The COVID-19 crisis has shown us that you can’t really account for what might happen in the future. This has put financial planning and insurance at the forefront of everyone’s mind, with CNBC reporting that many Americans are now racing to buy life insurance. In the meantime, and partly in response to this increased demand,

Part II of Lessons From the Master: Building Trust I received a lot of positive feedback from last month’s discourse between the Young Professional and the blind Master. One subscriber, however, asked about the statement the Young Professional just tosses out about knowing how to build Trust with his Clients. “You’ve told us about being

Almost 30 years ago, my Thanksgiving dinner was only homebaked bread – not because I loved bread, but because I couldn’t digest anything else. I had lived through a horrific automobile accident, a diagnosis of colon cancer and the news that it had started to spread, two major abdominal surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and

“Master,” the Young Professional addressed his mentor, “You have told us that in order to hire us, a client must Like us and Trust us.” “That is correct, Grasshopper,” the Master replied. “I understand how I can earn a client’s Trust,” continued the Young Professional, “But how do I get him to Like me in the short

My friend and colleague, author Steve Chandler, divides leaders and business owners into two groups, the OWNERS who take charge of their businesses and their lives, (or as I refer to them in my book, The High Diving Board, the “Action Heroes,”) and the VICTIMS, the ones who want to blame what’s happening ‘out there’ for

A few years ago, my friend and colleague, coach and author Steve Chandler, recently wrote this: “Most people try to move toward wealth in embarrassing, clumsy ways.  They have cynicism programmed into them from an early age.  So they want a course called Manipulate and Grow Rich, or Network and Grow Rich or Win People Over and Grow Rich.”  “They see companies like

When you’re successful, you don’t have fewer challenges, you have higher level challenges—Quality Problems. Quality Problems are the kind that if you try to tell most people about them, they would reply, “I wish I had your problems…” Examples might be: The Olympic athlete who wants to go from silver to gold; the performer who has the

For most advisors, marketing, or “prospecting,” is a challenge. They try everything: Cold calling, cold “drop bys”, calling from purchased (or provided) lists, calling their “warm market,” seminars, webinars, networking, Facebook advertising, LinkedIn connecting strategies, mailings, advertising in publications—even billboards. Any of these can work, at least to some degree. But if none of them

It’s unlikely that you’ll be remembered for things you tried but gave up on.  What you will be remembered for will be the things you REFUSED to give up on. The problem I see with many advisors is that they give up too easily: They give up on deeply serving their clients. They give up

You’re a talented, knowledgeable—even successful–advisor. But your business isn’t where you want it to be because you’re getting in your own way. Which of these personal roadblocks applies to you? You’re a Perfectionist – you hold back from taking action until things are 100% perfect. So, you never get to achieve at the level highest