Wholesaler abuse
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Ok, you know you’ve done it. You’ve played a round of golf, or gone fishing, or gone out for dinner and drinks with a wholesaler that you knew you would never drop a ticket with. So, you trampy little thing you, how can you sleep at night knowing you took some of Putnam/Hancock/SunLife/MetLife/Lincoln/MFS/Gartmore/Eaton Vance’s precious marketing budget, with nary a quick rub in return.
We had an annuity guy actually start throwing sandwiches back into the takeout tray in the conference room when only 4 or 5 of us showed up for his lunch meeting, when 10 or 12 was what he was expecting. Couple of the guys had clients walk in just before the meeting and a couple more were wrapping up phone appointments, but this guy flipped out and actually said he was taking all this over to the local Merrill office instead of leaving it for us, or waiting for the rest of them to show up. So what's the most egregious abuse of wholesalers you've committed?[quote=2wheeledbeemer]
Read the last clause in the second sentance again, slowly.
[/quote]Read the last five words of my only sentence, slowly.
I told my Putnam wholesaler, while golfing, that when he moved to a real company, I would drop some tickets. He did, and I did.
I don’t feel bad about anything I do with wholesalers, especially when I get lunch… Those guys pull up in nicer cars than I have, nicer suits and then most of the time provide no useful info. Hey if you are gonna waste my time at least feed me… I hate golf
I’m so sick of these guys right now, 3 of them slipped in undetected this week, and I somehow found myself either face to face or on the phone with them… 3 wholesalers, 3 companies…THEY ALL HAD THE EXACT SAME “GREAT IDEA” FOR MY CLIENTS! The exact same! This is pathetic.
I know they're somehow important, and can be a "valuable rescource" but its been a long week and I really hate to see em' coming, calling or cloning.... they're always doing one of the three. ps, upon further thought... 4 wholesalers this week, not 3, not to mention the 2 others the boa's were able to fend off.The nice thing about being independent is the only ones who call on you are the ones you actually use. And they never just show up.
[quote=Squash1]
The nice thing about being independent is the only ones who call on you are the ones you actually use. And they never just show up.
[/quote] Another point of irritation is that it always seems that as soon as you DO find a decent wholesaler who has a product you like and use, and who is competent enough that you'll put him in front of clients in a seminar/workshop setting, the fund/annuity company chops his territory and you always end up with the former regional manager of Big Sal's Discount House of Personal Lubricants as your new outside guy.The nice thing about being independent is the only ones who call on you are the ones you actually use. And they never just show up.
Squash, it has nothing to do with you being independant. They know who the "producers" are.
I don’t let them meet with me unless they either buy me lunch or buy me SBUX…ever.
We eliminated them. They cant come in and walk around. They’ve all been told that, and the receptionist has instructions to not let any of them in.
The brokers all know it and we are all happy about it.
I’ll meet with any wholesaler or any salesman who wants to sell me anything. In fact, I’ll meet with anyone who wants to meet with me regardless of the reason.
The catch is that they have to come to my office and the meeting must be over by 8:00 A.M.I actually kicked two wholesalers out of my office last week. It was a senior and junior rep and all they wanted to talk about was how bad their competition was. When I challenged them to tell me why I should sell their VA instead of anyone else, they looked at each other and froze.
I ain't puttin up with that carp anytime, anyway!![quote=B24] [quote=Squash1]
The nice thing about being independent is the only ones who call on you are the ones you actually use. And they never just show up.
[/quote]Squash, it has nothing to do with you being independant. They know who the "producers" are.[/quote] Oh yeah I forgot. Always forget that production thing. No wonder it is the same 5 wholesalers who continually provide good service, product knowledge, updates and most importantly money.. Maybe when I finally do $75K gross next year more people will come by.
[quote=Squash1][quote=B24] [quote=Squash1]
The nice thing about being independent is the only ones who call on you are the ones you actually use. And they never just show up.
[/quote]Squash, it has nothing to do with you being independant. They know who the "producers" are.[/quote] Oh yeah I forgot. Always forget that production thing. No wonder it is the same 5 wholesalers who continually provide good service, product knowledge, updates and most importantly money.. Maybe when I finally do $75K gross next year more people will come by. [/quote] If you shoot for the moon.....
If no wholesalers ever stop by how would I get the golf balls I play with all year long? I make them “come bearing gifts” and that is my gift of choice.
Most wholesalers are really bad at what they do and truly add little value. I will meet with them occassionally though so I can get some thoughts of what their economist or top money managers have to say. I like the idea that they have to be gone by 8:00 am as this has been a policy of mine for years. I do need to get our assistants to do a better job of screening them on the phone as they seem to squeek through way too often.Not kidding here.
We had a couple of guys three weeks ago come in advertizing coheen ETFs. After their presentation about ETFs, I simply asked: "Why this and not UITs?" They looked at each other in confusion and one replied: "ahhhh...I've never heard of that company to be honest with you!"[quote=anonymous]
The catch is that they have to come to my office and the meeting must be over by 8:00 A.M. [/quote] I guess I could implement this rule seeing how I don't get to the office until around 8:00 each morning.Planco (who wholesales for Hartford) in their wisdom routinely sends their wholesalers out to learn as they go. A few years back one came in and I truly believe that he didn’t know what an annuity even was let alone how they work. he kept saying “I am not sure of the answer to that so I will get back to you”. I have found that most companies hire people who are willing to work and be on the road all week long, pay them very well and then by the time they are seasoned they kind of disappear.