Whether broadening, deepening, or expanding your existing book of business, it is important to understand how people make investment decisions. This need is true in spades in the small business owner segment. These people are highly entrepreneurial and have an “I’d rather do it myself” attitude about all of life. I recently read an article…

As unpalatable as it may be, I’d like to ask you to think back to high school English class when you were asked to write a theme in which you compared and contrasted two characters, situations, or stories. It seemed boring or even obtuse to the learning process, but I bet a dollar to a…

In his 2006 book, Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality, Dr. Henry Cloud proposes that:  People who become leaders, or really successful, tend to have three qualities… They have some set of competencies…you can only fake it so long…you just have to get good at what you do. There is no shortcut.…

In the 10 preceding articles on Sales Leadership, we discussed a strongly-held philosophy, provided strategic application emanating from that philosophy, and defined specific tactics to put this strategy to work. Now you ask, “Where do I start?” Many of you have experience in this role – some extensive and some nominal. Others are just starting…

In the last three articles in this series, we have discussed teaching, coaching and delegating as imperatives that the good sales leader should master. For maximum effectiveness, each of these tactical activities must be accomplished while constantly motivating those whom he/she is leading. Leadership is not for the faint of heart. If we have not…

Motivation is either scientific art or artful science…take your pick.  Come back on Monday and we’ll discuss some proven ways to apply both art and science in this process.  But first, list three specific steps you believe are essential to being a motivating sales leader. image credit  

Delegate?  Isn’t it the responsibility of management to manage?  Isn’t delegation synonymous with abdication of responsibility? It sure seems that delegation defies all logic when it comes to effective leadership.  However, when properly planned and implemented, delegation will not only leverage a manager’s time, it will also enhance the skills of some producers in a…

Delegation seems to be the opposite of what a good leader would do to elevate production and skill development.  If asked to disprove the commonly-held belief that good sales leaders don’t delegate, what 3 reasons would you use in your proof presentation?  Also, what 3 activities would you delegate to others if you were a…

Until the end of the year, certain taxpayers aged 70½ or older may transfer up to $100,000 from their IRA account to an eligible charitable organization.   Such distributions may be counted toward their required minimum distributions, but are not reported as taxable income to the owner of the IRA.  Employer-sponsored plans, such as SIMPLE IRAS…

In the previous articles, we have defined some specific strategies and tactics that we have used, taught, and proven to work in many venues and many segments of financial service sales.  Through these many and varied applications, it has been increasingly clear that systems, processes, and measurements alone will not, by themselves, work to significantly…