Information.

You feel it… don’t you?

It used to be like drinking from a fire hose. Now, it’s like sipping from Niagara Falls. It’s crushing.

I’m no longer a reader of the NY Times; however, some are. The average daily edition, not Sunday mind you, contains more information than the average 17th century man would have encountered in his entire lifetime.

Stop and think about that.

More information in one day than they would have encountered in a year. 365 times as much!

The minute you post a statistic, it’s outdated. However, here are a few that I could find:

260,000 Billboards

11,520 Newspapers

11,556 Magazines

2,218 TV Stations

17,271 Radio Stations

348,159 New Books Published A Year In US/Canada

4.5 Million Tons of Junk Mail (really!)
Remember what it was like growing up?

Ahh! It will never be like that again! Your message must transcend all of that.

Here’s the good news: it’s actually easier to rise above than it’s ever been.

Once you become clear about the “who,” it’s time to move to the second area of clarity: the “what.”

The “what” is what you want Right Fit Prospects to think about you.

Here’s the thing: people don’t think about you based on what you hope they will think about you.

Perception is reality.

They don’t know what to think about you, unless you teach them. So, if you’re not clear, how do you expect them to be clear?

They will default to the easiest thing to think… which is what they think about everyone else in your category. How much time and effort are you investing in teaching your clients and ideal prospects what to think about you?

The first step is your own clarity.

By the way, your clarity must include both sides of the coin. Start by making a list of what you don’t want them to think. What things turn the affluent off? What things make you seem just like every other advisor?

Then, make a list of what you do want them to think.

Mine boiled down to these three: trusted consultant, specialist, and leading authority.

Up until that point, if a prospect could fog a mirror, they were a good fit. That was my Right Fit Client description: alive!

It took coaching and training to gain the courage to stop working with anyone and everyone.

You know what’s interesting?

It actually makes the affluent want you more. Weird, isn’t it? Counterintuitive.

Yet, it works to your benefit!

Ever notice: we want what we can’t have. We want it even more.
You must live and operate with a sense of abundance; however, to succeed you must create a sense of scarcity when it comes to working with you.

Prospects need to know that while they are interviewing you, you are interviewing them. And you need to hold the line.

Advisors who’ve been trained by me know about the Prospect Hammer. You keep it on your desk and whack yourself whenever you feel yourself deviating from your own written description and letting someone into your world who shouldn’t be there.

My daughter, Anni, had forever wanted to get her nose pierced with a small diamond. After we relented (well, sort of), she commented, “How come I keep noticing so many people with their nose pierced?”

May I introduce you to an amazingly helpful part of your brain? A tool so helpful, yet so neglected.

A tool unparalleled in its ability to sort and filter information for your benefit.

It’s called the Reticular Activator. I call it your “Brain Concierge.” Imagine a concierge that is always on the lookout for exactly what you need to grow and be more successful.

All you have to do is tell your Brain Concierge what you’re looking for.

You program your Concierge to look for Right Fit Clients through a written description of your Right Fit Client. Then watch how they start to appear… like your new car… like everyone getting their nose pierced.

By the way, share it with your team… and your current clients… and your network… and put their Brain Concierges to work for you, as well.

A hundred a year. What?

Once I started getting coached, it became clear to me that those “experts” were steering me down the road to disaster… the road to being an average advisor… the road to mediocrity… the road to frustration.

However, it was scary for me to say, even to myself, that I only wanted certain kinds of clients.

Won’t that limit my business, I thought?

Actually, it’s just the opposite.

Having a clear understanding of your Right Fit Client is absolutely essential – for you, your team, your network and your prospects and clients.

And, it must be in writing!

Writing it down forces you to be clear about who you’ll work with… and who you won’t. That you’re not everything to everybody… that you’re more valuable than that… and that you’re unique.

It’s time for you to stop trying to be valuable to everyone. If your Right Fit Client is everyone… it’s no one!

When I first started building my business, I couldn’t afford to park in downtown Pittsburgh; so, I’d park across the river in the Pittsburgh Steelers stadium lot. It was fine in the summertime.

The long walk across the bridge that spanned the Allegheny River gave me time to get my head prepared for the day; but the wintertime was brutal. The cold, blustery wind penetrated right through my bones. The worst part was, the ski hat that I used to keep my ears from freezing always  gave me “hat hair.”

Not good on days with client appointments.

My used Fiat Strada was missing the reverse gear and I couldn’t afford to fix it… which meant that  I had to park on level surfaces, or be stuck pushing the car up an incline to get it out.

Sometimes, I’d forget.

Being late for an appointment, I pulled into the first open spot, not realizing that it was a downhill slot. As I finished the appointment and walked out of a prospect’s office, I hadn’t even thought about the fact that his window faced my slightly downhill parking spot.

“How am I going to back out without a reverse gear,” I thought.
I got into the Fiat and with the door slightly opened, and in “Fred Flintstone style,” I inconspicuously used my left foot to push my Fiat out of the downhill parking space and speed away.

The worst part: I didn’t even like the prospect.

That day… I decided… no more working with prospects I don’t like.

Guess where? Japan.

Growing up, when I saw the words “Made in Japan,” it meant cheap junk, because that’s what it was.

How about today?

What is Japan known for? Quality.

Deming had a very large role in that rehabilitation, as did the Japanese who were willing to listen and be mentored. He taught them how to produce consistent quality through repeatable and improvable processes.

Had I not learned and implemented the power of systems and processes, there’s no way I would have survived having to take over and rehabilitate the “inside” of my Legacy Planning® firm, which was once on the brink of extinction (have you heard my story?).

Talk about repeatable processes…

One of my favorite places to stay is The Four Seasons. What a wonderful experience.

Their motto is “Systematize everything, humanize the rest.”

Take ONE thing that you do over and over again, that will move your company forward… and create a repeatable process.

Three years earlier, he made a move that surprised some.

In 2007, when a victorious Michelson walked off the final green after winning The Players, he threw his arm around his new coach and said, “First of many, Butch.”

Phil was happy with the results and Butch Harmon was happy with his new prized pupil’s performance. The switch to Butch Harmon, Tiger’s former coach, surprised some, but one thing didn’t surprise anyone: the fact that Michelson hired another coach!

Great golfers have coaches.

Great football players have coaches.

Great hockey players have coaches. Great baseball players have coaches. Great basketball players…

Is there a trend here?

My very first coach was Dan Sullivan and The Strategic Coach program at $5,000 per year in 1994! My wife, Beth, bless her for her unwavering support of me, said “We don’t have $5,000 to spare. Is this worth it?”

As time goes on, I use more and more coaches.

Currently, I have four!

How about you?