"I sent a proposal to a prospect that had expressed strong interest, and they haven't responded at all. Crickets."

Then do something TOTALLY UPLIFTING for them!

Create an interaction that is overwhelmingly positive. The silence isn't necessarily an indication of non-interest - don't assume they sit there every day saying, "Geez I wish I had more time to think about financial planning." We're not the center of their world.

Guess what is - their world is the center of their world!

100% of people have problems, however, 0% of people walk around with a sign that says, "I'm grieving", "My kid just got admitted to drug rehab" or "Last night my husband of 35 years said he wants a divorce."

Be the light in their lives!

• Open a web browser. Go to pexels.com.
•  Download a fun image like this: man on a motocross bike. Make sure the image has a "Creative Commons zero license" and is free to use.
• Resize the image using Canva.com (there is a free version)
• Paste it into the body of the email to the prospect.
• Write this as the subject line: "It'll be fun - let's get started!"
• Click "send"

Make them smile and possibly laugh...and watch the papers come back Docusigned! Laughter is a gift - give it to them! It has to be about THEM NOT YOU.

• Actively participate in our private Telegram AF MasterMind chatroom for AFG Advisors. Our motto is 'No one is as smart as all of us.'

• Ask, Answer, Discuss.

• This is one of our most under-appreciated but important resources."

Clients

Our broker/dealer (IP) is 'agnostic' when it comes to investment philosophy and products. They leave it up to us to craft the best strategy for our clients (as long as it is compliant and suitable). IP doesn't have an 'agenda'. You want to do all-equity, A-share, mutual funds a la Nick Murray? Fine. Or a more traditional 80/20 split via fee-based? It's your choice.

However, as a Team (AdvisorFirst) we  do have a belief system and we  do think there are right ways and wrong ways of doing things. Though we will never prohibit you from writing particular products and methods of generating revenue, we will do our utmost to help you do the  best for your clients.

• IP doesn't charge extra fees to clients, such as ticket charges on B/D accounts.
• IP Advisory doesn't charge extra fees on fee-based accounts. Many firms charge an additional fee purely for profit (my previous B/D added an  extra 0.15% fee - you guessed, for pure profit!).
• IP also allows you to lower your Advisory fee down to 0.1%, if you need to be competitive.
• IP doesn't 'create' their own proprietary products and promote it to the salesforce. My former B/D did this twice (you can guess why).

Advisor Fees

• IP has given our Team an  exclusive discount of $750 on startup/transfer fees! That means the total start-up cost (not including exam/study fees) is  less than $200 (depending upon the states a rep adds).
• For those starting brand-new in the industry and getting licensed, IP will reimburse them 20% of your Kaplan study material after they've written their first securities sale. This discount is exclusive to our group.
• The monthly fees are $185. This  includes E&O! IP has one of the lowest cost Errors and Omissions (E&O) Insurance that covers life insurance, securities  and RIA business. These are  very low and reduces the barrier to entry. Compare that to Px's $470+ per month.
• If you want a FINRA branch, the annual cost is only $200.
• Visit our licensing fees calculator.
• Note: for life-only reps the E&O is $50 / month. No start-up costs. Yes, we can hire life-only reps, who may or may not continue to get securities licensed.

According to Nick Murray, what COULD bonds be good for?

1. Hedging against retirement volatility.

2. Funding of fixed needs that have a time-horizon of less than 3 years.

3. Reduce fluctuations in the accumulation phase.

4. Help reduce taxes on investment income.

5. Never use bonds. Ever.

Answer = B