Every MDRT member who makes it to the Top of the Table has thoughts on what brought them there.
In his 2016 Annual Meeting presentation “Ten Tips to the Top … of the Table,” Larry Ricke, CLU, ChFC, a 42-year MDRT member from New Albany, Indiana, shared these tips for how he has been a four-time Top of the Table qualifier.
1. Position yourself for greatness. “Early in his professional golf career, Fuzzy Zoeller, a neighbor and friend of mine, was invited to play in a special, made-for-television golfing event called the Skins Game. Asked by a local television crew how he would feel when he’s putting to win all the cash on a particular hole, Fuzzy responded, ‘I’ve been practicing that putt my whole life, both physically and in my mind. I know that, if given the chance, I can make that putt.’
“Our business is just like this. We practice and learn our whole business career to get the opportunity, when it comes, to be in front of that huge prospect. Will we have the confidence and skill to make that putt? To make that sale? Our business is like professional golf: Professional golfers go to a different tournament each week. They practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The real tournament starts on Thursday. They play on Thursday and Friday in hopes that they qualify to play the final rounds on Saturday and Sunday. All the money is earned on Sunday. If they are playing in the final pairings on Sunday, chances are they are going to have a great payday. I want to be known as an advisor who’s always in the final pairings on Sunday. We may not get all the sales, but we’ll always have an opportunity to be ‘putting for dough.’”
2. Keep solutions simple. “People don’t buy what they don’t understand. Keep your recommendations and presentations short and concise, and try to put them on one page. In today’s age of compliance and 20- to 30-page illustrations, being brief, clear and concise is difficult. Have the compliant illustrations with you, but try to talk in non-legalese or financial services language so the prospects understand your recommendation and how it will help solve their problem.”
3. Remember Vilfredo Pareto. “Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist who died in 1923. He discovered the 80-20 percent theory. Twenty percent of the coins in your pocket represent 80 percent of the value of your coins. It’s just the same in our financial services business: Twenty percent of our prospects account for 80 percent of our business. Our goal is to give priority to those 20 percent, try to find the common threads that connect this 20 percent and then try to find more prospects just like them.”
Hear seven more tips in the October episode of MDRT Presents:
[soundcloud id=’347132629′ height=’false’]
Written by Matt Pais, MDRT Content Specialist
my Goal MDRT