Mandatory viewing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUOS7GvCRQI&feature=PlayList&p=9E8C8D65F5702578&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=48

[quote=voltmoie]

[quote=BerkshireBull]

[quote=chief123]By the way… they don’t check the surveys… They just want to know if you attempted to complete them…[/quote]

But if you don’t do the surveys you’re just hurting yourself with fewer people to call when you get your license.  It’s like cheating on homework in preparation for a test…
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lol … but this guy does not work/worked for Jones.  yawn
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The application of common sense would lead one to believe that more warm prospects = more sales.  It’s a numbers game, and Jones isn’t the only firm in the industry that has recruits do something along these lines.

Well folks, I aced the interview and was basically told to be anticipating the offer call from the home office any day.

As far as the surveys go, my suspicions were correct in that they don’t do anything with them, nor do they expect me to do anything with them.  they were a nice discussion tool to see my overall reactions to the Jones prospecting process.  At the end of the interview, the interviewer asked if there were any contacts that I felt that I would really want to follow up with.  I said there were a few promising ones, so they gave me photocopies of my sheets.

At any rate, I will most likely not even be working in the area I prospected in anyway.  I was told to only prospect in an area that didn’t require a solicitor’s permit.  Since there was only one area near me that met the requirement, I was a bit limited.

The interviewer volunteered to serve as my personal reference in my search for a Goodnight.  Does anyone have any advice on the best way to network/lobby to try and land one of these?  Is it appropriate to directly ask FA’s if they would consider doing one with me?

What is Jones handing out Gooodnights to everyone??

I just got the phone call for my official offer with EDJ.  I’m waiting on the official paperwork to be sent to me tomorrow.

This seems out of order, but I am still waiting to hear from the corporate people to settle on a specific location.  It appears that there are no GK’s available anywhere near me.

The only thing I know about is an open office (no assets) in a business/commercial area.  The actual city has only 5,000 residents.  There are residential areas on all sides, but there are also EDJ offices on all sides.  In fact, the way the city is laid out, most of the 5,000 residents live closer to EDJ offices in surrounding areas.

Basically, this office is in the middle of everyone else’s back yard.  Virtually everywhere I can prospect will be in an area that is closer to another office.  The office is near a high-traffic intersection, but that’s about it.  The surrounding office parks are all security key-coded, so I can’t even prospect there.

Sure, having an office is a nice advantage, but is this worth it?

An office to go to is ALWAYS better than working out of your basement.

[quote=chief123]What is Jones handing out Gooodnights to everyone??[/quote]


1. Their research shows that GKs have a much higher success ratio, especially in metro areas. New-new is a recipe for failure.
2. They want to force the Seg 3 and 4s to get rid of their junk accounts and to focus on their best clients (get them into Advisory Solutions and sell them insurance … JW sneers every week at the rank and file of this firm).
3. Speculation on this one: They want to expand their hiring pool beyond college grads and the guy or gal who got laid off by Pfizer and they know they can’t attract top talent to start from scratch.

I just got the phone call for my official offer with EDJ.  I’m waiting on the official paperwork to be sent to me tomorrow.

This seems out of order, but I am still waiting to hear from the corporate people to settle on a specific location.  It appears that there are no GK’s available anywhere near me.

The only thing I know about is an open office (no assets) in a business/commercial area.  The actual city has only 5,000 residents.  There are residential areas on all sides, but there are also EDJ offices on all sides.  In fact, the way the city is laid out, most of the 5,000 residents live closer to EDJ offices in surrounding areas.

Basically, this office is in the middle of everyone else’s back yard.  Virtually everywhere I can prospect will be in an area that is closer to another office.  The office is near a high-traffic intersection, but that’s about it.  The surrounding office parks are all security key-coded, so I can’t even prospect there.

Sure, having an office is a nice advantage, but is this worth it?

Hank, what do you mean by “nice try”???

Anyway folks…  I checked out the vacant office and the location really sucks.  It’s in a beat up office building and has no store frontage to speak of.  You basically have to be visiting the other 5 or 6 offices inside the building to even know it exists.  I heard from one FA that the guy who was there moved into another vacant office because he hated the location so much.

I finally talked to the market area guy on the phone and he was kind of a jerk.  He wouldn’t tell me anything.  He wouldn’t tell me where open offices were or where open areas were.  He said I have to tell him where I want to go and he will tell me “Yes” or “no.”  It was really a stupid conversation.  I wanted to talk to my regional leader before picking a location, but he was tied up with regional meeting stuff, so he couldn’t sit down with me.

Someone told me that initial location isn’t too important because I can always try to get a GK or move into an open office if I impress people when I get started.  Hopefully, this is true.

Well, it looks like I have time for one last vacation before I get started with my Series 7 training.  Then I guess my life will suck for 2-3 years.  I guess things could be worse.  I could go back to being unemployed.

I think the jig is up, MBA.

I confess I don’t fully get the whole EDJ focus/obsession with the physical location of the office, but since that’s the way EDJ operates it is an issue, and if you proceed with this you are doing so knowing you have ignored multiple red flags:



1. Bad location, for the many reasons you yourself recognize and mention.

2. Unhelpful response from the "market area guy."

3. A supposed future “regional leader” who is too busy with ‘meetings’ to talk with you, much less help you.



How many strikes do you want to allow? Yet you might be willing to overlook these red flags … because “someone” told you that MAYBE one day, IF you defy the odds and survive the first few years, you MIGHT be rewarded with an office location that doesn’t suck?! “Hopefully this is true?!” Did this “someone” also promise you the regional leader might then not be too busy to talk with you about any of your concerns?



Listen, MBA, as I said I do not have any specific EDJ experience, but if you are expected to act like a business owner as is so often mentioned, then ask yourself: what business owner would receive this poor level of response/support from his key prospective business partners, and then proceed anyway?



And if you do ignore these red flags, you better expect much more of the same poor treatment from these people since you would have shown them that you are willing to accept pretty much anything they throw your way. If you settle now for something that “sucks” by your own description, why would you expect that to change with the passage of time? Because “someone” told you it “might?” Is that really the way you want to lead your life?



I know unemployment sucks, and you are anxious to try something, and that compared to unemployment anything looks good. But that is a false set of choices. It is not simply EDJ vs. unemployment; it is EDJ as presented vs. EDJ as it might be vs. other choices, including other broker dealers. The first option you find is not necessarily the best one.



It’s your life - there are no dress rehearsals. Good luck.

[quote=Morphius]I confess I don’t fully get the whole EDJ focus/obsession with the physical location of the office, but since that’s the way EDJ operates it is an issue, and if you proceed with this you are doing so knowing you have ignored multiple red flags:



[/quote]

No, I am not ignoring red flags.  I am addressing them.  Right now, I am against a wall.  It’s not that I am so anxious to take the first thing offered to me.  I am taking the only offer I have on the table.  I have several kids and a wife who is permanently disabled.  I have a substantial mortgage and our savings is rapidly depleting after numerous financial setbacks (completely outside of our control).  Unemployment will run out in a few weeks.  After that, I face losing my home shortly after.

No, I don’t like the treatment from the market area people, nor how I was blown off by the RL.  Unfortunately, I have no negotiating power here.  Nobody else is hiring in my area  (except life insurance companies).

I have worked in other sales organizations where the support was minimal at best, yet I thrived.  From my personal experience, many organizations treat you like garbage until you have proven yourself.

There have been many positive things as well… the fellow FA’s in my are have been very helpful and forthcoming with information.  They call me on a regular basis to see how I am doing.  They have bought me lunch, etc.  Even some BOA’s have talked with me at length on tips of navigating the EDJ culture and how to safely drink the Kool-Aid.

Addressing the 3 red flags you mentoned specifically: (1) Nobody is forcing me to use this bad location.  I asked about it, then decided to pick a better location.  (2&3) I have interacted with about 10 people from EDJ and the experience has been extremely positive with the exception of 2 people.  I am not going to risk losing my home and my marriage because I don’t like how two people treated me.

Morphius.  I appreciate your advice and know you mean well.  At this point, I’m not debating EDJ vs. other options.  I’m just trying to figure out how to make this Jones thing work.  I have some other jobs in my interview pipeline (in my industry) and if Jones turnes out to be garbage, I’ll jump ship the second I get another offer, but right now Jones is really my only option.

[quote=Morphius]I confess I don’t fully get the whole EDJ focus/obsession with the physical location of the office, but since that’s the way EDJ operates it is an issue, and if you proceed with this you are doing so knowing you have ignored multiple red flags:

[/quote]

No, I am not ignoring red flags.  I am addressing them.  Right now, I am against a wall.  It’s not that I am so anxious to take the first thing offered to me.  I am taking the only offer I have on the table.  I have several kids and a wife who is permanently disabled.  I have a substantial mortgage and our savings is rapidly depleting after numerous financial setbacks (completely outside of our control).  Unemployment will run out in a few weeks.  After that, I face losing my home shortly after.

No, I don’t like the treatment from the market area people, nor how I was blown off by the RL.  Unfortunately, I have no negotiating power here.  Nobody else is hiring in my area  (except life insurance companies).

I have worked in other sales organizations where the support was minimal at best, yet I thrived.  From my personal experience, many organizations treat you like garbage until you have proven yourself.

There have been many positive things as well… the fellow FA’s in my are have been very helpful and forthcoming with information.  They call me on a regular basis to see how I am doing.  They have bought me lunch, etc.  Even some BOA’s have talked with me at length on tips of navigating the EDJ culture and how to safely drink the Kool-Aid.

Addressing the 3 red flags you mentoned specifically: (1) Nobody is forcing me to use this bad location.  I asked about it, then decided to pick a better location.  (2&3) I have interacted with about 10 people from EDJ and the experience has been extremely positive with the exception of 2 people.  I am not going to risk losing my home and my marriage because I don’t like how two people treated me.

Morphius.  I appreciate your advice and know you mean well.  At this point, I’m not debating EDJ vs. other options.  I’m just trying to figure out how to make this Jones thing work.  I have some other jobs in my interview pipeline (in my industry) and if Jones turnes out to be garbage, I’ll jump ship the second I get another offer, but right now Jones is really my only option.

“I am taking the only offer I have on the table.  I have several kids and a wife who is permanently disabled.  I have a substantial mortgage and our savings is rapidly depleting after numerous financial setbacks (completely outside of our control).  Unemployment will run out in a few weeks.  After that, I face losing my home shortly after.

No, I don’t like the treatment from the market area people, nor how I was blown off by the RL.  Unfortunately, I have no negotiating power here.  Nobody else is hiring in my area  (except life insurance companies).”

Gotcha. Just trying to give you some requested feedback. Glad to hear you have some options on the office choice - I misinterpreted your comments to mean they were more or less bending you over. And I didn’t mean to imply that liking these guys was important, but it is important that your future regional leader care enough about you to be responsive to you when you have a legitimate concern/need.



Anyway, it sounds like you’re in a very tight situation financially and almost to the grasping at straws point, which I hadn’t fully understood. Sorry to hear that. Will the salary EDJ is offering for the first however many months be sufficient to keep you in your home? And how long before you are on straight commission?



Most new news wash out during the first 6-9 months or so after the salary goes away and they are on straight commission for the first time. That is when many decide they have no choice but to quit unless they have savings to draw on or have been able to dramatically lowered their monthly expense nut. You might need to use the breathing period when you are on salary to make some tough decisions about downsizing while you are in control rather than being forced into it. Besides the obvious problems with foreclosures and/or bankruptcy, you should know that in this industry such a development can directly imperil your ability to work in the industry at all. Just want to make sure you have the facts ahead of time.



I certainly wish you the best and hope you are one of the few to beat the odds.

[quote=anonymous]

[quote=MBA2FA] [quote=anonymous]

I think if you follow the recipe and have a decent enough personality you’ll make it … but it’s not easy.  MBA, I’m well above where I should be but it’s a tough gig and Jone’s does not pay great especially considering the business you’ll be writing when you get started. There are some guys in my training class doing everything they’ve been asked to do and FAILING.  It’s not easy!

For what it’s worth if I could have paid someone 2 grand to teach me when Jones taught me and go indy I would have.  Not a knock against Jones but they only thing they’ve helped me with is the 7 and the brand.  I’ve been on my own for the most part … training is a joke.

.

I don’t know if it’s BS, but EDJ sent me this pamphlet that states 89% pass the series 7, 90% pass training, and 70% pass the first year. This means that about 56% of new reps make it through year one. I can deal with those odds any day.