If You Want to Be a Successful Advisor, Avoid These 5 Behaviors
Successful advisors do what average advisors don’t do. If you want to be extraordinary you need to avoid the behaviors that are making you your own worst enemy. Study your habits. What can you do better? What should you not be doing at all?
Here are some behaviors you need to avoid if you want to achieve success…
#1 Don’t procrastinate
Average advisors look for excuses for their lack of action. Successful advisors realize there are no shortcuts. They focus on what they need to do and just do it. If you want to get ahead, you need to be proactive. You need to put in the effort.
People won’t say ‘yes’ every time you call for an appointment and they won’t become your clients just because you ask them. To get appointments, open accounts, get referrals and grow your business you need to put in work, lots of work, to make it happen.
Talking about your dreams won’t get you there. Practical steps are required to achieve your goals. Make the decision to mix it up and get out there: You are the only possible barrier to your success, so don’t put the blame anywhere else.
#2 Don’t set unrealistic goals
Have a clear plan on how to grow your business and set appropriate metrics to track your progress. Make your mind up in advance, in writing, what it is you want to achieve and work towards this. Don’t make your ‘to do’ list so long that it depresses you. Focus on your strengths and how you can use them to set your goals and create better habits.
Compete against yourself not others, and don’t set yourself up to fail. Don’t compare yourself to other advisors. Some will be further down the road than you. Focus on your strengths not theirs. And if you have a bad month don’t give up or lose enthusiasm. Persevere and you will succeed. Don’t let others set goals for you. You decide what comes next.
#3 Don’t talk numbers
When you talk about the numbers you’re saying ‘There is no need to trust me. You can trust the numbers. Clients, for the most part, don’t want more information. They just want someone they can trust. You need to sell ‘you’, since that’s what will make people transfer their accounts to you, not the investment information you give them.
And don’t make things difficult for clients to understand, don’t talk jargon. Simplify the message. Tell clients stories. Appeal to their ‘emotional space’. The best performing financial advisors connect emotionally and then justify their decisions with logic.
#4 Don’t fear failure
Your choice of career necessitates failure. But setbacks are temporary and happen to us all. Don’t let your fear of failure stop you from succeeding.
When things don’t go your way, don’t be discouraged. Stay positive. Accept that you won’t open every account or get every referral. The sun will still come up tomorrow. Don’t be a victim. Circumstances are not stacked against you. Take pride in your ability to recover from setbacks. Accept failure as part of succeeding. Even though you occasionally fail, all kinds of good things still happen. It’s just part of succeeding.
Don’t get angry or frustrated. Just do your job. One account is not going to make or break you.
#5 Don’t fear success
Most of us are conditioned to fail. We’re brought up hearing “you can’t do this”, and “don’t try this”; so failure feels comfortable and we start to fear success. Self-sabotage creeps in if you don’t think you can live up to your ideals.
For example, ‘partying the night before the presentation’ is a form of sabotaging yourself. It provides you with an escape hatch that gives you an excuse for not doing well. Be honest about what’s holding you back, and accept your reasons.
Then prepare yourself. The more you prepare the more your fears will subside. Learn to stop repeating the past and empower yourself. Believe that you control your own fate and you will. Your success or failure is up to you, not destiny. When you’re in control of your success strategies, you’re in tune with your ‘internal locus’ of control.
Finally, If there’s one thing great financial advisors don’t have it’s a plan B.
If you want to succeed, stick to plan A, control your own fate, and go for it.
See how subscribing to Don Connelly 24/7 learning center will help you stick to your plan A.
Let other success stories inspire you.
Specifically on your # 2 item “Compete against yourself not others”… I’d like to add others who’ve made it to where someone wants to be can be a source of inspiration. Not competing, but having their success motivate you.
Your # 4 item, “Don’t fear failure” reminds me of Steve Jobs and Michael Jordan. At the age of 30, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was let go from the company he founded and was depressed and devastated. That did not stop him and eventually he came back to create what Apple is today. Michael Jordan was cut from his High School basketball team and locked himself in his room and cried. Well, for those who follow basketball, he is one of the all-time legends.
Thanks for sharing Don!
Marty Morua
Letting others’ success stories inspire you is a good DO, Marty – thanks for adding it t the conversation!
~Diana