What Sets Rockstars Apart

Put in those reps

A spectrum exists between needing to be more and being too ambitious about your goals. And where you’ll fall along this spectrum depends significantly on where you are in your career.

My early desire to make millions without changing my practice was too ambitious and unrealistic. Thinking about it now, I cringe over how much time I wasted visualizing the money and how I’d spend it. I did not spend enough time on how I would get there.

I could win a lottery ticket. Or maybe someone I knew would inherit a massive fortune from their long-lost Aunt Hilda and hire me to help manage their newfound wealth – both were horribly unrealistic routes.

I wasn’t looking at what I needed to do – and I had no idea what those things were supposed to be.

I looked at other advisors and thought:

Well, they have the same education as I do, so they aren’t any wiser.

I have the same educational resources and am doing the same things. My million bucks should dance right in on a silver platter.

Unfortunately, education has nothing to do with it. Everything comes down to the activities I choose to do.

That was part of the formula of success missing from my early days in the profession. I needed to have million-dollar client communications, million- dollar office systems or processes, and a team.

I had a $16,000 practice and the mindset and habits to accompany that salary.

Have a million-dollar mindset

Sure, I was doing my time, but I wasn’t putting in the right reps. I was spending too much time reading the Wall Street Journal or getting lost in hours of investment research instead of cold calling or contacting centers of influence.

I was making up my processes on the fly and had no idea how to close prospects. My meetings had no agenda, and I never practiced my sales pitch. I lacked the refinement that a million-dollar practice should have.

As a young, up-and-coming advisor with my sights set on making it big, it was easy to get swept up in keeping up with the advisors a level or more ahead. It's too easy to see an advisor who’s living your dream and say, “That guy is doing seminars. I should too.”

I did one seminar, and it flopped.

That other rockstar had put in countless reps perfecting his seminars and prospect process behind the scenes. I hadn’t put in any reps or the time to master my craft. I couldn’t figure out how I went wrong when that other rockstar was crushing it, and I crashed and burned.

I should have looked at what that advisor was doing when he was at my level and copied his actions then instead of mimicking his higher-level approach with my lower-level skills.

Ambitious goals

There’s nothing wrong with ambitious goals or with not knowing exactly how to get there – to a point.

As a young advisor, I had no idea how to reach my first million. But I could have broken that big, hairy, ambitious goal into bite-sized pieces.

Instead of jumping from $16,000 to $1 million, I should have tried to get to $25,000, then $75,000 to $150,000, and so on.

You may not know precisely how to double your income, but you should have an idea of the changes you need to make tomorrow, next week, next month, and even next year.

If you’re driving to earn the big bucks but have no action plan for how you’re going to get there, piece by piece, step by step, to move further down that path, you’re not going to make it.

What sets rockstars apart

What sets rockstars apart from the average advisor is that they are eager to learn.

Rockstars seek one-on-one conversations with other advisors to determine what works and doesn’t in a firm. Then, they apply what they learned to their practice to make improvements. Those improvements, in turn, deliver massive value to their clients.

You must yearn for growth and improvement to make it in this profession. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself in the same spot 10 years from now when everyone around you has leveled up.

You can coast or intentionally grow – the choice is yours to make.

Action items:

• Create a professional development budget – and use it. This week, create a separate account (labeled professional development) and start setting aside 5% of your gross income directly into it.

• Register for masterminds, coaching programs, and seminars where you can learn from other advisors who are crushing it.

Matthew Jarvis, CFP®, ChFC, is the co-founder of The Perfect RIA, one of the industry's most recognized advisor training platforms. Also, his firm Jarvis Financial finished the year with $1.5 million in revenue on just under $200 million in AUM and a profit margin of 50% or higher (EBOC), despite having 250 or more "free days" when he is not working.In addition to running his practice, Jarvis teaches other advisors how to duplicate his own success in their practice. Matthew’s book Delivering Massive Value, outlines a system you can actually replicate to increase your business's efficiency, attract more A-level clients, and build the practice of your dreams.

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