Digg it UP - Business

Office Chairs Determine the Office Environment
Office chairs are an important part of the business environment. An increasing number of employees find themselves seated in front of a computer terminal or telephone console for an extended period of time during their workday. On average, most employees who use computers are seated for more than eight hours per day. It is extremely important that their office chairs be both comfortable and safe.Office chairs that are comfortable are conducive to workplace productivity and satisfaction. Office chairs are much more than just furniture. A good office chair will offer a cushion that is soft and comfortable on the buttocks and will also offer excellent lumbar support for the lower back. Body parts should not be sore after sitting for several hours at work. If an office chair is uncomfortable, either it

How to Handle Sales Objections
Embrace the objections of your prospects and customers. Right now and over the next few weeks, consider the regular objections you get from prospects as a positive step as well as an inevitable way to generate increased business. Objections confirm a certain level of desire for your product or service and actually help you to better assess the next steps that you should take in a sales process. For the prospect, it's how you respond to these objections that help them determine whether or not to buy. As I firmly educate business owners in training workshops "Objections are not to be feared, they are to be welcomed as they can be regarded as buying signals"Hence the responses to your top objections (those you and your team hear most often) just can't be ‘winged' on the spur of the moment. T

Changes, changes, changes. You can’t pick up a Wall Street Journal on a given day without finding that one company has been bought by another. Most of the time you can’t pick up one of the trade magazines in our business without finding that an independent broker-dealer has been bought by another independent broker dealer or an RIA has been bought by another RIA.

All this activity has to make you wonder: Why are all these people doing this? Are they trying to get their equity out of the business? Are they trying to preserve their businesses for a loved one? Are they trying to derive some economies of scale and some synergy by joining forces? Are they trying to gain some strength to protect themselves from the competitive onslaughts that are coming from every direction in the independent broker dealer, financial planning and investment advisory arenas? Yes, probably all of these reasons and many more.

Your independent broker dealer has a business. Do you? Maybe you do. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you just think you do! Maybe you’re wondering what you should be doing with this work area to which you report to every morning, this gaggle of clients that depends on your every move, these employees who support you on a day-to-day basis. Maybe you’re tired and want to slow down. Maybe you’re just burned out from dealing with the everyday hassles. Maybe you’re excited about your work and want to see it grow. Maybe you’re looking for a sensible and profitable exit strategy. Whatever your scenario is, start thinking about your practice and make a conscious decision about whether it is positioned the way you want it to be. Don’t be caught up in “The B Myth.”

The B Myth is my terminology for the situation where a broker, financial planner or investment adviser is under the illusion that he has a “business” when in actuality all he really has is a job. As John Bowen, a senior consultant in this area, says, “If you build a system which revolves around you, it is difficult to transfer the business to anyone else. You own a job, and it’s hard to sell a job.” Yes, I know. When you went in the financial

Client Service as a Competitive Advantage
As someone who has been heavily involved facilitating strategic planning processes with organizations during the last 15+ years, I often find it somewhat amusing how people answer the questions I pose.For example, if I ask people, “What is your unique differentiation in the marketplace?” or “What does your organization really excel at?” They will almost always reply, “It has to be our client service.” Almost no one will admit to being “lousy” in client service, any more than they will talk about living in an average town with average kids. Instead I see the “Lake Woebegone Syndrome.” In Lake Woebegone it seems all the women are pretty, all the men are handsome, and all the kids are well above average.If while getting to know someone’s agency or company, I ask the question, “If I hauled you into a c

hese people doing this? Are they trying to get their equity out of the business? Are they trying to preserve their businesses for a loved one? Are they trying to derive some economies of scale and some synergy by joining forces? Are they trying to gain some strength to protect themselves from the competitive onslaughts that are coming from every direction in the independent broker dealer, financial planning and investment advisory arenas? Yes, probably all of these reasons and many more.

A Successful Business Is Like A Successful Athlete
“Winning athletes need to plan their training routine; train under the conditions that will be similar to the actual event; control their diet; set targets to be achieved; monitor progress and performance; constantly refine elements of their regime; and most importantly they must motivate themselves towards achieving the ultimate goal – Winning!So what is so different about business? A business needs…”This was the start of an article I wrote some years ago and clich? apart this analogy is still as relevant, if not more, than it was then.A business needs to ensure that everybody has been trained to carry out their duties, to know what impact they have on the total process internally and most importantly the customer; and be able to adapt to ever changing conditions by having readily available

advisory arenas? Yes, probably all of these reasons and many more.

Hidden Job Market: What Is It and How Do You Find It?
What is the hidden job market?The hidden job market generally refers to unadvertised jobs that are available but aren’t necessarily known publicly. The jobs are available only if you know where to look for them.The hidden job market really refers to jobs that aren’t necessarily being advertised heavily but do exist if you know how to find them.Often, companies will have positions open that aren’t being advertised or they will have jobs available that they’d fill if the right person came along.Other times, companies might interview someone who appears to have a good background and they will find a position – even create a new position – specifically for that person.Here are some suggestions to uncover the hidden job market: 1. Use your network. Speak with people yo

want to slow down. Maybe you’re just burned out from dealing with the everyday hassles. Maybe you’re excited about your work and want to see it grow. Maybe you’re looking for a sensible and profitable exit strategy. Whatever your scenario is, start thinking about your practice and make a conscious decision about whether it is positioned the way you want it to be. Don’t be caught up in “The B Myth.”

Stumbling Forward and Going Nowhere
Twenty or more years ago I took several evening courses in an effort to meet other people and especially women.One of the courses I took for about a year was Tai Chi. The major benefit of the course was to learn about balance. The instructor demonstrated to us how most of us walk. We take a step, then fall forward and catch ourselves with the other foot before the rest of the body hits the ground. In other words we stumble forward. When we are in balance we can move forward with deliberate steps, and we should be able to stop anytime in the middle our stride without falling forward.Stumbling is what most people do in their lives. We try to gain some momentum in our lives and hope we don't fall flat on our faces. We rely on our past experiences to guide us to the next step.As infants we were

terminology for the situation where a broker, financial planner or investment adviser is under the illusion that he has a “business” when in actuality all he really has is a job. As John Bowen, a senior consultant in this area, says, “If you build a system which revolves around you, it is difficult to transfer the business to anyone else. You own a job, and it’s hard to sell a job.” Yes, I know. When you went in the financial services business someone told you that “you were in business for yourself, that you were building something for yourself.” In truth, that’s what you may have done -- built something for yourself -- which nobody else wants because it has little or no value to anyone but you. Beware the “B Myth!”

Some of you may be asking yourselves, “Haven’t I heard of this B Myth before?” Well, actually my concept is borrowed from one outlined by author Michael Gerber in his best-selling books, The E Myth and The E Myth Revisited and applied to our industry. The sad fact is many financial planners and financial advisers with independent broker dealers are suffering from the illusion that they have a business. In fact, what they do have is an unreliable stream of income, a lease, some employees, a group of clients, some commercial software, and some fixtures and equipment worth only 25 cents on the dollar.

The reality is this: The stream of income is a mixed bag of financial planning fees you generated, commissions you generated, and a slice of RIA fees that is growing slowly and is dependent upon your efforts to sell the client on this way of doing business. Your assistants or employees may not know what to do unless you are around to tell them and might scatter to the wind if they thought the business was for sale. Your clients think you walk on water because you have convinced them that you are what is indispensable rather than the advice they receive. In this scenario, hopefully you have been a good saver because there will not be much equity in your “business" to sell.

Have I given you some food for thought? If so, here are some of the things you can do to make your “busi

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A brand is a product/company personality that helps distinguish it from the competition. It evolves out of the product essence. So, what’s yours?

Indeed, how does one stay on top and continue to have people follow years and years in the business world? 1. Competence There is no substitution for the ability to perform.

Santa owns Christmas eve! What does Santa do that you neglect to do? What marketing strategies does he use?

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