Don Connelly, Soft Skills Trainer for Financial Professionals

Don A. Connelly is a speaker, motivator and educator for financial advisors. During a career of more than 40 years on Wall Street, he worked for nearly 19 years as company spokesperson, senior vice president and senior marketing officer for Putnam Investments, in addition to holding positions as a stock broker, financial planner, branch manager, wholesaler and national sales manager. As founder and CEO of Don Connelly 24/7, he provides timely and provocative sales ideas to thousands of financial professionals, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Thrive on Rejection – Don’t Let It Ruin Your Financial Advisor Career

/ by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 0 comments

In order to succeed you need to prospect, open accounts and get referrals. To achieve these aims you need to face your fear of rejection. Rejection is an occupational hazard so rather than fear rejection you must find a way to thrive on it. Coca Cola sold 400 cokes in their first year. Henry Ford’s first two companies went under. They obviously learned to thrive on rejection. And if you don’t too you will halt any chance of success dead in its tracks.

Have You Worked Out Who Your Ideal Clients Are?

/ by Don Connelly / Marketing Yourself / 0 comments

The decision to open the new account is yours as much as it is the client’s. Define your ideal client. Be selective and choose your clients with care. Elite Advisors have the ability to identify and target a demographic that works best for them. They differentiate themselves from the competition by making their skills stand out as a perfect match for prospective clients. The best way to do this is to focus, laser-like, on specific ideal client types.

Don’t Replace Your Good Furniture – Analogy

/ by Don Connelly / Storytelling, analogies and power phrases / 0 comments

We’ve said time and time again that people love analogies and stories. If you become a great storyteller, you’re gonna hit the ball right out of the park every single day in this business.

Listen to Don’s audio post with the furniture analogy or read the transcript below.

5 Reasons to Develop a Repeatable Process

/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments

It’s essential to develop consistent patterns of behavior if you are going to build a successful business. By continually changing direction and trying different things every quarter you won’t be able to hit your goals or measure the results of your progress. Without a measure of consistency you won’t become accountable and you’ll fail to win your clients’ trust or get them to invest with you for the long term.

Check out these 5 reasons you should develop repeatable processes.

Develop Leadership Skills So Clients Will Follow You

/ by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments

There’s far more to being a good financial advisor than simply setting up a financial plan and then walking away. The best advisors not only identify which path clients should take – but accompany them for the entire journey. Your clients need to know that you’re committed to their long term success. They will look to you for reassurance along the way. So you need to step up to the mark and develop strong leadership skills.

What Happens When You Lack Accountability?

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

It’s essential to acknowledge that you alone are responsible for your success as a financial advisor and this means you must be accountable. If you’re not accountable you will never feel in control of your destiny or understand how to turn things around if they take a downturn. No matter how smart or talented you are, if you lack accountability you will not develop the self-discipline you need to change your outcomes for the better.

Why It’s Important You Have All of Your Client’s Assets

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 1 comment

I received an email from Harry in Chicago. He manages a few million dollars for a particular client. That client has an equal amount of money invested with another Advisor and firm across the street, and he won’t combine the two. The client uses the account across the street to pay taxes and expenses. When asked why he does this, the client has a traditional comment – ‘I don’t want all my eggs in one basket’. Harry’s question to me is “Should I leave well enough alone?”

Listen to Don’s answer or read the transcript below.

How to Get More Referrals

/ by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 0 comments

Referrals are integral to growing your business. They are one of the most profitable sources of new clients. So asking for referrals is a priority – even if the thought of doing so fills you with trepidation.

In order to get more referrals be selective where you focus your energy. Determine the right time to ask your clients and try these different approaches in order to make asking for referrals more natural – and more productive.

Personalizing Your Services Will Help You Succeed as a Financial Advisor

/ by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments

All financial advisors generate income in the same way, by offering similar platforms at essentially the same price. The job description: to help people simplify their finances and get peace of mind that they can reach their goals. Naturally achieving this task is of the utmost importance but if you want to stand apart from the crowd and win more businesses you need to do more; you need to personalize your services.

By treating each client personally and making them feel important you will not just meet their expectations but exceed them. If your clients feel they’re just a number to you they won’t rate your services and they will be unlikely to refer you to others.

Why Financial Advisors Should Do Seminars

/ by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 0 comments

One of my Don Connelly 24/7 subscribers asked me how I liked seminars for a prospecting idea. The answer is ‘I love seminars’. Here are a couple of reasons why.

Listen to this audio episode to hear Don’s full answer, or read the transcript below.

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Articles by: Don Connelly