Bob Scherzer is new to the 401k advisor business—sort of. The managing director for the New York metro area with Pensionmark previously spent 26 with Principal Financial Group and ran their New York sales operation. It gave him unique insight (some would say masters’ level course) into advisor success.
“That was very helpful,” Scherzer said in the run up to his presentation at Excel 401(k): The Advisors’ Conference on accelerated firm growth. “I saw what the best advisors did, and I saw what the advisors I didn’t think were particularly very good did as well. I also saw what worked well with employers, both in their record keeper relationship—because that was my job—but also what worked well with advisors. It was a great training ground.”
Accelerated growth is a great topic because of how far he’s come in the 5 1/2 years since leaving the recordkeeping side of the business.
“For the session, I was asked to describe what led to our accelerated growth in two words or less. It would be ‘relationship builder,’” he explained. “It’s building relationships with my networking group, my clients, prospects and partners like DCIOs and record keepers.”
His unique vantage point naturally raises a question—is there anything he saw in his previous career that had him metaphorically banging his head against the wall; that if advisors would fix it, their businesses would take off?
“Yes, value your time. One thing my mind does is calculate odds. If one case has a 40% chance of closing and another has a 70% chance of closing, I’m not working on the 70%. What I would tell you right now is that the reason my practice has grown so quickly is that we have diversified revenue from small, medium and large plans. I got that because I work on low-hanging fruit.”
If a case is smaller but has a higher probability of closing, he added, he’d much rather work on that “than some elephant that has maybe a one in 10 chance. I’ve done that my entire career. I would much rather go out and find another opportunity with a higher probability than spend a ton of time on something with a very low chance of being successful.”
Be strategic
In other words, be strategic—it ain’t fishing and you don’t throw the small ones back.
At Principal, Scherzer supervised a sales team of nine individuals and was responsible for annual goals exceeding 500 plans and $1.2 billion in retirement plan assets. So why leave, and was a jump to the advisor-side always the plan?
“I tell everybody that I feel like I’m the luckiest guy around,” He diplomatically concluded. “I had a 26-year career at Principal and don’t regret one day of it, and I don’t regret one day since leaving. It was a good move for me at that time, and it’s been very good in the time since.”
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