Sara Grillo

Yes, there is life after AUM fees! In this podcast I interview Sarah Charles, an hourly financial planner who used to work under the AUM fee model. She talks about why she made the jump and what life is like now as an hourly financial planner.

For those of you who are new to my blog, my name is Sara. I am a CFA® charterholder and financial advisor marketing consultant. I have a newsletter in which I talk about financial advisor lead generation topics which is best described as “fun and irreverent.” 

Look, let’s face it.

AUM fees are probably not the most logical way to charge when the focus on your services is financial planning.

WHAT how dare you, Sara?

Well logically it just doesn’t make sense. AUM is correlated with someone’s assets and that may or may not have anything to do with the person’s financial goals and the depths you need to go to create planning for them.

I feel like I am on the quest for the Holy Grail trying to talk to people about hourly planning.

Everybody gets an attitude problem when I talk to them about hourly planning. People give crazy responses and launch into a whole Shakespearean sonnet about how it doesn’t as well as the AUM fee model. Well, guess what. Sarah Charles is an hourly financial planner and she loves operating this way. So let’s talk about how she makes it work for her.

In this podcast you’ll learn:

• How she charges as an hourly planner

Enjoy the show!

Are you ready to go leave the AUM fee model for hourly, flat, or advice only planning?

Learn what to say to prospects on social media messenger apps without sounding like a washing machine salesperson. This e-book contains 47 financial advisor LinkedIn messages, sequences, and scripts, and they are all two sentences or less.

You could also consider this LinkedIn training program which teaches financial advisors how to get new clients and leads from LinkedIn.

Thanks for reading. If you are a financial advisor reading this, I hope you’ll at least join my weekly newsletter about financial advisor lead generation.

See you in the next one!

-Sara G

Disclosures

Grillo Investment Management, LLC does not guarantee any specific level of performance, the success of any strategy that Grillo Investment Management, LLC may use, or the success of any program. Nothing in these materials may be construed as an investment, insurance, or financial recommendation. For such a recommendation, consult with a financial advisor.

Grillo Investment Management, LLC will strive to maintain current information however it may become out of date. Grillo Investment Management, LLC is under no obligation to advise users of subsequent changes to statements or information contained herein. This information is general in nature; for specific advice applicable to your current situation please contact a consultant or advisor. Opinions stated by third parties may not be correct and do not reflect the views of Grillo Investment Management, LLC. Grillo Investment Management, LLC may not be held accountable for any statements made by third parties.

The post Life after the AUM fee model: converting to hourly appeared first on Sara Grillo.

Stop wasting money on fancy “spaghetti tech”. The fintechs just want you financial advisors’ credit cards. Listen to Sara Grillo & Eric Negron on today’s Daily Truth Bomb as they break it all down!

In this podcast, you’ll learn:

1)How to ditch the overcomplicated workflows and embrace simple, effective processes. ??

2)Why free resources like YouTube can be your secret weapon for mastering any tech.

3)The $20 investment that could transform your financial advisor practice.

4) How to avoid getting locked into expensive, useless fintech contracts.

Like early 40s types. Like, I think those financial advisors are probably a little bit better with the technology because they’ve had to because they’ve kind of grown up with it. 

I don’t know. Here’s the other thing that really, this is the one that makes it. That really cracks me up. 

Right. 

We’re going to pivot on this is workflows. Everybody’s talking about workflow this and workflow that and automation this. Please don’t buy all the high, make it easier. It’s as simple as create a simple task that explains what needs to be done. You could even insert one of these videos like we talked about in, right there with the link, and then literally you can replicate it every time. It’s the account opening process, the Roth contribution process, the send money to the client process, and who needs a 20 step workflow when you can literally give somebody the task and give them the video and be done with it. So I think advisors overcomplicate it, and there’s a lot of fintech companies coming into the space that are just milking advisors, selling them stuff, and it’s overkill. What do you think about that? 

What do you think about workflows and all this stuff? 

Yeah, I agree with you. I think it could be much simpler, but I think it’s probably that the advisors, a lot of times don’t even know the workflows, those, that have teams under them. And I think that you know what it is, too? I think they’re not standard workflows. Like, I know one guy that there was someone with him for 20 years, and she was doing postit notes like, he couldn’t even get her to use her computer. There’s a lot of technology fear. That’s what I think. 

Yeah, I think a lot of times advisors go out, they buy tech, spending thousands of dollars on this tech, and don’t even take any time to do training on the tech to understand its full capabilities. And they definitely don’t take it the next step, if they have a team and train them and then educate them about, like, hey, this is how we’re going to do this as an organization. They take what I refer to as the spaghetti approach to tech. I’m going to just get some and splatter some here and splatter some there. And I’m going to be honest with you. 

All these fintech companies that are coming into the advisor space, they are ready to lock you in with a three year contract and take your credit card to sell you a bunch of spaghetti tech that you have no idea whether or not there’s any sauce or meatballs in that bad boy. 

Yeah, I agree with you. I think from what I’ve seen, I mean, I focus on LinkedIn, and I just see that I would say less than half the people I deal with actually know how to use LinkedIn. 

Ain’t that the truth. 

But it’s just the idea of, I think, the novelty of it. But then I don’t know why there’s not a little bit more willingness. See, because then I think it just goes back to like, they’re already getting their 1%, it’s annuitized revenue stream that money is coming in and they don’t have to dance too much. So what do you mean? I got to learn this technology? What do you mean? I got to do this tutorial. Like, it would be the easiest thing in the world. Go to Google. Most of the support materials for these software programs are googleable. Yeah, we just made up a word. 

Yeah, I like it. Googleable. So words. We’ve been that googleable. Here’s the other thing. I think you said advisors are lazy. I’m going to tell you another one. A lot of advisors I know are cheap. They don’t want to spend money on themselves, their practice, their systems, their tech. Here is the most valuable $20. I think any advisor person anybody listens to this should spend. Spend $20 for a subscription to YouTube Premium. I cannot tell you how invaluable this is. You can literally go to YouTube University. I have whole playlists of watch later. And when you have premium, you can download and watch it off the Internet. So if you’re traveling, you can close the app and still listen to it like a podcast. It is a game changer. 

I can’t tell you how many YouTube videos I’ve watched to educate myself on tech that I have or tools that I have. I mean, even down to how the hell to use my gmail email better, and little hacks that I didn’t even know about. 

I’m always googling. I don’t know how Gmail works. I could do basic stuff, but then I had to change my name. That pops up when somebody gets an email from me, and I was like, lost. Because some of this stuff is not intuitive, right? 

100% agree with you. I mean, if you’re not using that as a technology and making that $20 a month investment, I don’t know what to tell you. You’re really doing yourself a disservice. You can literally make yourself more efficient make more money and create less stress for yourself with $20 a month? 

No, but they’re lazy. Like a lot of them. Don’t want to do that.

The post The fintechs just want your credit card… appeared first on Sara Grillo.

Beyond kindness: building trust and avoiding pitfalls in financial advising! Join Eric Negron & Sara Grillo in this podcast and discover the essential qualities for success in building clients relationships that last!

You’ll learn:

Why kindness is just the beginning for building lasting client relationships.

The 5 C’s of success every advisor needs to know.

How to avoid common pitfalls like “reverse churning” and inconsistent service.

Practical strategies for demonstrating value and protecting yourself and your clients.

Don’t miss out on this valuable discussion! Listen and learn how to start building trust and a thriving practice!

The post It takes more than kindness to build lasting client relationships! appeared first on Sara Grillo.

Forget the “sizzle” and be real! Listen to this podcast and discover the power of authentic communication in financial advising!

You’ll learn:

Why shortcuts don’t work and how consistency is key to success.

How to prioritize client needs and communicate authentically.

The surprising benefits of being yourself and building genuine connections with clients.

How to find the balance between professionalism and your unique personality.

Don’t miss out on this valuable discussion! Click below to watch the full video and start building stronger client relationships through authenticity!

The post How to stop sounding fake in your marketing – authentic voices win! appeared first on Sara Grillo.

Stop struggling with content creation! Your clients are giving you gold, but are you missing it?

In this podcast you’ll learn how to turn client conversations into engaging content!

How to mine valuable nuggets from your client interactions.

Real-life examples of transforming client experiences into compelling content.

Why listening to your clients is the key to unlocking powerful marketing opportunities.

How to ditch the jargon and connect with your audience on a human level.

Don’t miss out on these valuable insights! Click below to watch the full discussion and start creating content that resonates with your audience!

The post Easy ways to create content that prospects and clients will love! appeared first on Sara Grillo.

Are you doing business with the wrong type of client? Join Sara Grillo & Eric Negron and discover how to turn your existing client base into a goldmine of referrals!

In this show, you’ll learn:

?How to identify your ideal client and re-engage your current ones.

?The 3 powerful questions to ask that unlock hidden referral opportunities within your existing network. ?

?Why consistent communication is key to building stronger client relationships (and getting more referrals!).

?Strategies to overcome distractions and deliver value that resonates with your clients.

Don’t miss out on these valuable insights! Click to listen to the full discussion and start attracting your ideal clients today!
_________________________
Hosts: Sara Grillo & Eric Negron

Topic: Re-Engaging Existing Clients for Referrals & Growth

Timestamps:
(0:00) Intro & Welcome
(1:00) Case Study: Advisor with 400 Unideal Clients & Desire for New Clientele
(2:20) Eric’s View: Identifying Ideal Clients & Utilizing Existing Network
(3:40) Sarah’s Doubt: Difficulty Finding Referrals Among 400 Unengaged Clients
(4:20) Eric’s 3-Question Strategy for Deep Client Conversations:
Future Goals & Collaboration: “What would make our collaboration successful for you?”
Current Value Perception: “What aspects of our work do you find most valuable?”
Referral Opportunities: “Is there anyone you know who might benefit from these services?”
(5:20) Sarah’s Concerns Regarding Open-Ended Questions & Distractions
(6:40) Eric’s Emphasis: Repetition, Value Delivery, & Consistent Communication
(7:40) Sarah’s Agreement: Rethinking the Value Proposition for Existing Clients
(8:20) Conclusion: Unearthing Hidden Potential & Building Stronger Relationships

Key Takeaways:
?Re-engaging existing clients can be a valuable source of referrals and new business.

?Identifying your ideal client profile helps tailor communication and identify potential referrals.

?Deep, value-driven conversations can uncover client needs and referral opportunities.

?Repetition, consistent communication, and a compelling value proposition are crucial for client engagement.

Actionable Tips:
?Review your existing client base and identify potential fit with your ideal client profile.

?Schedule dedicated conversations with clients, focusing on their goals and experiences.

?Ask strategic questions to understand client values and identify potential referral networks.

?Consistently communicate value, demonstrate expertise, and build stronger client relationships.

Who? Okay, here’s a good one. 

I got an interesting question today. 

Yeah. 

I’m talking to this advisor, and he. 

Says, I got 400 clients, but they’re not the kind of client that I want in the future. It was the people from 15 years ago when I started out selling insurance policies or a share mutual funds. And now I’m looking for Aum, and I’m looking for the doctors and the business owners. Now, but before, it was, like, you. 

Mean basically when they started out, before they were on that doctor plan, basically, if you had bones in an x ray, they’d talk to you. 

Right, okay, exactly. They would do business with anybody. Right. 

They basically are a collector, a museum. They collect things, collecting different kinds. 

Guys got, like, 400 clients, right? 

Okay. 

And he’s like, I want to market, but I can’t get referrals from these clients because they’re Joe from the block. It’s not like the business owner with 50 employees that lives in the hoity toity part of town, right? 

Yes. 

And he’s like, moreover, I don’t have time to be writing content, which I have to give it to him, because I hate it when advisors get kind of roped into that. I see this all the time, that they think they can write blogs, but they really just end up not having the time to do it. They get writers blocked. They get busy, and then it’s like, this whole waste of money. And it’s like, I hate doing business with clients like that. So, everybody, if you’re listening to me, don’t be dishonest with yourself about what your limitations are in marketing. So that I have to give to him, right? 

Yeah. 

What would you say to this guy? He wants to get new clients, but he’s got these 400 clients that he. 

Doesn’T have a good base for referrals. 

Yes. 

First thing I would say to this guy is like, who is it that you want to serve? 

Right. 

What type of clients, and what would perfect look like to you? 

Great. 

Whatever that is. Maybe you want to work with executives that are empty nesters, and you want to work with business owners that have under ten employees, and that’s who you want to work with. 

Great. 

All right, let’s say it was business owners, right? 

Okay. 

Let’s say it’s business owners. First thing I would do is listen. I would start with what I got before I go get anything else. I would go through this 400 clients and do, like, a review of them. Like, which of these people is their opportunity for me to go and see if there’s something within there that I could do more with and that I could gauge on a different level that I could offer some more value. I’d start there and see if they could introduce me to business owners. If you don’t have that, okay, so let’s say the 400. There’s nobody there, but you got to keep that. 

Hold on, bro. 

Hold on. 

Is that a load of bs that. 

He says that, no, there’s nobody because. 

I don’t know who these 400 people are. 

How do you do business with 400 people that you can’t go back to them and then say, hey, do you value and appreciate my service? 

400 people, and no one in those 400 knows anybody rich? 

Yeah, I find it really hard. That’s a lot. 400 clients is a lot. So this tells me that one, this particular client, this particular advisor or prospective client, he doesn’t have any process to. 

Go deep with these people because the. 

Reality of it is, listen, just let me loose on those 400 clients and I’m going to have 400 conversations and I’m going to ask. Here’s what I’m going to ask. I’m going to ask three questions. Here’s question number one. Mr. And Mrs. Client, if were sitting back three years from now looking at your finances, your planning, and the things that are going on in your life, if were sitting back looking at it, what are the things that we need to do together so that you feel like it was the best use of our time working together professionally and then shut up. Let them tell you. They’re going to tell you exactly what they want. Cool. Then you’re going to ask a follow up question. Currently, what are the things that we. 

If assuming you have a we, if it’s just a you, what are the things that I am doing for you that you find most valuable? They’re going to tell you. 

Great. 

Now you can ask a follow up question that goes like this. Is there anybody that you know right now that you think could benefit from those things that you found most valuable? That is just kind of positioning it. And then the follow up is. And I’ll be quiet. You can chime in. The follow up is, I want to let you know that I will always make time to talk to people that you care about if you think I can help them, and then be quiet. Those three framing questions and then that positioning, there’s no way you won’t get more opportunities out of 400 clients. You know, what the hell to do with. 

The third question is weird because I. 

Feel like it’s too open ended, like, right now. Eric, what would you do if I came to you and, Eric, you know, you read my daily. I. I know a lot about LinkedIn marketing. Who in your network would need help with their LinkedIn? You’d be like, I don’t know. And then the demons start to come into your mind of like, oh, I got to think about this right now. Oh, my gosh. My kid. Did I forget to pack ham and my kid’s sandwich today for lunch? 

Yeah, it’s not an actionable car. 

You know what I’m saying? The distractions and the interference, like, right. They try to cut. 

But that’s why, to me, you’re right. Right. It’s not an easy question to be immediately. And that why, to me, this needs to be done in repetition. So, the reality is, what’s going on with our clients is we are all fighting weapons of mass distraction, which are these devices. We’re competing with Netflix and Amazon and Facebook and whatever the hell else is. The Kardashians. Yeah. We cannot keep up with them. 

Okay. 

So the reality of it is that’s why you got to have repetition, and you better say something that’s interesting. So if you got 400 clients, you better be having a conversation with them. You better be seeing you can deliver value, and you better be doing it consistently. So I agree with you. I find it hard to believe that there’s not gold in 400 clients somewhere. 

I agree totally.

The post Stuck with the wrong clients? You’re not alone! appeared first on Sara Grillo.

Yeah, the title basically says it all. He’s taking the world by storm as an hourly financial planner, not managing any assets but simply giving out powerful financial planning guidance that clients love. Today we’ll hear from Kevin Estes of Scaled Finance as he talks about how he made it work.

But first…

For those of you who are new to my blog, my name is Sara. I am a CFA® charterholder and financial advisor marketing consultant. I have a newsletter in which I send you one actionable, practical marketing tip a day. Please sign up here!

Kevin noticed that there is usually more time spent in the early years in a client relationship. Yet under the AUM model, fees increase over time as the client’s portfolio grows. It seemed illogical to him that a client should pay higher fees for less time.

He figured out it would be better to invest more time initially to get people’s finances on the rails, and then adjust the amount downwards as the relationship progresses. His intent was to slowly trend down as time goes on and there is less to do for them.

Okay, let me just say that again.

He has the intention of charging his clients less, not more.

He is trying to minimize, in other words, the amount of fees he takes for his work.

Humility?

That is an understatement.

Kevin is also an advice-only planner. He doesn’t touch investments because he sees less opportunity to add value. He finds that alot of people prefer to manage their investments themselves, just with a little guidance from him.

His goal is to simplify, not complexify, things for his clients. This differs vastly from other advisors, who create complexity for the purpose of job security.

He works with T-Mobile employees and their families, but he finds that alot of people reaching out do not fall into this category. He posts on LinkedIn and messages people and clients come to him.

According to Kevin, relationships take a long time to set up (creating the roadmap documents) and that time is not billable. Being a fiduciary, he can’t just run people through a cookie cutter model. He wants the process to be customized to what the client really needs.

Hourly planning is arguably the most transparent way to bill for your time, and this is why many advisors avoid it. Kevin says that it doesn’t have to be prohibitive. He tracks how all his time is spent on each relationship and he communicates clearly so that clients know what is going on at every point. He rarely gets questions on bills.

There is a safety that advisors perceive with the 1% model. That is because there is some opacity there. Kevin has thrust this aside and succeeded as an hourly financial planner based upon the strength of his logic, fairness, and commitment to the client. He says that as a fiduciary, his job is to return back multiples of the value of each dollar they spend on him. If he doesn’t, he feels he isn’t doing his fiduciary duty.

He takes the fiduciary duty very seriously and lives it, not just virtue signals it. Good for you, bro.

Setting expectations the right way is critical when you are operating an hourly financial planning practice. Charging hourly is so transparent that there is simply no BS: you need to be able to justify the work done and the value that came from it.

My CPA charges hourly, and when I first started working with him, I was shocked by the first bill. It was almost $2,000! I brought this up to him and he offered to reduce it. Is that really fair to his other clients, if he did in fact spend $2k of time on me?

If my CPA had told me how lengthy the set up process was going to be in the first year, but that in the years the ensued the amount of hours would be drastically reduced, I wouldn’t have been so surprised.

With the AUM model, the fee is directed debited out of the account so most people don’t even realize what they are paying their advisor. As an hourly planner, you may have to shine a light on every single minute of time you are billing for. Take good notes and record all of it, and be ready to justify it, item by item, if asked.

Sometimes people work with you episodically, doing a project for a few months and then you don’t hear from them for a year.

When he is wrapping up the relationship, he has a meeting to go over what they have accomplished. This allows them to see the value of what they have done so far. If he has ideas about what to do next, he proposed creating another project (and agreement). His goal is for the projects to get smaller and smaller over time.

Kevin tracks it on his phone but I have heard of others using apps such as GetMyTime or ClickTime.

I’ve also heard advisors say they use:

Note, I have not used any of these applications other than MS Excel, and am not endorsing any such application.

How do you know that they are even going to complete the engagement?

Kevin says he charges half upfront and half upon completion.

This is a summary of how Kevin made it as an hourly planner. These are good tips for anyone who wants to succeed as a financial advisor.

Alright that’s all for now.

Did you sign up for my daily newsletter?

Or if you want more…

Learn what to say to prospects on social media messenger apps without sounding like a washing machine salesperson. This e-book contains 47 financial advisor LinkedIn messages, sequences, and scripts, and they are all two sentences or less.

You could also consider this LinkedIn training program which teaches financial advisors how to get new clients and leads from LinkedIn.

Thanks for reading. See you in the next one!

-Sara G

The post How I rocked the world as an hourly financial planner – with Kevin Estes appeared first on Sara Grillo.

Is AI taking over financial advice? Not so fast! ? Join Sara Grillo & Eric Negron today for the Truth Bomb as they break down how artificial intelligence is likely to impact the future of financial advising.

In this show, you’ll learn:

?Why AI won’t replace human advisors (it’s just a supercharged Google search!).

?How to ditch the complex jargon and connect with clients on their terms. ?
The biggest mistake advisors make in their marketing (hint: it involves a “dumpster fire”). ?

?How to answer “dumb questions” and build trust with your clients.

Don’t miss out on these valuable insights!

We don’t want. 

I think they want to be working with clients. I mean, but, Eric, this is a bigger question. Is that the advisor’s role, or should their role be talking to clients about what’s going on in their lives so that they could get a heads up on what the planning changes should be, changes to risk tolerance, et cetera. 

I mean, it really depends on where you are in your career, right? If you’re just starting out or you’re under a couple of years, you’re everything. You’re the advisor. You’re the person that greets them. You’re the chief bottle washer. You’re the janitor. You serve the coffee. You do it all right, and you do everything within your business. And then as you evolve, if you do it right, then you do exactly what you said, sarah, you spend way more time trying to be in front of clients, not worrying about other things. But I still think, even if that’s the case, you still got to understand technology so that you can be more efficient. I think that’s just me. Mean, the biggest thing that everybody talks about, right, that’s going on in our industry is all this talk about artificial intelligence. 

I’m going to be honest with you. We right now have a supercharged Google search. At the end of the day, the only AI that matters to anybody is advisor intelligence and collaboration and heart of connecting with one human being to another. It’s just a damn tool. What do you think about all this ruckus about AI disrupting advisors? 

I don’t believe it. I think it’s nonsense. 

The whole concept of AI or the whole thing. 

No, I don’t believe it, because I write blogs for a living, for people, and I’ve seen some of the stuff that comes out, and I just end up having to rewrite it. We would be way better off if we had just passed over the whole thing to begin with. I don’t know when the market financial advisor marketing already looks like it was written by a robot. You get advisors hire me to write the blog, and then I’ll say, okay, what do you want to write the blog about? What are the main points of Roth conversion? And they’ll say, I don’t know, but you should go check out my five competitors who have written blogs on this recently, and that’s who they learn it from. You understand? So I feel like we’re already doing AI. 

Yeah, I feel like the reality of it is, you talked about AI, you talked about marketing. I think most advisors marketing is a dumpster fire of garbage. 

I agree with. 

So it is so bad. There’s been no client. When clients go to Google, they ask simple terms like, how do I set up a Roth Ira? What are the tax consequences of x? 

No, but, bro, they wouldn’t even ask it like that. 

Yeah. 

What tax do I pay when I retire? 

Yeah, exactly. 

It doesn’t even make sense. Right? How do I retire from Procter and Gamble? Or not even that. It’s not even the complex questions like, what’s the best investment for the Procter and Gamble 401k plan? Or, like, what are the expenses, average expenses in the proctoring? No. How do I log on to my Procter and gamble 401k? Like, number one, Google search? Okay. You understand? 

Yeah, I get it. I think that as advisors, we really need to bring down the level of our sophistication. We live in an industry of jargon, and we think that we’re smarter than everybody else because we took some security exams or we took the CFP, and we come out, we want to talk in these complex terms. And I don’t know if you’ve listened to some of these people, you’re like, what the hell did you just say? It’s like going to a foreign land and you’re speaking one language, they’re speaking another, and people are just getting agitated because they can’t understand. 

Yeah. But I think it’s natural for a lot of people that do that in any profession. With my daily newsletter, I started commenting not on opinion stuff like, how do you be more ethical and transparent in your right? I started with, like, how do you log on to Google Analytics? That would be an example of one of the questions I would answer. And I just answer these questions on a daily basis. These little nuggets. And people are, like, eating this stuff for breakfast. People are, like, tuning in every day. I get, like, five. I thought I was being so smart. I think there should be a rule. If it makes you sound smart, it’s not good marketing. 

Yeah. 

If it makes you look and sound like you’re dumb, it’s a dumb question. Then it’s good marketing, because I’m telling you, I literally get, like, two or three emails a day from people that are like, you know, I never realized that there are two different types of pages on LinkedIn, my personal page and my business page. I never even realized what the difference was. So you know what I’m saying? Like.

The post Is AI taking over financial advice? Not so fast! appeared first on Sara Grillo.

Join Sara Grillo & Eric Negron and learn how to ditch the “advisor speak”, get past the financial advisor jargon, and win more clients!

In this podcast, you’ll discover:

?Why complex language can cost you business and how to communicate clearly instead.

?The powerful secret to explaining financial concepts in a way that everyone can understand (even your parents!).

?How to avoid getting stuck in an echo chamber and prioritize what actually resonates with clients.

??Real-life examples of how simple communication can lead to bigger wins.

Listen to the full discussion and start building stronger client relationships today!

I can’t stand this. I mean, like, have you seen this, too, though, with advisors, with their marketing like that? They’re just totally. It’s totally off base. 

Yeah, it’s so. It’s honestly so bad. You know, I can tell you, like, we hired. We hired a. We hired a kid. And I’m going to call him a kid because he’s younger than me. Everybody who’s younger than me is a kid. We hired this kid. 

Your sound of, like an old man now. 

I’m getting old. I’m toeing the line of 40. I’m starting to get, like, joking. I got some salt inside my beard now. I’m getting old man vibes. I’m getting grumpy. I told somebody that the other day. 

Old until you realized that the music that you liked when you were in high school and middle school is now, like, oldie stuff. 

Oh, my God, don’t tell me that. I went out, like six months ago, right? I went out downtown. I live in Austin. And I’m sitting there and some old school comes on and I’m jamming. I’m like, oh, this is my stuff. And these kids are like, oh, man, this is oldies. I was like, what did he just say? 

Like salt and pepper? 

Yeah, I grew up to that. 

It’s like the music. They had, like, no cuss words. When rap had no cuss words. 

Yeah, exactly. When you had to be skillful in how you’re going to put your flow together. Right. It’s interesting. I was just saying, we hired this kid, and he’s out here. He calls me one day, he’s like, listen, I have this client that has a lot of money, right? And I keep having these meetings with them. It doesn’t go anywhere. Can you sit on the meeting with me? Sure. Yeah, I’ll sit on the meeting with you, help you do what you need to do. Fine. I get on the first meeting, I’m like, let’s do two meetings with these people. I get on the first meeting, I listen to him talk, and I’m like, dude, I don’t even understand what the hell you told them. And I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’m like, a confused mind says, no, okay? 

That’s what I’ve always learned about psychology of communicating and selling. A confused mind says, no. If you confuse me, it’s no, I can’t do anything. I’m really comfortable. So we get on this next meeting with these clients, okay? And I’m like, I’m going to talk this time. I’m like, hey, listen, guys, I’m going to pull up my iPad and draw some concepts. I’m going to talk to you about what we think you should do. So I start drawing. I say, listen, I didn’t go to school for art, so don’t laugh at my ugly stick people. And I laugh. Ha. They laugh. Okay, cool. I go through and I draw out these very simplistic concepts. They’re like, nobody has ever explained anything like that to me. You know what? We have this other million dollars. 

We want to go ahead and give that to you now. And so this advisor over here, I was so happy for him. He won the business. I helped him, and he’s like, I’m changed forever. How did you do that? 

I was like, man, I answered dumb questions. 

This is what I’ve been doing for 17 years, and I drew it out. So we figured out. Then I sat on a couple more calls with him, and we figured out, like, hey, don’t use advisor language. Use cocktail party, low iq. We had a couple of drinks, and I want to explain it to you simply. Language. When we talk. 

No, like you would say, explain to your parents. Yeah, or like a friend of know. 

Here’s the thing, right? It’s funny. I got some buddies that are on. You talked about LinkedIn. I got some buddies on LinkedIn that are doing a great job with their content. They said to me once, they’re like, if I post this, the advisors who follow me are going to think I’m dumb and I don’t know what I’m talking about. And I said, hey, you’re writing to your potential clients and they don’t know what the hell this thing means. And it doesn’t matter what your colleagues think, as long as they’re the ones that not getting the client. And you are. And you’re bringing on new clients because you’re explaining stuff in ways that they get. And so because their confusion is low, and now you help them understand something like, yes, I want you to help me. I love it.

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