Business planning helped MDRT member Kevin Williams become one of the top earners for his company. Excerpted from his 2022 MDRT Annual Meeting presentation, he shares a few of his tips for consistent success:
1. Plan/vision
We all need to have a plan. As your business grows, you will build a valuable book of clients — not customers. Part of my plan/vision was to connect my staff’s income to my income, rewarding the team for growing the business. Here are a few questions to ask yourself about the goals for your business:
- How many days a year do you want to work?
- How many appointments do you need to achieve your sales goals?
- How much premium do you need to sell to achieve your income goals?
- Close your eyes. What does your business look like five years and 10 years from now?
- What clients are you dealing with?
- What is the mix of your business?
- What does your team look like?
2. Be holistic
Don’t be a one-product person. We need to give full financial services to our clients: life, health and wealth. Build your team to provide these products to your clients. Be the financial advisor of choice.
3. How much insurance is enough?
At my first MDRT meeting in 1994, I went to the session of the late MDRT Past President Millard J. Grauer, CLU, ChFC. He spoke on how much life insurance is enough. He used multiple case studies, one of which focused on a 44-year-old truck driver who made $24,000 per year. The court awarded his beneficiaries $1.2 million in a wrongful death suit. Do your clients have enough insurance? Follow up on those clients to whom you first sold policies and revisit their insurance needs.
4. Take ownership
Write your plan down and take ownership. It is your plan.
- Review your plan.
- Be realistic (dream big).
- Take personal ownership.
- Track your plan.
- Adjust your plan when needed.
Always remember: Advisors fail because they don’t have a plan.
5. Be trustworthy
Ask yourself these questions:
- How do your clients perceive you?
- What value do your clients put on you?
- Do you want to be the person they call when they have a child? Buy a new home? Retire?
- Are you their first point of contact for financial decisions?
- Do they refer friends or family to you?
- Do you treat your clients like you would treat your parents?
If your clients trust you, then the business will come easily. If you treat your clients like your family, then they’ll trust you wholly.
My challenge to you is to commit to your growth, see what MDRT has to offer and invest in yourself.
Excerpted from “10 secrets to selling consistently” [MDRT member exclusive]
Kevin Williams, of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, is a 29-year MDRT member as well as a Top of the Table member.
For more business planning ideas:
- Watch “Business planning in changing environments” [MDRT member exclusive]
- Read “Define your objectives”
Great article and advice. I will use se of these recommendations.