have fun selling annuities to 87 year old women all day

[quote=keith121883]have fun selling annuities to 87 year old women all day[/quote]

You’re also a bit delusional.  The RR site is great, this forum however, is one of the most stuffy places I’ve seen.

I’ll have all of the products available to sell that I had at AMEX.

I have a friend who has been a Bank Rep for 2 years now and is doing extremely well. 

You sounds like someone who is struggling or just full of yourself.  Oh well, thanks anyway.

Chris

The reality is that working on a decent bank platform is a nice step up from working with AmEx/Ameriprise/Riversource/Whatevertheirnameisnow!

You get a nice flow of leads, and information about how much ca$h they haeve sitting in their checking/savings.

Payout isn’t as good as Jones/Wirehouse/Regional/Indy, but you have to give a little to get access to that customer base.  Also banks tend to be more bureaucratic, with more sales meetings and goals and managers to ‘help you’, at least by my perception.  They also tend to view you as an employee, and will cut your branch and client base back if you’re making too much money…this at least from what I’ve ready from other posters over the years.

[quote=joedabrkr]The reality is that working on a decent bank platform is a nice step up from working with AmEx/Ameriprise/Riversource/Whatevertheirnameisnow!

You get a nice flow of leads, and information about how much ca$h they haeve sitting in their checking/savings.

Payout isn’t as good as Jones/Wirehouse/Regional/Indy, but you have to give a little to get access to that customer base.  Also banks tend to be more bureaucratic, with more sales meetings and goals and managers to ‘help you’, at least by my perception.  They also tend to view you as an employee, and will cut your branch and client base back if you’re making too much money…this at least from what I’ve ready from other posters over the years.

[/quote]

Joe,

Thank you so much for your post.  That is precisely the type of information I was looking for.  The bank I’ll be working for is a regional bank, however, it is now in the top 10 biggest in the country.  I have heard good and bad things about their platform, but that is the case with almost every platform.  I really like my boss and can’t wait to get started. 

One unique thing is that I will be in one branch at first and get paid a salary (plus comm obviously) for the first 2 years.  That is pretty appealing to me because it should give me time to build my book.

I understand that building relationships from within the Branch will be a vital piece of my job.  Do you all have any advise for this aspect?  I’m a good people person and have no problems making friends etc.

Chris

If it’s the “top 10 biggest” I rather doubt it’s considered a mere regional bank any more! 

I may be the wrong person to ask about building relationships within the branch since I’ve gone with an indy platform.  I just couldn’t handle the idea of bureaucractic management and kissing the tellers’ behinds so they could refer me to Granny for a $10,000 CD alternative.

Having said that, I think some of the relationship building is pretty elemental stuff…

Dress sharp, every single day.  Make it simple-Get 1-2 Dark Blue Suits, 1-2 Grey pinstripe.  Then buy all white shirts so you don’t have to think too hard what is clean that matches what.  One pair of black shoes one pair of brown, preferably substantial conservative wingtip loafers.  A good watch, but not too expensive.  You can spice things up in your wardrobe with some splashy ties.  Buy the best quality you can afford.  Keep your hair short and your teeth clean, and your fingernails trimmed.  You’re always ‘on stage’ when you’re at the branch.

Make friends in the branch whenever you can, but be careful about being perceived as ‘too close’ to anybody.  Buy some of your platform friends a cup of coffee or a light lunch now and then, but don’t be too lavish or it will come across as obvious that you’re sucking up to them.  See if you can run some basic training sessions with them so they can understand how to refer to you, and what might be available.

Just a few thoughts.  Nothing brilliant but maybe it will help.

[quote=ChrisB] [quote=joedabrkr]The reality is that working on a decent bank platform is a nice step up from working with AmEx/Ameriprise/Riversource/Whatevertheirnameisnow!

You get a nice flow of leads, and information about how much ca$h they haeve sitting in their checking/savings.

Payout isn't as good as Jones/Wirehouse/Regional/Indy, but you have to give a little to get access to that customer base.  Also banks tend to be more bureaucratic, with more sales meetings and goals and managers to 'help you', at least by my perception.  They also tend to view you as an employee, and will cut your branch and client base back if you're making too much money....this at least from what I've ready from other posters over the years.
[/quote]

Joe,

Thank you so much for your post.  That is precisely the type of information I was looking for.  The bank I'll be working for is a regional bank, however, it is now in the top 10 biggest in the country.  I have heard good and bad things about their platform, but that is the case with almost every platform.  I really like my boss and can't wait to get started. 

One unique thing is that I will be in one branch at first and get paid a salary (plus comm obviously) for the first 2 years.  That is pretty appealing to me because it should give me time to build my book.

I understand that building relationships from within the Branch will be a vital piece of my job.  Do you all have any advise for this aspect?  I'm a good people person and have no problems making friends etc.

Chris
[/quote]

If you keep your expectations of your co-workers very low, you will not be disappointed.

what is the avg salary of a bank rep?

[quote=brothaK]what is the avg salary of a bank rep?[/quote]

Anyone who has to ask about a salary for being a broker ain't cut out for a business that requires an entrepreneurial spirit. A more appropriate question would be "will they give me keys to the building, so I can work late hours, saturdays and sundays?"

i just wanted to compare the salary of bank reps to wireshouse reps

[quote=ChrisB] [quote=joedabrkr]  Also banks tend to be more bureaucratic, with more sales meetings and goals and managers to 'help you', at least by my perception.  They also tend to view you as an employee, and will cut your branch and client base back if you're making too much money....this at least from what I've ready from other posters over the years.
[/quote]


I understand that building relationships from within the Branch will be a vital piece of my job.  Do you all have any advise for this aspect?  I'm a good people person and have no problems making friends etc.

Chris
[/quote]

chris-

i worked at a bank for awhile and agree with joe that "banks tend to be more bureaucratic, with more sales meetings and goals and managers to 'help you'"

they are great places to develop skills and knowledge in a "get in there and do it" type of way- which is the best way to learn anything.

your resume is going to look like you're the moving around type- so you really need to sell-all-out and get involved in the job, keep a good attitiude daily and continually tell yourself (especially after the new-job-rush wears off) that you're in this for at least 2 years, so suck it up and smile!

relationship building done at a bank involves the Mgr, Bankers and tellers- in my experience the Bankers are going to provide 99% of your biz- work with everyone, but be sweet on the Bankers.

Biggest way i was able to fortify that relationship professionally was by using the wholesalers- NEVER miss out on an opportunity to include your bankers in a wholesaler meeting, lunch, seminar, ect.- they learn from it and appeciate the deversion from their daily monotony and we all know how wholesalers make everyone feel important- this was a huge relationship building tool for me, and it was free!

good luck!

[quote=brothaK]i just wanted to compare the salary of bank reps to wireshouse reps [/quote]

i don't know anything about bank FA salaries- i never got one- but the average bank FA pay in our region netted around $80,000-- there were a whole lot in the $40,000 to $60,000 range (median) - top FAs in the national system were $850,000 to $450,000- mostly the big city slickers and the International guys --- made me want to polish up my spanish.

I was at one of those First Jersey spin-offs for two years and I think it was the best sales training I had. Of course, I’ll do it ethically today. But when you’re in a room of ignorant 22 year-olds, everyone making money, and nobody allowed to read the Wall Street Journal or hear any real securities news, it’s tough to believe that what you’re doing is wrong. However, those places intill an excellent work ethic (Mon-Fri: 830am to 5pm, dinner break, then 7pm to 830pm, and 3 hours on Saturdays). The movie Boiler Room was pretty accurate with most of it but the ending was ridiculous. The FBI didn’t need any secret informants or office raids. As another poster said, they let Robert Brennan run multiple firms for 10 year without a license and they already had all the dirt on him. In fact, Brennan owned racehorses and would name them after the judges that he appeared in front of. Oh, and his golf course was called “Due Process.”

Sorry, two RR forums opened in two windows. Posted the above in the worng one.

"Dress sharp, every single day.  Make it simple-Get 1-2 Dark Blue Suits, 1-2 Grey pinstripe.  Then buy all white shirts so you don't have to think too hard what is clean that matches what.  One pair of black shoes one pair of brown, preferably substantial conservative wingtip loafers.  A good watch, but not too expensive.  You can spice things up in your wardrobe with some splashy ties.  Buy the best quality you can afford.  Keep your hair short and your teeth clean, and your fingernails trimmed.  You're always 'on stage' when you're at the branch.

Make friends in the branch whenever you can, but be careful about being perceived as 'too close' to anybody.  Buy some of your platform friends a cup of coffee or a light lunch now and then, but don't be too lavish or it will come across as obvious that you're sucking up to them.  See if you can run some basic training sessions with them so they can understand how to refer to you, and what might be available.

Just a few thoughts.  Nothing brilliant but maybe it will help."

Most bank retail reps that I know struggle.  Remember that if and when you decide to leave your book will be hottly contested as belonging to you.  The bank considers that since they gave you the leads and that they are their client that the book of business belongs to them not to you. 

Thank you all for the information.  I start June 19th!

The 4 bank reps I personally know are pretty successful. 

Chris

Be a good guy to your clients and bank partners and you have a good chance to do well.

I believe the average gross commissions of a bank based rep is around 250-300k.

If you are in the top decile after a few years 500k+  is pretty typical from what I know.

good luck

scrim

[quote=joedabrkr]If it's the "top 10 biggest" I rather doubt it's considered a mere regional bank any more! 

I may be the wrong person to ask about building relationships within the branch since I've gone with an indy platform.  I just couldn't handle the idea of bureaucractic management and kissing the tellers' behinds so they could refer me to Granny for a $10,000 CD alternative.

Having said that, I think some of the relationship building is pretty elemental stuff......

Dress sharp, every single day.  Make it simple-Get 1-2 Dark Blue Suits, 1-2 Grey pinstripe.  Then buy all white shirts so you don't have to think too hard what is clean that matches what.  One pair of black shoes one pair of brown, preferably substantial conservative wingtip loafers.  A good watch, but not too expensive.  You can spice things up in your wardrobe with some splashy ties.  Buy the best quality you can afford.  Keep your hair short and your teeth clean, and your fingernails trimmed.  You're always 'on stage' when you're at the branch.

Make friends in the branch whenever you can, but be careful about being perceived as 'too close' to anybody.  Buy some of your platform friends a cup of coffee or a light lunch now and then, but don't be too lavish or it will come across as obvious that you're sucking up to them.  See if you can run some basic training sessions with them so they can understand how to refer to you, and what might be available.

Just a few thoughts.  Nothing brilliant but maybe it will help.
[/quote]

Where you an attorney?    That sounds too much like law firm life for me. 

[quote=scrim67]

Be a good guy to your clients and bank partners and you have a good chance to do well.

I believe the average gross commissions of a bank based rep is around 250-300k.

If you are in the top decile after a few years 500k+  is pretty typical from what I know.

good luck

scrim

[quote=joedabrkr]

Dress sharp, every single day.  Make it simple-Get 1-2 Dark Blue Suits, 1-2 Grey pinstripe.  Then buy all white shirts so you don't have to think too hard what is clean that matches what.  One pair of black shoes one pair of brown, preferably substantial conservative wingtip loafers.  A good watch, but not too expensive.  You can spice things up in your wardrobe with some splashy ties.  Buy the best quality you can afford.  Keep your hair short and your teeth clean, and your fingernails trimmed.  You're always 'on stage' when you're at the branch.


[/quote]

Joe, great advice. Joseph Bank suits, inexpensive but, well made and wear well. Jerry Garcia ties really liven things up. Make the shirts white button down shirts, some light blue is OK also. Stay away from the new black, pink. A good pair of wing tips in the $250 to $400 range purchased from a specialty shoe store, not a chain at the mall. Raymond Weil makes great watches that will last a life time. They look much more expensive than they are and send a message that you are successful with out over doing it. Expect to spend $1500 to $2000.

I have some J A Bank Suits purchased 15 years ago that still pull regular duty. I call them my uniforms. I also own suits that I paid 5 times more for that lasted only a few years before wearing out around the pockets, or sleaves. The other advantage to buying less expensive suits is the office hazzard that will snag, tear, rip, stain or fray a suit. I've lost several suits over the years to coffee stains, new desks, and careless fellow office dwellers. I lost one brand new suit to a smoker. It's much easier to swallow a $400 dollar loss than a $2000 loss.