The month of May marked my 20th year in the 401(k) business across three companies, the latest being AB401k, which I founded and Kansas City-based Creative Planning acquired in August 2019. An opportunity to help someone never gets old, which I’ve done for nearly 7,000 businesses when establishing a new or improved 401(k) plan.
Building a successful book isn’t as complicated as we’re currently led to believe, and incorporating popular techniques and conventional wisdom might actually hurt. Fancy participant outcome formulas, elaborate onboarding technology, crypto, PEPS, lifetime income products, and ESG funds sound great for conference panels. Yet, the average 401(k) participant has no idea what any of it means.
The simple truth is that, above all else, 401(k) professionals need to be great listeners. When combined with a few tried and true ingredients and sprinkled with strategies that take advantage of the current digital and media landscape, it’s a recipe for lasting 401(k) success and true career fulfillment.
Preferred prospecting
It all starts with a constant stream of new prospects knocking on your door each month rather than you knocking on theirs.
A recommendation, ideally in print, has the longest residual value. AB401k was fortunate to be featured in two bestselling books by popular speaker and author Tony Robbins; Money Master the Game, published in November 2014, and Unshakeable, published in February 2017. All these years later, over 30% of AB401k’s new 2022 clients said they heard about us through one of the two books. They deliver 40 to 60 new clients each month. You don’t necessarily need to write the book, yet a mention certainly helps, and a new client with $12 million in assets who’d read the books moved forward with us after one phone call.
Reputable and reliable
As your reputation and expertise grow, be available. We might have spoken with a prospect years ago who wasn’t ready to move forward but is now. They’ll often want the proposal we originally sent with instructions for next steps. They’ll get a call or email from us within two hours; new clients we’re able to land simply by answering the door when they knock again.
Listen and learn
Lastly, learn to enjoy listening, not talking. I enjoy spy movies, and the best agents are those that hardly speak, communicating in five or 10 words what most say in 100. It’s why we never formally present, as it would require too much talk (from us, anyway). Any question, even if asked repeatedly, is always answered with the gravity and attention it deserves, making them feel as if we’re hearing it for the first time.
Have a reputation, live up to it, be available, and have more prospects than you need every month knocking on your door. As I said, it isn’t complicated, and helping families find a path to a secure and dignified retirement is genuinely wonderful. I wish you the best in growing your business.
Tom Zgainer is Founder and President of Sales of AB401k, a Creative Planning offering.
Tom Zgainer is Founder and President of Sales of AB401k, a Creative Planning offering.