Lloyd Williams

Occasionally a book comes along that helps us understand our own behavior in a meaningful way. Steven Pressfield’s book The War of Art defines for us the nature of our greatest enemy and how to combat what holds us back from the results we desire.

Whether you are an artist, writer, entrepreneur, or professional this short book clearly identifies the source of procrastination and internal obstacles to our success in part one. The cure is clearly defined in part two. Like Robert McKee, who wrote the foreword, I too see in part three the effect of inspiration the same and the cause of inspiration differently.

This is a quick read and can immediately be applied to your current practice. Great books can change your life. This in one of them. For more information on The War of Art.

Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen revolutionized productivity, though many find it overly complicated. For those of us less inclined to be engineers or lacking follow through, we need a simpler solution. Thank you Leo Babauta for writing Zen to Done: The Ultimate Simple Productivity System.

This short book simplifies the entire GTD system down to very specific actions that are easily implemented into your current routine. No longer are you burdened with maintaining a large organization system. You can apply the concepts at you own pace and decide what is most important for your needs.

Leo writes a great blog at ZenHabits.net which is a valuable resource. Take a moment and read this short book, then apply one habit this week and add another when you master the first.

The new half-day workshop titled, What To Do Now is helping financial advisors during these difficult times. Many are replacing lost assets in a matter of weeks that were lost in the last quarter. The opportunity to grow your business is outstanding, see what others are saying.
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The window of time left is small, but the opportunity is great. In the next four weeks you can make a significant difference in the lives of others. And as they see in your actions your desire to help them achieve their dreams you can replace the lost assets that the market has temporarily taken away. So instead of just breaking even when the market returns, you can have a significant gain in assets and revenue, while having added outstanding value to the relationship.

 

 Four Next Actions Before December 15th: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5)

The following is a sample letter you can change to you own words and email to your clients. Include the full hyperlinks to the articles if you do not email. Add your clients first name for Client and your name for Advisor.

We are lucky today to have two great resources from knowledgeable experts to help us focus during these turbulent times. The Fed Chairman Bernanke Spoke to the Economic Club of New York, NY on October 15. Read it here: He made four important points:

1. This is not 1929-32 - we learned from our mistakes. Hover waited three years to respond and then tightened money. Fed acted immediately and loosened.
2. Fed Reserve has doubled in size, giving it a greater ability to impact the economy positively.
3. Everything hinges on the banks lending money again.
4. Therefore the Fed’s money will be used to stimulate the economy, if a bank does not lend money they will not be given money. They will learn quickly to start lending.

What controls the market? What makes the Market go up? Cash flow. What makes the market go down? Lack of cash flow. Cash flow into the economy is cash into the market. The infusion of $800 billion into the US economy by the Federal Reserve will be a stimulus.

The press continues to encourage investors to watch what the institutional and hedge fund managers are doing as an indicator for what they should do. And because they are selling, so should the investor. This is foolish advice, because institutional managers, during the extremes of the market, are never doing what they personally want to do. Because of redemptions during crashes and infusions of new money during rallies they are forced to liquidate or invest against their own best judgment. Investing is counter intuitive. One of the great counter intuitive investors is Warren Buffett. Read his letter to the New York Times here.

If you feel your risk profile has changed and would like to redo your risk profile analysis, we will be happy to help you.

Over the past several weeks we have talked to many people who are worried and fearful. They had no one to help them understand their situation. If you know someone you respect and value who is worried, there is no need from them to be in that situation. We’ll be happy to take them through the same analysis we use with each of our clients, at no cost or obligation, to make sure that they know where they are today, where they want to be in the future, and have a plan of action to get there. We do not what someone you care about to be afraid. Send them an email and say, Client I want to introduce you to Advisor, Advisor I want to introduce you to Client. Here is your contact information, you two should talk.

Follow this letter with a call to the Top 25 repeating the last paragraph.

With the markets in turmoil and your clients worried, what do you tell them and what is your most important next actions. This podcast will help you focus your attention on what to do now in you practice.

The notes for this Podcast are here.

 

 What to Do Now: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (9)

The following notes from the conference call today is an expansion of what I have been discussing with my coaching clients over the past several months.

Be positive.
Clients do not need you to parrot the negativity of CNBC or the local paper. They need hope in a times of crisis, not someone to shout “the ship is sinking.” If the market is going down stating the obvious is of no value. Your job is to be a valued added strategic partner. You help them achieve their dreams. In difficult times clients are distracted from their dreams and you must first deal with the distraction before you can refocus them on their dreams.

Two Great Resources
We are lucky today to have two great resources from knowledgeable experts to help in refocusing our clients.

Fed Chairman Bernanke’s Speech to the Economic Club of New York, NY on October 15

Click here for the speech.

1. The speech is good, but the important information is in the answers he gave during the Q&A.
2. This is not 1929-32 - we learned from our mistakes. Hover waited three years to respond and then tightened money. Fed acted immediately and loosened.
3. Fed Reserve has doubled in size, giving it a greater ability to impact the economy positively.
4. Everything hinges on the banks lending money again.
5. Therefore the Fed’s money will be used to stimulate the economy, if a bank does not lend money they will not be given money. They will learn quickly to start lending.

What controls the market?
What makes the Market go up? Cash flow. What makes the market go down? Lack of cash flow.
Cash flow into the economy is cash into the market. The infusion of $800 billion into the economy will be a stimulus

See Mastery Habit - Never Follow Institutional Managers During Extremes in the Stock Market

SO WHAT DO YOU DO NOW IN YOUR PRACTICE?
First, realize what is happening - you are surrounded by a crisis situation. People are panicking and need your help.
Second, respond properly to the crisis - with a calm, clear head.
Third, act quickly - great leaders do not delay. Rarely does delay improve a situation, it just postpones the problem. Be decisive.

See Mastery Habit - In Good Times Focus on Clients, In Bad Times Focus on Prospects

To review:

1. Prepare yourself
2. Settle clients’ worries through a rational argument using mass communication
3. Ask if they feel a need to reassess there risk and comfort level
4. Offer an opportunity to help others they know who are not being communicated with properly
5. Focus on prospects

How to Focus on Prospects

1. Add paragraph mentioned earlier to the bottom of your mass communication.
2. Contact every existing prospect, even those who told you to call them later. Offer them a “no cost, no obligation” analysis.
3. Call your Top 25 and ask for an introduction to other they know are worried. This is the only time you can do this without risk.

Lloyd Williams’ Conference Call

Subject: What To Do NOW in Your Practice…

Date: October 27, 2008

Time: 2:00 PM Eastern

Call in number: 646-519-5883 (note please mute your phone)

PIN: 1027#

Bridge Instructions:
The bridge will open up 5 minutes prior to the start time.

Functions for Callers:
To place oneself in mute, enter *6
To remove oneself from mute, enter *6

NOTE: The bridgeline is limited to 500 callers. If you call in after the max is reached you will recieve a busy signal. Branches please use conference room with speaker phone on mute.

Please read Lloyd’s Mastery Habit post titled In Good Times Focus on Clients, In Bad Times Focus on Prospects (click on the link)

The economy will always go up and down. The important habit to master is knowing what to do during the bad times. When things are good focus on your clients because during these times clients are difficult to replace. Everyone is happy with their current relationships. Therefore strengthen your client relationships by helping them fulfill their dreams. This will be easier during the good times.

During difficult times, first prepare yourself, see earlier Mastery Habit: Crisis Management. Then settle your clients worries quickly. Remind them that times like these have occurred in the past and will occur in the future. Help them establish a long view of the economy. They have no need to worry. Reconfirm the disciplined process that you have taken them through to determine their needs and the unique solution that they have working for them currently. Do not try to call or contact each client personally, use mass communication tools like email, broadcast fax, letter, podcast, or conference call. The exception to this would be your Top 20 Clients who you should call after you have sent the mass communication information.

Your mass communication email or letter should include the following:

1. A clear, positive, reasonable response to what is happening currently
2. A statement to calm their worries about the future
3. An opportunity to reassess their risk or comfort level
4. An offer to others they know who are scared or worried and do not have someone like you in their life to help them assess their situation. This offer should be a “no cost, no obligation” offer to assess where they are today, where they want to be in the future, and an action plan to get there.

The last part of your mass communication is most important. This is one of the rare opportunities when you can ask your clients to introduce you to others without any risk. Your clients know others who are scared in times like these and they may not have someone who is returning their calls. You will be surprised at the number of introductions that are only available during difficult times.

Your last action is to renew contact with every prospect you have. They are more open to change during difficult times than any other time.

One important point. This opportunity to focus on prospects is for a limited time only. Once the economy strengthens and the good times return prospects are difficult to move because they are once again happy with their current relationship. Do not miss this opportunity when it comes around. The greatest new growth for a business occurs in difficult times and is exponentially leveraged when things improve.

To review:
1. Prepare yourself
2. Settle clients’ worries through a rational argument using mass communication
3. Ask if they feel a need to reassess there risk and comfort level
4. Offer an opportunity to help others they know who are not being communicated with properly
5. Focus on prospects

Extraordinary teams know their capacity for work. They respect team members’ energy levels and avoid burnout by establishing a cruise speed for the team. When necessary, they increase capacity during crisis, then quickly return to cruise speed. Most businesses run at 100 percent of capacity all the time and have no ability to deal with crisis. The team shuts down as everyone becomes exhausted and demotivated. The best practices value all members of the team and understand that the ability to deliver a consistent solution to clients depends upon the team’s energy and motivation.