On Monday, August 30, we’ll be doing a webinar discussing you versus the discount broker. One thing I will stress for sure is that anyone looking to trade at a discount is not looking to sacrifice service. They will expect the same service they get from a full service Financial Adviser. They are in for a surprise.

In Selling the Invisible, Harry Beckwith correctly points out that when we listen to a song for the first time, we can’t remember the words and probably can’t remember the name. We may download the song after we hear it a few times and still not know all the words. After playing it several times, the message and the words finally sink in. Suppose the words of the song changed every time we heard it? We’d remember nothing! This is why it’s important that you and I keep saying the same thing over and over to our clients and prospects. If we keep changing our message, people will remember nothing.

I can always tell when someone is not listening to me. Most likely these folks are thinking about what they are going to say as soon as I finish talking. In any event, they aren’t thinking about what I am saying. I find that demeaning and I just shut down when that happens. I’m sure clients and prospective clients feel the same way if and when we do that to them. And it’s very easy to do! Clients’ goals tend to be not dissimilar. By the time that prospective client is halfway done telling us his goals we pretty much know the solution. So we begin formulating our response. I know you know this, but I am taking my usual liberty of going back to basics. While someone is talking to you, show that you are attentive and interested. Top producers do as much business listening as they do talking.

If I buy a watch today, or a car, or any tangible object, I’m going to walk away with that object. If I open an account with you, I am going to walk away with a plan that will take effect over the next several years. I cared about my future before the account was opened. Now I really care. I am committed. The more money I put at risk, the more my interest picks up. Make sure as my Advisor that your interest does not drop off after the account is opened, if, in fact, you want me as a life-long client. Make sure I see that you are willing to make a life-long commitment to me and my family. Lack of communication will cause an erosion of confidence.

In 2009 the stock market threw a great party and nobody showed up. They didn’t show up because the bond market threw a greater party. Bond fund sales were up 50% in 2009 and returns in those funds topped 16%. I know yield sells and I know you’ve got to make hay while the sun shines. I just want to plant the seed with you that trees still do not grow to the sky; clients still need to grow rich slowly and equities are still the vehicle or growth. Over the years, many, many clients have bought bonds with the money they made in stocks. Very few people, if any, have bought stocks with the money they made in bonds.