Where to go after Jones
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I just got let go from Jones in the last week of training. I missed the mark by a hair- a transfer-in that is transferring-in too slowly. I am rather relieved because I would have had to quit or start over in a new market anyways. My market was a low-income area, and I'm a patient guy, but there was no way that town could support a branch.
I have an interview on Monday with Merrill, applying at other firms and banks This is what I want- anyplace I can take my clients, a better area to work in, no more door-knocking in the ghetto (wating time), and some leads to get me started. I have been working way too hard just to scrape by and now I want some breathing room. Has anyone come to Merrill as a transfer broker? What is it like?Did you go through the PASS program?
Could you explain your situation a little more, please? Missed what mark? Thanks[quote=jambavan]
I just got let go from Jones in the last week of training. I missed the mark by a hair- a transfer-in that is transferring-in too slowly. I am rather relieved because I would have had to quit or start over in a new market anyways. My market was a low-income area, and I'm a patient guy, but there was no way that town could support a branch.
I have an interview on Monday with Merrill, applying at other firms and banks This is what I want- anyplace I can take my clients, a better area to work in, no more door-knocking in the ghetto (wating time), and some leads to get me started. I have been working way too hard just to scrape by and now I want some breathing room. Has anyone come to Merrill as a transfer broker? What is it like?[/quote] That's priceless!!!Couldn't make the low hurdle at Jones so why not go work for Mother Merrill..... How could you not make your PDP numbers and think you can make it in the biz??No offense, but the numbers at Jones are pretty low to clear. If you didn’t make it there, I would not be looking at another brokerage firm. And don’t use the location as an excuse. There’s money everywhere. Some of our most successful brokers are in towns of 2500 people in the middle of nowhere USA.
I would definitely look at a bank. At least you won’t have to prospect much to scrape by.
“My market was a low-income area, and I’m a patient guy, but there was no way that town could support a branch.”
Some people have an employer mentality. Some people have an employee mentality. You have an employee mentality. Nothing is wrong with this. It just means that you need to be an employee and not an entrepreneur.Yes I concur, if you really want to be in this business you must run not walk to the best bank job you can get. Good luck.
[quote=anonymous]
It just means that you need to be an employee and not an entrepreneur. [/quote]Dot
Op please explain further about "how" you went about missing your mark. Were you doing the suggested workload?
The qualifications for PDP used to be $2250 net in 17 weeks. That’s a few hundred less than $6000 gross in about 4 months. My suggestion is that if you can’t do that, then maybe you need to rethink your career choice. Just because you might land at ML or at a bank, doesn’t mean that you are definitely going to succeed. I don’t remember ANY of my trainees from my ATL days that I had to let go because they didn’t meet their PDP numbers. I will say though, that they were a bit more lenient 5 - 7 years ago and didn’t let a guy go who could prove that he had the transfer coming, but it just wasn’t there yet. There HAS to be more to the story than he’s telling.
Oh yeah, Mother Merrill will can your butt for not meeting their qualifications too. And I'll bet they're higher than Jones'.First off, I have no clue what happened to the guy who started this thread, so I'm not trying to defend him. That being said, I will argue with someone who claims "There's money everywhere." That is simply not true. There are some bad locations, there just are. When I started with Jones (new/new with no office), I stuck pretty close to my cross street location. They were older homes with big trees and fat squirrels (the Jones way). Well, these homes had been fairly nice at one time. BUT, because the city I'm in has grown so fast, the original owners had sold most of them to lower middle-class dual working couples. So, there were either no one home (both people were working), or it was a mother with a baby (great 529 prospect!). I opened a number of 529s for $75/month. Big waste of time. If it wasn't for family and friends I would not have hit my intial (PDP) numbers. However, Jones actually found me an office about 10 miles from my cross street. So, I started to door knock over there. WOW, night and day difference. These were more newer, more expensive homes. Just the type of home Jones said to stay away from ("they are maxed to the hilt with debt"). Not true. I was actually talking to people with money, and opening accounts for more than $75/month. It was the same me, but a different location. So yes, location DOES matter. Sorry for the rant, but the "there's money everywhere statement" always gets to me. Especially since it is almost always said by someone who took over an office or did a goodknight.No offense, but the numbers at Jones are pretty low to clear. If you didn’t make it there, I would not be looking at another brokerage firm. And don’t use the location as an excuse. There’s money everywhere. Some of our most successful brokers are in towns of 2500 people in the middle of nowhere USA.
[quote=Broker24]No offense, but the numbers at Jones are pretty low to clear. If you didn’t make it there, I would not be looking at another brokerage firm. And don’t use the location as an excuse. There’s money everywhere. Some of our most successful brokers are in towns of 2500 people in the middle of nowhere USA.
First off, I have no clue what happened to the guy who started this thread, so I’m not trying to defend him. That being said, I will argue with someone who claims “There’s money everywhere.” That is simply not true. There are some bad locations, there just are. When I started with Jones (new/new with no office), I stuck pretty close to my cross street location. They were older homes with big trees and fat squirrels (the Jones way). Well, these homes had been fairly nice at one time. BUT, because the city I’m in has grown so fast, the original owners had sold most of them to lower middle-class dual working couples.
So, there were either no one home (both people were working), or it was a mother with a baby (great 529 prospect!). I opened a number of 529s for $75/month. Big waste of time. If it wasn’t for family and friends I would not have hit my intial (PDP) numbers.
However, Jones actually found me an office about 10 miles from my cross street. So, I started to door knock over there. WOW, night and day difference. These were more newer, more expensive homes. Just the type of home Jones said to stay away from (“they are maxed to the hilt with debt”). Not true. I was actually talking to people with money, and opening accounts for more than $75/month.
It was the same me, but a different location. So yes, location DOES matter. Sorry for the rant, but the “there’s money everywhere statement” always gets to me. Especially since it is almost always said by someone who took over an office or did a goodknight.[/quote]
Now-
I hear you. I should probably qualify my statement. There is money in every general area. Of course there may not be money in the neighborhood your office is in, but for the most part, there is money to be found in most towns or counties. I realize that my statement is a generalization, but sometimes it takes a degree of ingenuity to actually find where the money is in your area. And doorknocking doesn’t always get it done. For example, in my area, doorknocking helped me get started, but I pretty much ran into the same thing as you - 32 year-old moms with babies, and “not homes”. But there is a LOT of money in my area. It’s just not concentrated in one area or neighborhood. It’s sort of all over the place. New England is sort of like that. Streets with 5 or 10 houses here, a few old homes there, a new development with 20 houses. So I have had to network real hard and do seminars, dinners, etc.
If door-knocking is so central to the method of success for EJ, why in the hell would they tell you to pass on any property? Well, projects and apartment bldgs’ excepted…
If door-knocking is so central to the method of success for EJ, why in the hell would they tell you to pass on any property? Well, projects and apartment bldgs’ excepted…
Here's the thing with Jones and doorknocking. They teach all newbies the same way. Knock on every door, don't cherry pick houses, and don't skip any. Part of why they do this is because when you are brand new, and you have no idea what you are doing, you need someone to push you. If Jones said "go to this neighborhood, skip that neighborhood, don't go anywhere like this, that, or the other..." newbies would start qualifying all their ddorknocking routines, and it would ultimately result in failure very quickly. What most Jones people (well, some) realize after a year or so, is that the doorknocking thing is just how they get you started. They need to teach people an active prospecting method that gets them out of their office. It is not going to keep you going for years (though I have heard of people doorknocking for several years). Now, if a newbie has another way to get a lot of prospects into their system fast, Jones doesn't really care how you do it (your field trainer might give you some flack). Their goal is to make sure everyone starts out strong with lots of prospects. But it is really only "central" to their success for a very short amount of time.
I think another part of it is that so many vets at Jones have those “I almost skipped this house, but…” success stories that tell you not to skip anything. One of the vets in our region loves to tell about his best muni buyer who lives in a rundown 1950’s trailer. Come to find out he owns the trailer park and the property it sits on. I’d guess the property is worth millions. You never know.
Personally, if I'm in a neighborhood and see those rundown houses, I skip them. Maybe I've missed some good prospects, but I'll bet I've also missed some really bad conversations.[quote=Spaceman Spiff]I think another part of it is that so many vets at Jones have those “I almost skipped this house, but…” success stories that tell you not to skip anything. One of the vets in our region loves to tell about his best muni buyer who lives in a rundown 1950’s trailer. Come to find out he owns the trailer park and the property it sits on. I’d guess the property is worth millions. You never know.
Personally, if I'm in a neighborhood and see those rundown houses, I skip them. Maybe I've missed some good prospects, but I'll bet I've also missed some really bad conversations. [/quote] We have all heard the "almost skipped" stories, and we all have wealthy clients who are living in a shack. However, I would think that most people who are doorknocking are getting advice from the field in addition to the home office. If you talk to someone in the field without the home office listening in, they will tell you if there is a swingset in the backyard, or other evidence that it is a young family, skip the house. While you do talk to the 32 year old mom if she answers the door, you probably don't follow up with her unless it is an unusual situation. Some of this is just common sense, especially to those on this board. Spiff is right on. You will miss a few good prospects by cherry picking, but if you don't do it you may not survive long enough to take advantage of your persistence.Spiff, I have one of those quick stories–15 years ago it was raining and I just wanted to get out of the rain–walked into a apartment building–knocked on a door–40 year old lady comes to door–just received a large estate–invested 2.1 million with me—15 years later, she is still my client and we have 7.9 million, by the way–she stills lives in the same apartment. She likes it just the way it is!
Those are the kind of stories that keep a guy like me doorknocking. You know there have to be more like her out there somewhere. And you never know when you are going to be in the right place at the right time.
I've found that the people who are the most content are the ones who could afford to be living well above their current conditions. They find where they are comfortable and have what they need. The money is not really important to them beyond using it to pay their bills every month. BTW, from $2.1 mil to $7.9 mil in 15 years. Not too shabby. No wonder she's still your client.[quote=Spaceman Spiff]
I've found that the people who are the most content are the ones who could afford to be living well above their current conditions. They find where they are comfortable and have what they need. The money is not really important to them beyond using it to pay their bills every month. [/quote] These are the best clients too, at least for me. They tend to listen to my advice, and they have realistic expectations. It's easier to have realistic expectations when you don't need the market to acchieve 15% in order to meet your goals.