direction of publications, books, etc that can help? [/quote]

I found that when I hit around $50 mil AUM that critical mass started happening.  That is not to say that you stop prospecting...you'll always be doing that.  What you will find is that you prospect differently.  You'll be looking for higher account values, and the referrals will come more easily.

Prospecting might become a little more palatable if you focus on three or four niches in areas that you enjoy, rather than trying to find rapport with every one that can fog a mirror.

Best of luck, and just keep pluggin'!

Join/Form a team where you can spend your day doing what you like and
what you do well.  For you it may be planning or money management,
there are plenty of people out there that are real good at prospecting
and networking, but detest the client management part of the
business.  The right people put together is a very good thing.

Philo I have heard the same

PB,

I don't mean this as a new bash post on Jones, but having been there, this was my eye opening event - it's a problem with the model at Jones regardless of how long you been there, how many AUM; you start virtually at zero every month and have to continually add clients, add money etc... so you are always prospecting and selling. 

Horrible.  You should be on cruise by now.  And your poor clients, I mean unless you can sell them something new--can you afford the time to close them.

Well, look on the bright side.  After selling $100million of A shares you can look forward to a .25% trail or $250,000 a year.

oh wait, I forgot, EDJ takes 60% of that.

[quote=rightway]Join/Form a team where you can spend your day doing what you like and what you do well.  For you it may be planning or money management, there are plenty of people out there that are real good at prospecting and networking, but detest the client management part of the business.  The right people put together is a very good thing. [/quote]

You got that right!

thanks for your responses.

As long as you are a transaction based broker, you will always be prospecting.  (You need new faces to replace the ones that you have landed, or gathered all of their assets)  The only option to this is annuitizing your biz, either by managed money or mfd trails.