[quote=B24]It's 5000 Households and 750,000,000 in assets, or 500,000,000 for a small rural community.  I think that look at it from a potential market-share perspective.  Most of the areas we are in we have very small market share.  I think the numbers above would equate to 3% market share , which would be a mature Jones market.[/quote]

Once again, it's statistical gobbledegook from the home office that gives the wrong impression to wide-eyed people that people will be pouring in large checks once you open your doors. It conditions FAs wrongly into thinking they should "accept anyone who fogs a mirror."

As an experienced financial advisor or a candidate making a major career decision, which one of these statements is more relevelant to you:

A.) "In your area, there are 5,000 households and $750 million in 'investible assets (wink, wink).'"

B.) "In your area, we have identified 150 households with a mininum $100,000 to invest that said they wanted to work with a financial advisor."

Which one sounds like actual market research you can use in your practice? Which is more likely to help you get your career started in the right path? Edward Jones has the capability to do the latter, but it chooses unfairly to put all the burden on the financial advisor so it does the former.

FWIW:  I've heard for a EDJ RL friend of mine you guys are changing how you rate assets in an area from total dollars. To total qualified prospects.

The TLIA figure is pretty useless. I agree with Najee that it's a lousy excuse for market research and it does not serve new FA's well at all. Some zip codes look GREAT on paper but then you look at FDIC bank data and you realize there's a lot less money in the area than you would have figured looking at the Jones data. I think they need to revamp the market research. It could go a long way in reducing turnover and waste.

[quote=FA86]

 I think they need to revamp the market research. It could go a long way in reducing turnover and waste.

[/quote]

There are a lot of bloody bodies in those turnover numbers. I always advised FA candidates that I talked to of the Edward Jones "one - two punch." First your savings, then your credit cards. After two or three years, you may be out.

Then EJ keeps your fledging book. You probably don't have enough assets to successfully transition. And the next FA in the door builds on your work while you are out your savings and several years of the prime of your career. This is a real risk to new FAs.

I can see where people may end up with some hard feelings.

Now, to be fair, I always talked with job candidates about the upside of Jones. I recently referred a good friend to Jones when he asked me where to start his career. But I had a long talk about the risks and downside as well.

The point is, when you can't hire quality, you have to counter with quantity. Jones wants low hanging fruit, mainly because it hires low hanging fruit and puts all it's emphasis on asset gathering rather than wealth management training. Tell me honestly, if you had 1.5 million in assets, would you trust it to a new-new coming to your door? 90% of a new-news time is spent prospecting. There is no time to learn the business. So grow the branch offices, hire anyone who can pass the 7 and isn't a felon. For every 8 or 9 you hire, one will make it to profitability. But they work cheap.

[quote=navet]

Tell me honestly, if you had 1.5 million in assets, would you trust it to a new-new coming to your door? 90% of a new-news time is spent prospecting.

[/quote]

I'm going to guess this is why you failed.  90% of a new news job has to be prospecting.  If you don't agree with that then you live in fantasy land.  Until the industry changes, that's the way it is. At EDJ and anywhere else that hires and trains new folks.  It doesn't matter how much you know if you don't have someone to talk to about it. 

And as far as the 1.5M prospect, of course he's not going to turn his life savings over on day one to the guy knocking on his door.  Is he going to give it to the guy that cold calls him?  Provide him an investment that makes sense and does what you say, you get more money and trust from the prospect.  Eventually you get the whole nest egg.  I have multiple accounts over $1M that started with me knocking on their door. 

I won't argue with the quality/quantity part.  I was part of the quantity that happened to make it through...

[quote=Najee]

Incredible Hulk,

It's interesting that like Edward Jones, you seem to have no problem thinking that personal attacks and intimidation is part of the culture of the real world as it is with the firm. If you really want to know, I left the cult two months ago.

Personal attacks?  Wow, you really have thin skin.  Ten years with Jones and you never heard Bachmann, Hill or Weddle say we can't help everyone?  My point, again, is that EDJ doesn't try and help everyone.  When you're prospecting on day one, you DO need to talk to everyone that can fog a mirror.  Why?  Because you need practice. 

As far as legitimacy, I said that in 2003 my office had $24 million AUM and it placed in the top 2500 of the firm -- that was in reference to the size of the typical Edward Jones branch. You seem to want to omit that was in reference to where I refuted another person's claim that half the firm's offices today had at least $90 million AUM. I produced a 2006 Registered Rep interview with Jim Weddle where he said the typical Jones office then was $44 million AUM, and it's fair to say since the market downturn of 2008 that typical AUM is less than that.

You mention embellishing numbers somewhere.  He rounded up and you rounded down.  I gave you a real world example of where $26M places a broker today.  You try and pass off as gospel that a broker just left with $25M and was ranked 5000.  I'll called BS and backed it up and you completely ignore the point of my post. 

You really need to learn how to read better instead of trying to be some uninformed cyber bully. But then again, that sounds like a typical Jonesbot.

My reading comprehension is fine.  I gave you factual examples to counter two very specific points you made.  You then turn around and deflect and ignore the specific points I made and cry about personal attacks.  I told you specifically these two points were incorrect.  Either you weren't an EDJ broker, you made up the numbers or you have an axe to grind against EDJ for some reason.  I stand by that assessment.  Maybe I should complain to the moderator because you called me a Jonesbot...that hurts my feelings, you bully.

[/quote]

jesus navet you're such a tool. you've failed and you're a tool

you dont realize that this is a SALES JOB. until you're producing $1mm/yr, you are PROSPECTING. once you cross that threshhold, then you can worry about "Wealth Management" (whatever that's supposed to mean). you sell tax free bonds and only ask for 50 - 100 bond orders only. No 5 bond minimum BS.

You can't "manage wealth" on $5mm AUM. You're not supposed to "manage wealth" for several years into the business b/c you don't know wtf you're doing.

And your clients can't go wrong with making 5-6% tax-free. There's nothing wrong with this AT ALL.

WE ARE SALESMEN. AND I TAKE PRIDE IN SAYING SO. ITS EXTREMELY TOUGH AND EXTREMELY REWARDING. NO ONE EXCEPT A SELECT FEW CAN DO THIS JOB. YOU FAILED. GTFO OF THIS FORUM.

YOU ARE A LOSER. LITERALLY. YOU LOST. YOU FAILED. GET OUT.

this is a navet appointment:

"how can i help you? ok so you have a $12,000 401k rollover. great. thanks for coming in! i simply can not thank you enough. first, we'll run a very comprehensive financial assesment. then i'll show you a mutual fund i suggest you roll these funds to. it's going to cost 5.75% upfront, so feel free to go home and discuss it with your wife. i can understand why you wouldn't want to pay this heh. but you need to look past this fee. i am a wealth manager. with this $12,000 of yours, i will keep you up to date with what's going on in the markets. what's your email address? this will allow me to conveniently update you with any changes regarding the markets in general. once again, thank you so much for coming to me with your $12,000. feel free to just let me know if you plan on moving forward with this rollover, after you discuss the fee with your wife. i look forward to hearing from you."

-6 months later, navet gets fired-

WTF IM TRYING TO MANAGE WEALTH HERE. YOU NEED TO GIVE ME MORE TIME. IM DOING IT BY THE BOOKS. OMG YOU ONLY WANT SALESMEN. I WAS JUST ABOUT TO CLOSE THIS DEAL. OMG CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

[quote=JumpMan]

FWIW:  I've heard for a EDJ RL friend of mine you guys are changing how you rate assets in an area from total dollars. To total qualified prospects.

[/quote]

You are correct.  I think by evaluating our "typical" client, they are now trying to measure how many "typical" clients are in a given area.  So I think the focus will be on demographics coupled with wealth, home ownership, age, # of business owners, etc.  I think in the past, they would end up targeting areas that are more affluent that don't necessarily equate to our "type" of client (i.e. Silicon Valley, Manhattan, etc.).  I think you will continue to see more focus on areas with high upper-middle class suburban populations that are not well-served by wirehouses and high-end boutiques.

[quote=Incredible Hulk]

[You mention embellishing numbers somewhere.  He rounded up and you rounded down.  I gave you a real world example of where $26M places a broker today.  You try and pass off as gospel that a broker just left with $25M and was ranked 5000.  I'll called BS and backed it up and you completely ignore the point of my post. [/quote]

It's very evident you cannot read. I said on another thread IN 2003 I had an office with $24 million AUM and it placed in the top 2,500. An Edward Jones FA I know left the firm in July and his office (according to him) had $25 million AUM was in the neighborhood of ranking 5,500 to 6,000 in the firm. You named a FA whose office has $26 AUM in August whose office (according to him) was ranking somewhere around 6,500.

I know this is over your heard, but that is not exactly a big difference between your colleague's office and my colleague's office, especially considering that July saw a drop in the financial markets. Not to mention it's not really relevant to the conversation at hand.

 [quote=Incredible Hulk] Either you weren't an EDJ broker, you made up the numbers or you have an axe to grind against EDJ for some reason.  I stand by that assessment.  Maybe I should complain to the moderator because you called me a Jonesbot...that hurts my feelings, you bully. [/quote]

i worked not only with Edward Jones for nine years, I worked in the home office in various departments. If I didn't work for Edward Jones, I know an amazingly amount of stuff about the firm especially since Edward Jones tries to keep its information such as "the brutal facts" Jim Weddle, Brett Campbell, Dan Timm, Mark Christensen (Wow! I'm naming people on the firm's EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE who are not publicly known) and crew sent out to FAs in late April "for internal use only."

BTW, you evidently cannot be posting your responses from your Edward Jones office terminal, given that IS has all those safeguards that prohibit people from posting on messageboards. So you're either doing this at home or you really have too much time on your hands for someone who allegedly has a $50 million AUM office. Either way, not good. If you're posting and reading this in your office, you do know STL monitors your computers -- and you can get fired for such use, right?

Have a good day, Jonesbot.

[quote=Incredible Hulk]Ten years with Jones and you never heard Bachmann, Hill or Weddle say we can't help everyone?  My point, again, is that EDJ doesn't try and help everyone.  When you're prospecting on day one, you DO need to talk to everyone that can fog a mirror.  Why?  Because you need practice.[/quote]

Actually, Edward Jones' comment is directed at the fact it feels its business style may not be for everyone -- that's different from saying we don't accept everyone. I can name the countless offices I've visited with useless, small accounts and problematic clients, so that is obviously not the case.

You do not need to blindly knock on hundreds of doors and not being able to ask financial questions (which was the case until FINRA changed its rules recently in terms of licensing eligibility). No one ever said you shouldn't prospect (which you seem to misinterpret); Edward Jones' problem is that it is still locked into its 1950s peddler walking-down-the-street schtick so it does very INEFFICIENT prospecting. What is even more ridiculous is Edward Jones has agreements with six companies that provide marketing lists AND EXPECTS FAs TO PAY FOR THEM OUT OF POCKET.

The firm does not have quality control training on who does and does not need a financial advisor. Couple that with the firm's Academic Training Leaders and Developmental Leaders -- most of whom have never been financial advisors, or even had sales jobs (a lot of them are former teachers) -- giving impractical advice and training. That "Everyone who fogs a mirror" approach is common even among the veteran FAs, which explains why the typical office has so many "Red" clients and the firm's offices have low assets per household numbers.

If Edward Jones had quality control measures in training and implementation, there wouldn't be "Red" clients -- period.

[quote=B24]You are correct.  I think by evaluating our "typical" client, they are now trying to measure how many "typical" clients are in a given area.  So I think the focus will be on demographics coupled with wealth, home ownership, age, # of business owners, etc.  I think in the past, they would end up targeting areas that are more affluent that don't necessarily equate to our "type" of client (i.e. Silicon Valley, Manhattan, etc.).  I think you will continue to see more focus on areas with high upper-middle class suburban populations that are not well-served by wirehouses and high-end boutiques.[/quote]

At least it's a start, but to be very honest Edward Jones is at least 15 years too late in this thinking. Not to mention the net is still going to be too big -- the firm needs to target it down to people with specific names and information. Even in a small town, you can have dozens of people that meet that basic criteria.

The firm really needs to concentrate on people meeting certain demographic criteria WHO WANT A FINANCIAL ADVISOR. Not only that, the criteria also needs to include people with certain investor behavior and personality traits suitable to do business with the firm.

Najee, I think what you wrote is part of it.  They have indicated that they are using very detailed demographic information and market data, and parsing that against our "typical" client.  They are using some of the same data that list services use to - "wealth finders", credit card use, magazine subscriptions, mortgage balances, home values, etc.

In addition to avoiding markets that are not typical for us (as stated above, the UHNW areas), they are also avoiding low-income areas that may have a lot of theoretical wealth, but the average wealth per household is low.  Recently I acquired a list of EDJ target sites in my area.  There were several offices slated for my area (which is rather thinly populated), but the next town over has ZERO offices identified, but they have 30,000 more people and more wealth, no EDJ offices, but it is a rather "low-insome" area.  Had they gone strictly by the "old school" demographics, it would have identified lots of potential locations.

I always wondered why Jones didn't provide a pre-populated list of addresses for FAs to door knock. I mean they have all this data that identifies the area surely they can print off prospecting logs with the addresses already on them and cross reference to disqualify certain addresses. Then the FA can just go down the list. Give them say 200,000 addresses which equals the number of dials a cold caller can expect to dial in the 500 Day War example.

The green color of the Starbucks signs and the green of the Edward Jones signs are similar. The locations even look similar, often in local plazas.

Said Obama: "That's a town that has had some tough times." The president said it would be a wonderful statement to Cleveland if James said: "I'm going to make a commitment to links of london Earring links of london us links of london links of london online links of london sale silver links of london this city." links of london Friendship Bracelets cheap links of london links of london jewelry links of london jewellery links of london Heart The president stuck to his point that links of london Sweetie Bracelets Tiffany Charms Tiffany Bracelet Tiffany Bangles Tiffany Pendants James needs to find a winning situation with a good team and coach.

I love the EDJ commercials... pretty hilarious actually... "If I can meet you in 2 weeks seems ridiculous..."

Call into the EDJ office/FA's studio apt office and ask some questions about your portfolio??? Oh wait, he's out door knocking your neighbors and has no idea if the market is open or not. Pretty assinine if you ask me, but hey, why not. But they're there for you watching your money, they just aren't there.

Not saying wires are much better bc we CC, but don't pretend to be the only ones that are accessable to your clients.

And does EDJ not read about what happened to SBX? They opened so many locations that they actually had to shut down a ton of them (600+ I believe).

I'm glad I live in a city so there's less Jehovah's Witnesses thumping at my door spilling Kool-Aid on my new floor mat outside. JK, I've actually never really even run into an EDJ's rep when prospecting or their clients more than 1-2x a year. Like I said, I live in a large city where you'd get shot in the face if you DK's the wrong street. Literally 2 blocks away from the nice areas. And in the suburbs you can't throw a stone in any direction and not hit 150 RIA's or Wires.

I would guess it has something to do with those that are unhappy being more likely to respond than those who are happy. 

Kristen, you know why. You read this forum. Right?