June 19, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 2 comments
There is a great chance that you have a can of WD-40 under the sink or in the garage. Most people do. In fact, you can find it in the garages of homes in 160 countries. Everybody knows WD-40. What most people don’t know is the origin of the name.
The Rocket Chemical Company was founded in San Diego, California in 1953. It created a product to displace the standing water that caused corrosion in nuclear missiles. The first thirty-nine attempts to perfect the formula failed. Success was achieved on the 40th attempt. WD-40 literally stands for Water Displacement, 40th attempt. In 1969, the company name was changed to simply WD-40.
We have all heard of similar struggles by Walt Disney, Theodore Seuss Geisel and the Coca-Cola Company. If we’ve learned one lesson from these stories, the lesson is, don’t be in a hurry to become a success.
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How Interpersonal Relationships Lead to You Being Trusted
September 15, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Managing the Relationship / 0 comments
By now you know my belief about gathering assets. If someone likes you, trusts you and thinks you are smart, you get the assets. If another Advisor ranks higher in those categories, he or she gets the assets.
Follow the Golden Rule and you will be likable. Simplify the business so that your listener can understand every word you say and you will be perceived as smart.
Do what you say you are going to do and you will earn the other person’s trust.
Like most things in life, the solution to each of these perceptions is simple. It’s not easy, but it is simple.
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How to Manage Your Emotions in Difficult Situations
August 21, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
You know by now that I believe the development and use of certain soft skills contributes far more to our success than does the development and use of hard skills. Self-awareness is just such a soft skill. The importance of being aware of and controlling our emotions cannot be overstated.
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Communicating as Intended Is Vital to Your Success
July 14, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Presentation Skills / 0 comments
Since it is your job to influence and persuade, what you say is not nearly as important as what the other person hears. To be successful, you’ve got to communicate as intended.
When folks say to you that they want to go home and think about what you proposed, they are most likely telling you that they haven’t fully understood what you said. They aren’t rethinking their decision to retire comfortably. They simply don’t want to buy into what they don’t understand.
Why are we misunderstood and what can we do about it?
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There Are Times When It’s Simply Best to Forgive and Forget
July 7, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
To succeed as a Financial Advisor, one has to accept that disappointment is inevitable. We don’t always get what we want. Disappointment breeds frustration. Negative emotions are unavoidable, yet they must be controlled. We’re in the business of controlling the emotions of others. We can’t do that well until we have control of our own emotions.
I think the best way to deal with disappointment is to put it in perspective.
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It Takes Extraordinary Patience to Build a Successful Business
June 19, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 2 comments
There is a great chance that you have a can of WD-40 under the sink or in the garage. Most people do. In fact, you can find it in the garages of homes in 160 countries. Everybody knows WD-40. What most people don’t know is the origin of the name.
The Rocket Chemical Company was founded in San Diego, California in 1953. It created a product to displace the standing water that caused corrosion in nuclear missiles. The first thirty-nine attempts to perfect the formula failed. Success was achieved on the 40th attempt. WD-40 literally stands for Water Displacement, 40th attempt. In 1969, the company name was changed to simply WD-40.
We have all heard of similar struggles by Walt Disney, Theodore Seuss Geisel and the Coca-Cola Company. If we’ve learned one lesson from these stories, the lesson is, don’t be in a hurry to become a success.
Read more
It Takes Persistence and Perseverance to Keep Doing a Difficult Thing
May 15, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
Do you think it’s possible for you to become one of the best Financial Advisors in the world? How about in your firm or in your town? Is it possible for you to be great, to be admired and looked up to? How about rich? How about famous? Or are the rewards for the other guy? Have you thought long and hard about what it takes to become great?
It has been said that advice is what you seek when you already know the answer but wish you didn’t.
The good news is that all those things are within your grasp.
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Self-Confidence Will Make You Unstoppable
May 12, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Prospecting / 0 comments
I was speaking at a Financial Services conference in Australia and heard an insurance company CEO issue a provocative challenge to the audience members.
“If you stand on any street corner in Sydney and ask everyone who walks by to buy life insurance, every eighty-fifth person will. The questions is, do you have what it takes to hear the word ‘no’ eighty-four times in a row?”
The failure rate in the Financial Services industry is north of eighty percent.
This industry hires a small fraction of the people who apply. We provide good training, good products and good internal and external support. Yet most fail. And they are good people who got hired for good reasons.
Lack of self-confidence doesn’t mean lack of ability.
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Love What You Do and Do What You Do Best
April 24, 2014 / by David Hubbard / Best Practices / 1 comment
“I want to be more successful”, “I want to be a million dollar producer”, “I want to have one hundred million under management”. These are but a few of the phrases that hundreds of advisors have told me over the years. Many advisors measure their success by some numerical figure relating ultimately to income. The first thing that I have to do is to remind them that income is the result of running a successful financial advisory firm.
Why is it that the vast majority of financial advisors never achieve the success that they hoped for when they decided to enter the business?
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Common Sense Is Quite Uncommon
March 3, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 2 comments
Our A students become professors. Our B students go to law school. Our C students rule the world.
So wrote Dean of Harvard College, Henry Rosovsky.
The inference to be drawn from Rosovky’s observation is that common sense will take one very far in life. Street smarts trump book smarts.
Everybody seems to know that common sense is always the answer.
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There Is No Ambiguity When It Comes to Being a Good Advisor
January 30, 2014 / by Don Connelly / Best Practices / 0 comments
Yet, while certain elements of this business are ambiguous, the challenge we face is not.
The correct way to succeed is straight-forward. Either you do things right or you don’t. Either you do the right things or you don’t. Either you see enough people or you don’t. Either you build a good business or you don’t. Embrace the clarity.
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