| | |  | Career Books | Home » » Tested in the Trenches: A 9-Step Plan for Building and Sustaining a Million-Dollar Financial Services Practice | | | | | | | Description: | | Build a great financial services practice, AND a great life filled with passion, purpose and enthusiasm.With more than one million financial services practitioners in the United States and Canada, competition for clients can be intense. While some professionals believe that working furiously around the clock at the expense of a personal life is the route to success, top-producing industry veterans Ron Carson and Steve Sanduski disagree. They believe that financial services is a commodity business, and as such, that performing better, delivering better financial plans, or having access to certain products doesn’t differentiate advisors effectively. Rather, differentiating through service, brand and relationship is the only sustainable way advisors can compete. In Tested in the Trenches: A 9-Step Plan for Building and Sustaining a Million-Dollar Financial Services Practice the authors explain how securities representatives, insurance professionals, investment advisors and CPAs can do just that . . . and create great lives along the way. Based on concepts taught in professional coaching workshops worldwide, Tested in the Trenches outlines: - The four ""foundation"" steps to success.
- Four ways to generate revenue.
- 15 habits of top achievers.
- Forms and checklists to organize your financial services practice.
- Online sources for additional business-building ideas and tools.
If you have the sincere desire to make significant improvements in your financial services business – and your life – clear your schedule, read Tested in the Trenches, then go back and implement each idea in the order it is presented. By doing so you'll be prepared to join the rarefied group of personally fulfilled and professionally successful top achievers. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Ron Carson | | Hardcover:
| 288 pages | | Publisher:
| Kaplan Publishing | | Publication Date:
| March 01, 2005 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1419501585 | | Product Length:
| 9.28 inches | | Product Width:
| 7.4 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.9 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.45 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.1 inches | | Package Width:
| 7.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.9 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.2 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 17 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 17 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 found the following review helpful:
 Must read for Financial AdvisorsAug 01, 2005
By Vivek Thoppay
"Financial Advisor"
This book is an excellent book for someone who has financial planning practice for a few years like myself. A rookie could read it and get some basics from the book. A veteran could definitely implement the ideas from Ron to really grow his or her practice.
I agree with so much that Ron says in the book. Ron has been one of the most successful financial advisors in the business and his strategies for success are great.
He breaks the book apart into a few different areas. The first part focuses on do you really have passion for this business. He gives you some tips on how to figure this out for yourself. For myself, I really love this business, and I wish I had started doing this many years ago. I love learning how to get better in my field. For example, I absolutely loved studying for CFP and now I enjoy the continuing education that I take to keep my CFP certification. The CE helps me get better which assist my clients even more.
The next part is really for someone who is independent or has more flexibility with staffing within a wirehouse. This part focuses on getting the right people on your team and removing the wrong people from your team quickly.
The next part focuses on managing your growing practice. As one grows, one needs systems to keep client satisfaction in check. I look forward to implement ideas from this section as I continue to grow my practice.
The next section is on time management. The best item from here is at the end of each day to list the top six things you have to do the next day in order of importance. Then, do them. I have tried this before and will try this again. This is difficult because so many fires come up everyday. But, it is important to make sure you get the major items done every day. That is, you must put the big rocks in the jar before you put in the little rocks. If you do it the other way, you will never have space for all your big rocks.
The next section focused on marketing and focusing the clients more on your services. I think this is critical. This business has become almost a commodity business; however, the big differentiator is personal service. This is probably the most important item on which I focus. If I am able to exceed my clients' expectations, they will in return refer me to their friends.
He also has a great section on referrals. He has a great script to let clients know upfront that you will expect referrals from them. I also like that he suggests doing client seminars and encouraging them to bring guests. This is better than just having prospect seminars in which you don't if people are just there for the free dinner.
The last section talks about focusing your activities on doing items you enjoy. I enjoy golfing, so I do golfing events for my clients and prospects. Ron likes wine, so he does wine tastings. Ron does suggest that you be very good at the hobby before you have these events. Unfortunately, I am not that good at golf, but I have fun playing and so do my clients and prospects.
It is great to read a well-written book from a top producer like Ron Carson who really shares his success strategies for this business. If you are looking for some methods of growing your business and you are willing to implement some new ideas, I would highly encourage you to read this book.
19 of 21 found the following review helpful:
 Good stuff.Sep 19, 2005
By Canadian Advisor
I purchased this book along with 8 Success Strategies of Top Producing advisors. I found this to be the better of the two. It does, however, depend on what you're looking for. This book has some good exercises for soul searching and discovering your own personal mission & vision. Certainly, there were not many very new concepts but the presentation was quite good. The book helped to validate what I already knew: I desperately need to systematize my office. The book gives some pretty good advice on how to systematize as well as some other good tidbits. Any one good idea from any of these books is worth the price and this one has more than enough. As an added bonus this book actually helped me to understand my relationship with my dad and why he is the way he is. NOT something you'd expect from a book like this. Weird, eh? The one thing I find is that these authors all seem to agree that we should hold elaborate client thank you events that double as referral generating events for us. Perhaps it's because I can't afford to hold them, but I think these kinds of things would come off as really smarmy, possibly greasy, and almost certainly, spendthrifty. I can't help but believe that throwing hugely lavish dinners, taking clients on Alaskan cruises etc, would make my clients wonder "just how much is this guy charging me to be able to afford all this?" And if he just got a statement that his portfolio is down?....
Nevertheless, a good book providing many ideas that I am in the process of implementing.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Building your own Financial Planning practiceNov 09, 2007
By Steve Peterson
There are a lot of different books out there written by owners of different financial service firms but of all the books I've seen this book is by far the best. The advice may seem simple but it is highly effective. We have already referred to this book many times within the practice I work to help design processes that have simplified the way we do things. The advice on how to attract new clients makes so much sense yet is so simple. You don't need to spend a fortune attracting new clients, just do what Ron recommends and you too will see your practice grow. When it comes down to it, it's all about providing excellent service and earning your clients trust. The advice on finding your own true meaning has been very helpful to us when it came time to lay our marketing plan down on paper.
5 of 7 found the following review helpful:
A book for every producerOct 20, 2005
By Doc Brown
"Flux Capacitor"
The other reviews on this book are nearly dead-on, so I won't try to re-invent the wheel. I've read many books in the hopes of improving my business, and quite honestly, this is the first one that has been of enough value to motivate me to recommend it.
As a young producer/manager in the bank-brokerage industry, I have found that there aren't many shortcuts to becoming a top producer. As I'm sure anyone in the industry will attest, there is just no substitute for good, old-fashioned experience. However, one of the few shortcuts I have actually found is that the experience doesn't necessarily have to be your OWN.
Mr. Carson does an excellent job of presenting ideas, none of which are revolutionary, but all of which are critical, to help stramline your efficiency and boost your business to the forefront of an industry that has become largely commoditized over the years. Whether you're an individual producer in a wirehouse, a bank, or you have struck out on your own; whether you're newer to the industry or have been writing business for longer than you can remember, this book has ideas that you can implement tomorrow, and reap rewards from immediately.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Tested In the TrenchesJan 03, 2007
By Erny G. Malakoff
"ErnyM"
Covers the essence of Ron Carson's pathway to success. It is easy reading. Nicely laid out. Has summary after each chapter. Here's a practicing investment advisor who openly tells you how he does it, and still produces better numbers than any of his disciples AND ALL OTHERS in the largest independent broker/dealer in the country. If you are open to goal setting, and have strength in relationship building, this book is a powerful "how to" tool.
See all 17 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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