I love cowboys. Rugged, tough, out there in the elements, doing whatever it takes to keep their life of freedom alive. When I think of cowboys, I think of strong, independent, hard-working, tough guys (and gals!) working their territory, keeping the bad guys away, and protecting their family, their livestock, and their livelihood.

In fact, that’s how I used to think about most financial advisors – as “cowboys.” The allure of going out into the “wild blue” and taking charge of your life. Working hard, but ending your day with pride, independence and best of all, freedom. But, lately, it seems like the financial advisor “cowboy” is a dying breed.

Let me explain…

I recently had a call with a financial advisor who contacted us because he was completely frustrated with his seminar results. In fact, he was ready to quit doing seminars altogether.

Every month, he had been spending several thousands of dollars mailing out seminar invitations, but was only getting about 20 people to attend his events each night. (About half what he was looking for.) Further, of the people who attended, this advisor told me that even though he was narrowing down his list using criteria such as “Income Producing Assets of $100K+” (IPA),  almost no one was qualified to do business with him. (No qualified prospects = no new business. ) The whole thing felt like a waste of time & money, and he was ready to thrown in the towel.

When You Feel Like You’re Ready To Quit, It’s Time To Push A Little Harder

So, I did what any good marketing consultant would do; I told him to do more. “What you need to do,” I said, “is loosen up your demographic criteria, and send MORE mail. You’ll get a higher response. Then, you can call up your registrants, qualify them, and make sure only qualified folks attend your event. Then you need to make your confirmation calls, too. Develop a relationship with these people before they even attend your event.” (Push harder, do more, take control…that’s what a cowboy would do!)

He immediately fired back, “You want me to call EVERY person who registers? That will take hours! And what if they aren’t qualified? I can’t un-invite someone just because they aren’t qualified! No…there has to be an easier way. I don’t have time for that…” (Incidentally, one of my colleagues talks about how to handle seminar registrations on our “Weekly Seed” video site: www.plumdm.com/weeklyseed)

Good Bye, Cowboy

In my head, all I could picture was that cowboy sliding off his horse, throwing down his cowboy hat on the ground and stomping around like a whiny toddler. Here was this incredibly competent, relatively successful financial advisor, calling to ask for our help, looking to grow, but was absolutely UNWILLING to make a few phone calls! That isn’t a cowboy. That’s just a boy. A lazy, lazy boy.

What It’s All About

No matter how incredible a marketing campaign or a seminar invitation is, you’re never going to be successful without something deep inside you, stirring your spirit. You can have the best invitation, the best plan, the best restaurant where you’re holding your seminar, but if you aren’t willing to make a few phone calls, do a little grunt work (or pay someone to do it), you simply won’t get very far.

Time To Saddle Up

There hundreds of thousands of advisors out there. But GOOD ones…the “cowboys” who go the extra mile, try a little harder, do a little more…are RARE. They are also the ones who actually make more money than any of their competitors. They are the ones you find at the fancy qualifying trips from their FMOs/IMOs, the ones who are the movers and shakers. Those who haven’t forgotten the importance of rolling up your sleeve and doing some actual hard work. And you want to know another little secret? Anyone can do it. Anyone can be a “cowboy.” Why not you?

Start right now. Vow to do “whatever it takes” to hit your goals. Take a hard look at your marketing efforts. Are you doing everything you can or are you relying on someone else to do everything for you? Make some goals, make a plan, seek expert marketing advice, and then implement. You’ll riding off into the sunset before you know it.

Ready to ride off into the sunset? It starts with a successful marketing campaign. Shoot me an email at support@plumdirectmarketing.com or call us at 800-992-9663 to schedule a marketing strategy call with one of our marketing experts – free.