Jones and $1MM+ Producers
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One of the things that I’ve read on this forum from EDJer’s is that Jones doesn’t do a great job at showing reps how to go from $250M to $750M in production or more. Now for those reps who are at $1MM+ at Jones, how did they achieve that level? I imagine its sticking to the fundamentals and good ole prospecting to the 100th degree…
Part of it is the Jones model. Not to get on a Jones bashing wagon again, but I do have a complaint. (disclaimer: this was the model when I left in 2006)
It seems like the Jones model is to get as many accounts as possible, regardless of client size. There are Jones offices with well over 1000 households (some with over 2000). That's crazy, there is NO way you can service those clients. Obviously the top 100 or so (revenue wise) get service. But, the guy with $25,000 in an American Funds IRA gets almost no service. I don't blame the Jones broker, but I think it is unfair to the client. That client is "paying" the broker $62.50/yr in trails. What it he getting for that? I know this isn't a Jones-specific problem, but that is where I saw it. I have been trying to de-program myself over the past two years. I now have minimums, not just to make more money. But, to keep myself from taking some poor guy's $30,000 to invest, knowing full well that I can't afford to, and will not, service him for $75/yr. Even if I spent just one hour/year helping him, I am being underpaid!It's somewhat different for each of them. Our #1 guy does a ton of Insurance biz. He wrote one policy last year that netted him $250K. You do one or two of those in the right circles and you're a known commodity and they just keep coming.
Some of them do it on just pure volume. Thousands of clients of all sizes and types. Pick up trails, do transactional biz, sprinkle in some annuities and insurance. Just a typical operation, just lots and lots of it. The thing is that they have found something that works for them and they just simply keep repeating it. They figured out the process that works in their office and they just do it over and over again. I'm always amazed when I meet those guys. They're not always the brightest guys, or the best orators. They're normally just your average Joe who has it all together. They do the things the rest of us put off until tomorrow.[quote=Spaceman Spiff]
It's somewhat different for each of them. Our #1 guy does a ton of Insurance biz. He wrote one policy last year that netted him $250K. You do one or two of those in the right circles and you're a known commodity and they just keep coming.
Some of them do it on just pure volume. Thousands of clients of all sizes and types. Pick up trails, do transactional biz, sprinkle in some annuities and insurance. Just a typical operation, just lots and lots of it. The thing is that they have found something that works for them and they just simply keep repeating it. They figured out the process that works in their office and they just do it over and over again. I'm always amazed when I meet those guys. They're not always the brightest guys, or the best orators. They're normally just your average Joe who has it all together. They do the things the rest of us put off until tomorrow. [/quote] I will be one of them guysI second the motion to have this idiot Saul banished from the site or voted off the island or what ever.
Now Indy and the Spaceman are both correct. Knock on more doors, call more people, work LTC into the mix, and time in the business, are the recommendations dispensed from above. The biggest producers I know do not share much strategy. They appear to follow the Jones Model and are ruthless with their time.
Definitely " off the island of sanity ". Hey , Saul4Paul , was visiting St. Lawrence County ( for you that means along the Border. I finally saw your home.....Hand Painted Signs For Ron Paul. Perhaps you should learn to spell correctly but REALLY ..... don't you think Ron would be a little upset with the state of your front yard.....the bottles , rusted out lawnmower and you should at least get rid of the weeds????? Keep working.
Many of Jones' largest prodcuers have high minimums and few clients. I am aware of several 1mm+ (and 2mm+) FA's that only have a few hundred households, but a few hundred $mm in AUM. Actually, it's like most wirehouses....some do the "planning" thing, some do the "stock broker" thing, some do tons of insurance, and some are just popular is sh!t in their community, so everyone comes to them. There is no ONE model at that level. Unfortunately, most former Jones people take what they see around them and extrapolate that over the entire population of FA's, which is just not an accurate picture.
What most people don't realize is that to become a $mm producer at ANY firm takes the same type of hard work, focus, and determination (oh, and time). Jones misght start you out a little different in the beginning, but what I do is not much different than what my friends do at wirehouses and as indies (of course, I am only referring to a handful of them that I know well). And Lambda, most of the $mm prodcuers are not out door-knocking. Most either inherited an office, receive all their prospects via referral, or have tapped into some huge network. And again, this is basically how every wirehouse rep has done it as well. I actually met with a team from SB a few weeks ago. When I todl them how I was building my book pretty much from scratch, they just sort of looked at me funny and said "I didn't realize anyone did that anymore?" They said anyone that starts with them either inherited a book, or were brought on to a team.I know three Jones top producers, two are $1mm and the other just a little off. One of these guys started in the early 90s the other two right in the middle of, and just after the 2000-02 debacle. One was my field trainer and another mentor. These guys are incredibly well-organized and efficient. They get into their offices and are at full speed within five minutes. They each got to where they are in different ways but all of them have one thing in common…they just work harder (and smarter) than I possibly can. That should be an embarrassing thing to say, but not when you see these guys up close.
There is nothing special about them but their ability to go and get it and stick to what they want to do. All of them opened a ton of accounts right off: Each averaged 20-40 accounts per month their first two years. (Started as new-news in a part of the country where no one has an idea what Edward Jones is, but has the highest penetration rate for full service and online brokerages in the country [over 70% for both]). They focused only on the number of calls and number of appointments. Two of the three started in communities they weren’t a part of before joining Jones. They went out, made a list of the most prominent people in their communities, visited those people, asked them what had made them successful and who else they should get to know in the community.