How to care for the keys to your success

Decades of sales experience taught me about the keys to success. And every one of them has at its heart personal relationships, which is one of the many things I learned by attending an MDRT Annual Meeting.

My business motto, “It’s not about me; it’s about them,” applies to clients, of course. It also applies to your professional family: your staff.

Benefits abound when you hire early and hire well, and then when you retain and reward your team. It’s a bit paradoxical, but personal sales success optimally takes a team effort. In the realm of food, bread is known as the “staff of life.” In the realm of business, your staff is your staff of life. They provide sustenance for your business and for you.

4 A’s in supporting staff

Staff is an investment that pays consistent dividends. I invite you to consider and to apply what is crucial to my sales success. These are my forays — or 4 A’s — into staff support:

1. Pay attention to staff needs, from equipment requests to competitive wages to extra time off.
2. Compliment and affirm work that exceeds expectations.
3. Take note of positive staff and client interactions, and applaud successes.
4. Accept your own responsibility as a leader who is fully invested in making the business thrive. This means welcoming ideas, offering your ear as a listener and exercising your expertise as a problem solver. Your goal as head of staff is to build (and merit!) respect. This means, in part, keeping all criticisms or corrections private and making all accolades or celebrations a shared event. Care for and about staff builds respect — and nothing is more valuable.

In an age when the personal is at a premium, one of the attractions of a career as a financial advisor is that it’s about people and addressing their needs. This builds a sense of security. And just as you strive to know your clients well — their passions, hobbies, concerns, causes, family situations and so forth — focus on knowing and nurturing your staff too.

Scott Paterick, of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, USA, has been an MDRT member for 31 years and is a Top of the Table member. He’s the author of “If I Can Do It, You Can, Too!” It’s available at the 2022 MDRT Annual Meeting and, starting in May, will be available on Amazon.

To discover a valuable network of your own, visit annualmeeting.mdrt.org to register for the 2022 MDRT Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, June 26–29.

If you are interested in volunteering for Annual Meeting through Program General Arrangements (PGA), you may sign up during the meeting registration process. Better together, stronger than ever!