Today, join host Tina Corner Stlolz and guest Bob Parent as they share the secrets behind creating a Trusted Advisor Group (TAG) that brings together the best of the best. Discover the numerous benefits, the unique format, and insights on approaching and selecting members for your TAG group. Whether you're new to the concept or already have a similar group, Bob unveils a game-changing strategy that adds exponential value to all members. Learn how to quickly establish a TAG group and leverage its power not only within the group itself but also across CEO peer advisory council networks.
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SCHEDULE A CALL WITH TINA
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00:00 Great discussion on trusted advisor group format.
04:41 Created top-performing group with strategic industry selection.
06:53 Close relationship with banker led to referrals.
10:26 Meetings now include personal stories for clarity.
13:36 Members share business perspective, needs, and examples.
19:10 Take chances, swing the bat, embrace failure.
20:40 Emphasizing the value of being a net giver.
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Tina Corner Stolz [00:00:06]:
Okay. So welcome, everyone, to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. I'm your host, Tina Corner Stoltz, and we have a guest today. The guest today is Bob Parent. Welcome, Bob to the show.
Welcome, Tina. Thank you so much for having me.
Tina Corner Stolz [00:00:23]:
Absolutely. So this is going, going to be a great discussion around a different type of group that you can put together. So for our listeners today, what you're going to get out of today is this different type of group that Bob calls the trusted advisor group. But you'll kind of learn about what it can mean for you by putting this type of group together. The format, the objective, what do the members get out of it? So you're going to hear today Bob's wisdom on this group and why it's been so successful for him and why it could be successful for you if you're not already doing it, or you can have some takeaways on some things you can do to enhance it if you're already doing something similar like this. So, Bob, as we get started, can you let everybody know, first of all, where are you located and what are currently the types of groups that you do and how long have you been doing know?
I'm located in the Winsalem Greensboro Triad area in North Carolina. I started doing groups about two years ago, and I have both CEO peer groups, and as we're going to talk about today, the trusted advisors group. So those are the two types of groups that I run.
Tina Corner Stolz [00:01:38]:
Yes. And it's interesting in that your background prior to this was what?
Good question. So I've been a state farm agent for almost 30 years now. I also run a couple of other businesses that I've been very fortunate to be successful with. And so my whole goal, Tina, was I really just enjoy the business world and I enjoyed the challenges that it brings and then helping people get to where they want to go.
Tina Corner Stolz [00:02:08]:
Yes. Will you share with the audience? This is just a fun fact. What is one of the businesses you're involved in? You know what I'm talking about.
Yeah. I own part of the nation's oldest barber school. It was started in 1935. It's a Winston barber school, and it just kind of evolves and it keeps going. So, yeah, the barber school is an interesting business. Never thought I'd be in the barber school business.
Tina Corner Stolz [00:02:42]:
I suspect not. And do you go get your haircut there?
Sometimes I do. Yeah, I do get it. Sometimes it looks it. But, you know, the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut, I say, is basically two weeks since two weeks at least for me.
Tina Corner Stolz [00:02:59]:
There you go. That's so funny. Well, I think, I'm not being sexist like we were, but I think it's a little different for men than women. Yeah. If we get a bad haircut, that takes a little more than two weeks for us. Well, let's get back to what we're here to talk about today, which is the trusted advisor group. So let's talk a little bit about, first of all, what is it and how did it come about for you?
So I've been running the CEO peer groups and I've been listening to my ceos kind of things that they wanted with regards to information that they were trying to get. I'm like, okay. So I was getting those programs to come in and I'm like, well, all of a sudden there's another need out there. The ceos have a need, but then everybody has challenges, opportunities, problems or ideas. So I figured, well, why don't I put that together? And so I did. And so basically, to kind of be a trusted advisor, you have to be successful with what you do, a successful firm. And really you had to deal with principals. So that was kind of one of the major forces for that.
And so that group came together extremely fast, Tina. So I was very fortunate, but there is a need and a demand out there.
Tina Corner Stolz [00:04:32]:
So a couple of things about that. One is when you say extremely fast for our audience, what does that mean?
I put together that group in probably about two months. I kind of figured out different industries that I wanted, what would be kind of beneficial for my ceos and be beneficial for these people as well. But then the other big thing, Tina, I really looked at is I wanted people that were at the top of the game, because when I came in, I knew my first meeting what's real important to these people that they want to do it. But one of the things that they're always concerned about is who's in the group. That is always a driving thing. And I get it. So I knew that the first meeting had to be start off with a bang because everybody's going to look around that room and say, hey, who's in that room? Is that an a player? That's what happened. That's what made us successful, is really trying to figure out the people that I want in that group that really successful, but then they're also net givers.
So one thing I always talked about, big point, is being a net giver. We talked about their challenges, opportunities, problems and ideas. But I said, if you're just coming in this thing just to get leads. This isn't for you because it's more depth than that. So you're going to have career development. You're going to go over your challenges, opportunities, problems, ideas. But obviously, you need to make money on this. And so business is going to come, but you're not going to stand up there and say, hey, Joe's up and up, the garage down the street.
It's not that type of thing. People get to know each other in a more personal aspect, and they're a lot more comfortable referring business.
Tina Corner Stolz [00:06:29]:
How did you figure out who are the A players? Meaning how many of them did you kind of already know? And then you built around that. And how did you figure out who's an a player for the audience? Because I think if I were listening to you, not knowing you, and I do, but for our audience, they're like, well, that's great, but how do I figure out who's the best of the best?
Good question. So, unfortunately, one of my a people that I had, and I've had a long relationship with Barry. He's a commercial banker, great reputation. He's also my banker, but he's also a friend. And so I sat down with Barry, and, you know, he gave me the nucleus for a great attorney and the CPA. And kind of, once I had those three names kind of in my group, it was a lot easier to kind of go back through. And, you know, I have Jeremy, I have Corey, I have Barry, and just started building on it. And people a, they're good businesses.
They know who they know, the companies they're working with, they know they're great companies. So it's got to have some legs to this thing.
Tina Corner Stolz [00:07:48]:
And so that's really kind of the way that I started.
Tina Corner Stolz [00:07:53]:
So the point here is, if I'm hearing you right, it can start with just right. And that one connection for you was Barry, who then brought the idea and identified the other two, which then just now you're snowballing. And I would suspect that gave them a lot of sense of ownership to this group. Right? Yeah, they were helping you.
Good point, Tina. So what I did is know, who else would you like to see in this group? And that was both an individual and the types of businesses that they would like to see in the group. So it was really kind of twofold. So, yeah, that really did help, and it's been a lot of fun. I really enjoy it.
Tina Corner Stolz [00:08:43]:
So let's talk about that, about the format. So here you're going, and you're talking to different individuals. You talked about a little bit of the criteria, the reason, the name trusted advisor, because these are advisors. Right, to principals. Okay, so first for the audience, how about sharing how many people are in the group? But what types of discipline do they each represent?
Okay, right now we have twelve people in our group. And for example, I talked about the CPA, talked about an attorney. We each an HR service provider. We have a wealth advisor. We have a fractional CFO, we have somebody in marketing with banker. So we really have a wide variety. And obviously nobody can be in the same space either. Those are the types of people that we have in our group and industry.
Tina Corner Stolz [00:09:43]:
Got it. And then how about sharing with the audience because now you've kind of opened up their mind as to, you mentioned a marketing firm. Well, some people might have kind of ruled that out. Right. But no, marketing very much falls into a lot of times that advisor sort of role. Aside from the traditional insurance, banking, accounting, financial wealth, et cetera aspect. What about the format? So will you share with the audience a little bit the format, how does that differ, if at all, your, your CEO group?
So it runs a lot like LXCouncil meetings normally run. But as it's evolved, I always get a lot of feedback from my members saying, hey, what's going to make this valuable for you? And one of the things that came back is I want to have a better understanding what this person does, that person does. And so in the front end of the meeting, as we do the transition part into the meeting, we also bring in a story that they've happened to happened the last 30 days for them. I dealt with the client. Here's what it looked like to me. Here's the good, bad, indifferent, but it gives them a lot clearer image of really what that person does. And it gives them a real life example. So that's really kind of the only real change difference is.
But on that we go through our copies, we go through our action plan, we go through our takeaways, we go through our business perspective. The business perspective is a huge thing that really brings us home. But the thing is with twelve people, that's twelve meetings, that's twelve months. Yes. And that's the reason that we do the front end thing is it kind of gives everybody a business perspective, two or three minute kind of business perspective, really what that person does. That way they're not waiting if they're the 11th person or whatever. It gives everybody a clearer understanding of what that person does. And then we also ask is what makes for a good client for you in that.
What are you looking for? So one of the things that we also added to this is when we were talking with vern, harnish was talking with us about the 25 influencers at our conference is we said, okay, let's pick. You have between one and five people and or industries that you really want an in on. So the fractional CFO, Pam, she goes, I really want to learn more, get into the business, see people who's in the M A. So that way she can use her services. And so that's the Collective. So the group kind of, we brainstormed it. We says, I know somebody in tha
