unfair advantage - insurancewebx.com€¦ · for professinal use only / 5 my introduction, mike...

For ProFessinal Use only / 1

Unfair Advantage7 Keys to Expand Growth

BY, Mike Steranka


Contents: MY introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

SYSteMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

ProcedureS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...9

cuStoM office Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

BuSineSS and tax Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Software for SaleS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....18

QuarterlY MeetingS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

PuBliShed workS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..25

MY SuMMarY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27


My IntrodUCtIon, MIke SterAnkAI have been very fortunate since my first days as a new agent with the New York Life in Chevy Chase, Maryland. After nearly 3 years of huge success I left to become an independent agent.

Several years passed and my production doubled and then doubled again from my New York Life days.

When a very close friend of mine died nine years ago I decided to become the largest annuity producer I had known. I did. After 8 years and $250 million in just fixed/in-dexed annuities, I knew that I had to give more.

After years of receiving top sales awards from some of the largest insurance companies in the world I made a decision that LIFE HAS BEEN VERY GOOD TO ME and I felt like I was being lead to do something.

Along the way Michael E. Gerber, The E Myth guru called me and personally asked me to consider co-authoring the E Myth Financial Advisor (Why Most Financial Advisory Firms Don’t Work and What to Do About It). It was a huge success.


My IntrodUCtIon, MIke SterAnkA

It lead me to write the book Retire Now (Simple Solutions for Retire-ment). It leads me to create one of the most successful boutique annuity coaching platforms in the United States. It lead me to unveil to select advisors my proprietary software responsible for $250 million in sales.

It leads me in to discussions with Brian Gengler, my partner and former executive with Allianz and Aviva to create our own FMO called First Income Advisors. It leads me to write several new books that are being released strategically over the next 18 months.

This is going to be quite the journey and the opportunity to get in on the ground floor is right here, right now.

NowNowNowRetireRetireRetire

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Book Design By:Matthew Delp & Barbara Kyttle


My IntrodUCtIon, MIke SterAnkA

I coined a term called S.M.A.R.T. financial professionals. The acronym stands for:

SYSTEMS- THE “HOW TO” THAT GETS YOU THERE

MOMENTUM- THE ESSENTIAL THINGS THAT kEEp YOU THERE

ACCOUNTABILITY-THE MEASUREMENT TO kEEp YOU THERE

RESOURCES-THE MANUALS THAT DETERMINES YOU’RE THERE

TRAINING/TEACHING- SHARING YOUR “THERE” WITH OTHERS

In my experience those S.M.A.R.T. financial professionals are open minded, giving, teachable and willing to share.


SySteMSWhat are the key things that if you do over and over again you get consistent and predictable results? Why try and re-invent the wheel when the SYSTEMS have already been laid out for you.

Systems: It amazes me how much time and money people spend to justify bad decisions that they make. If they were S.M.A.R.T. their world change forever and there would be no looking back.

1. A Process not an EventI have trained some of the top annuity producers in the world. The truly S.M.A.R.T. ones come in with an open mind and say teach me, I am a blank piece of paper and I need you to fill in the words.

Stubborn guys come to me and INSIST that they are super S.M.A.R.T. and want EVRYTHING at the same time and they will pick and choose what they think they need.Trouble is they don’t know exactly what they need and they are not S.M.A.R.T. and they end up making some changes in-stead of groundbreaking- wholesale-change your life forever kind of changes.

process not an event simply means if you are truly BUILDNG A BUSINESS it will take more like 3 years instead of 3 months. You will get IMMEDIATE great results but you MUST be S.M.A.R.T. about it because if you do it right, it will be worth millions of dollars to you.


SySteMS2. Identifying where you are –right nowOnce you are able to iden-tify where you are and what SYSTEMS you have or don’t have the real work is nearly half-way done. An inventory so to speak of your SYSTEMS is essential. Do not skip this part.

This is what lays the foundation for the Unfair Advantage that the smartest people in the insurance industry recognize that we have. Being able to share it with you is what makes it truly unique.

Once you experience it in your real-life business, you must pass it on in the form of mentoring and coaching, not only your clients and prospects, but other advisors in our indus-try. In order to remain sharp you are continually refining and improving your processes.

3. Identify what your ideal day would look like and how that would make you feelTake a few minutes to write out your ideal day. How many new appointments you have, how many closing appoint-ments you have, how many phone calls you make or receive, what your office looks like, how many hours you work and how much money you make.


SySteMS

I do not work Fridays. I take 3 months a year off and I gener-ally work about 10 to 12 days a month. So how do I write $3,000,000 in new annuity premium in 10 to 12 days?We have systems that when followed produce repeatable and predictable results. Quite frankly I don’t why anyone in our business would NOT follow systems.

I wrote all about this in the book entitled the E Myth Finan-cial Advisor ( Why Most Advisory Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It). The reason advisors call me every single day to thank me for writing the book is clear- once you understand SYSTEMS, you understand how real EXpO-NENTIAL GROWTH is and you recognize the beginnings of having an UNFAIR ADVANTAGE.

The next step is Procedures. Systems without written procedures are pointless.


ProCedUreSProcedures are the GLUE that hold the SYSTEMS together. Finan-cial Professionals that are S.M.A.R.T. recognize this and won’t even start something new if there are NOT written procedures that can be followed.

ProceduresNow that you know the SYSTEMS that you need, we need to fill in the blanks with each and every procedure that makes the systems run.

1. Documenting everything takes time.The good news is that we have al-ready done it and we will share it with you over time. Not all at once because some of you are advanced and some are not. We have a strategic method in which we disseminate the procedures so you don’t get tripped up.

Once an advisor comes to First Income Advisors they all want to drink from a fire-hose but you can understand how that simply cannot work. Instead if you take logical steps, in progression, measure the results, make adjustments when needed, you can accomplish anything.

As an example, I had a talented new advisor call me, re-ferred by someone I had already trained, and he wanted to go straight to $20 million a year in annuity premium. I asked where he was currently, he said $2 million.


ProCedUreS

I broke the news that I could not take him to $20 million in one year and have it be sustainable. I could however teach him to fish, get him to $6 million and then $12 million. Once we get him to $12 million, $20 million is a piece of cake.

He bought in and in one years’ time he got to $12 million. He achieved success because he listened and trusted the systems and procedures. Truth is I could have taken him to $20 million in the first year but he would not have had the foundation in place to keep the business on track. You must have a solid foundation on which you ground your business.

2. Once you realize procedures are nature’s way of helping you, you will feel relieved.Yes there are certain fundamental laws of nature that always work, like gravity. If you have directions (procedures) you are much less likely to get lost. If you do get lost, find your direc-tions (procedures) to get you back on track.

Nearly every call from an advisor who is struggling is because they have veered off the track of success. They became dis-tracted by the latest GIMMICk. Don’t be distracted by GIM-MICkS that FMO’s throw at you.


ProCedUreS

Be disciplined with your procedures manual and you can ex-perience success.

3. Procedure Manual is a Living DocumentThis means that your procedures manual may change or be adapted or modified as you grow or contract. Again S.M.A.R.T. financial professionals know this and get it, others have professional careers of frustration and worry.

Staff will come and go, your family life can change, you may exit or enter the Broker Dealer community, or you may decide to become an independent RIA.

Can you see why your procedures manual is subject to change? You must be able to adapt to the changes without missing a beat.

Most advisors don’t get this so they are SO STUCk IN THEIR WAYS and are resistant to change. Change will happen, you will either change it yourself (proactive) or it will happen to you (reactive).

Take an inventory of where you are with proprietary Custom Office profile to determine where your success is and where your failures lye. This could be the single most important thing that you do as a business owner. please read just how important this is.


CUStoM oFFICe ProFILeIt’s amazing that the average advisor doesn’t know this. Maybe no one ever taught them. Once you take the time to do this and implement it over a measured time period, like 3 years, you will almost certainly become very successful.

Custom Office ProfileThe Custom Office profile designed by me, after millions of dollars of trial and error is the key to unlocking your EXpONENTIAL GROWTH.

1. Knowing Your NumbersI have actually met with people that had NO CLUE what their numbers are. That’s GREAT!I really mean that. Because if you don’t know what your numbers are--I can still teach you the ropes, you will be unstoppable. Seriously!

Time and again I have met a $2 million dollar annuity produc-er and changed him in to a $10 million to $15 million per year annuity producer.

We have even taken guys that USED TO BE at $15 million or $25 million and due to life circumstances their business plunged and we have TOTALLY reversed this and got them back to the levels they are most accustomed.

2. Cost for a Qualified AppointmentIf you don’t know the cost for a qualified appointment to your business you are shooting blanks. We have a method to help you determine this, track it, improve it and get true EXpONENTIAL GROWTH.


CUStoM oFFICe ProFILe

This is very puzzling to me that anyone that grosses over $500,000 does NOT kNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT COST THEM FOR AN AppOINTMENT. Are you kidding me?

We met a guy who was bringing in well over a million a year and had NO CLUE whatsoever what his appointment or client acquisition cost was. When we turned him on to our CUSTOM OFFICE pROFILE he had a profound change, and his business and profitability sky-rocketed.

Read some of the hundreds of testimonials that I get and con-tinue to get on a DAILY basis. It makes me feel great to know that our systems have had that big of an impact on advisors.

3. Anything that can be Measured can be ImprovedOnce you get in the habit of measuring your results you will be wildly profitable. Most advisors never ever do it and that is why they are living lives of quiet desperation.

I think back to Michael Jordan, probably my favorite athlete of all time. I met Michael several times through my brother who is well known in the sports world. Michael Jordan was NEVER satisfied unless he was improving.

After winning his first NBA title, the knock on him (if you can believe that people used to say he had weaknesses in his


CUStoM oFFICe ProFILe

game) was that he was not a GOOD defender. Michael dedi-cated himself to becoming not just a good defender but a GREAT one. He was FIRST TEAM ALL NBA as a defender every year the rest of his career. He simply elevated his game and simply added to his mystique each and every year that he played. True greatness is ALWAYS striving to be better and of more service.

The best way for us as advisors is to measure our production and profitability. I must repeat that anything that can be mea-sured can be improved upon. Learn this and practice it and you will stay engaged like nobody you know.

What do you think the average advisor does?He or she rests on their laurels. We are either growing or we are going. What are you doing?


BUSIneSS & tAX PLAnnInGPlanners are taught to plan, not to be business owners. Therein lays the conflict. Are you a better planner or owner? Can you be both? The answer of course determines your success.

Business & Tax Planning Any wisdom I can teach another is from mistakes or life expe-riences. So why not take advice of someone who has cut the trail for you. Made it easier, makes sense doesn’t it.

1. Business PlanningIdentifying exactly what business you are in and where you want to take it is essential. Are you an annuity guy? A life guy? An RIA advisor? Are with a broker dealer? Are you planning any changes? Do you have regulatory concerns? Filed bank-ruptcy or lost a home? Getting back in the business or on your way out? Maybe have a tax lien? I have heard it all before.

How would you describe your business to another advisor? That’s what business you are in. Own it and become the best at it that you can be. Don’t settle. Don’t try and be something you are not. Don’t try and be all things to everyone.

I recently met a guy who is very smart and has a ton of desig-nations. He was telling me how bright he was and I agreed he was very sharp. But as an entrepreneur he was terrible.

I made more in a week than he did in an entire year. Now this guy could run circles around me from an academic point of view but who was having a bigger impact in their community? Was it my


BUSIneSS & tAX PLAnnInG

smart friend who picked up 8 or 10 clients per year and could barely pay his bills or me that added 75 to 100 new clients and netted over a million dollars? Do you get the picture.

2. Tax PlanningMore advisors I know have gotten themselves in financial jackpots be-cause of taxes more than anything else. We have a separate component that deals with true tax planning like noth-ing you have ever seen.

Deciding who you are going to take accounting and business advice you must be very careful. Does this person know what they are doing? Are they a CpA? Are they a CpA for business owners? Do they know how to structure your business and do they understand cash flow?

I have met great CpA’s and some true scoundrels. If you don’t trust the guy that does your books you MUST replace him/her immediately. The problem will only get worse until it poten-tially takes you down or out of business. We have seen this happen time and time again.

We can show you how to make sure you have the right per-son, the right reports and are going in the right direction.

We will give you access to our CpA’s so they can point you in the right direction. This might be the one thing that you have


to change, only you can answer that question.

3. Exit StrategyYou NEED to have an exit strategy. period. Any true business person has one, for a reason. Life happens. If we are caught unprepared, everything we work for is in harm’s way. Is that what you want for yourself? We can show you several exit strategies that can work for you.I have relationships with true professionals that are experts at pricing and selling advisory or insurance practices. These guys are the real deal. Over time we will introduce you them, they are busy 24/7 helping the right people get the right price.

If you ever want to sell there are about 50 questions you need to answer and we can show you what those questions are. Buying or selling a practice takes discipline to make sure you are making the right decision at the right time for the right reasons. If it doesn’t line up you should absolutely 100% take a pass. I have seen great deals and train wrecks. The train wrecks were undisciplined.

Even if you are disciplined it doesn’t mean you can’t make a mis-take but can you imagine people entering in to a huge financial and integrity relationship without having all the answers?


SoFtWAre For SeLLInGThe software I developed will lead you to success. It has for me and many others. Now it’s your turn.

Software for SELLINGThe key to selling anything is keeping it simple. I cannot think of an easier way to sell than the Retire Now Software I cre-ated. It will lead you to make bigger sales on a regular basis.

1. Understanding the ConceptIt’s all about the income and has been for over a decade. That is how I averaged 30 million a year in annuity sales. The concept is INCOME STRATEGIES. Rich or poor, they both want it, they both need it. Give it to them.Time and again I preview my software for industry “home office types” and I hear the same thing over and over again. That’s simple. I could do that, there is nothing special to what you showed me.

I have to laugh, mostly out loud and tell them they are DEAD WRONG. If they could have done it they would have. It is a gift, and one of my unique abilities, to take complex matter and present it in the simplest terms possible so lay people can understand it.

My software has made me per-sonally well over $20,000,000 in commissions. It can and should do the same for you. I spent mil-lions in marketing to boomers and trying to understand EXACT-LY what they are looking for and I found it.


SoFtWAre For SeLLInG

And if you intelligent you will take my market research and my hard work and translate that into success for yourself and your company. Trust me when I say that I believe this type of planning will be used industry wide within the next ten years.

You can ride the wave or let it crush you.

2. Positioning the SaleWe have a method that I have used to close over $250 million in personal sales by positioning the software in an easy, in-formative and conversation style. You will love it. It eliminates the sales mentality.

True selling is the art of problem solving. You need shoes and I sell shoes, we have a match. But many advisors take such an aggressive and adversarial approach to their prospects. Many of them without even knowing it, I know this from training so many of you. You just need to back down or back off just a little and the prospect will RUN TOWARD YOU.

It’s all in how you position the sale. I am NOT a transaction guy. I am a relationship guy. If you are transactional please stop reading, but if you are a relationship guy please read on.

If you come to me and you don’t understand how your retirement benefits coordinate with each other (and many of the people I meet with do not know this) we must take the time to inform you. Now sometimes in this process I lose people because they choose to listen to many different voices instead of just mine. And



that’s Ok. Trust me, you do NOT want people that don’t follow your processes. You might make a sale but you will have one giant headache. It’s not worth it.

Conversely, when you take the time to inform your prospect so they can make the decision that they feel is right, you will have a client for life, a raving fan and someone that will refer the HECk out of you. That is sweet.

3. Presenting the SolutionWhen you present the solution along with our proprietary agendas we believe you can make bigger and easier sales on a regular basis.

Last week I made a sale of $365,000 to an existing client that already has about $700,000 with me in annui-

ties. They have about one million in assets outside of annui-ties as well. My point is this, when he dies his spouse is going to lose at least $65,000 per year. When we consider that his pension and both social securities have COLA’s, it more likely to be about $90,000 of lost income when he dies.

When I made the presentation he simply handed the account of to us because HE FELT IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. I agreed and I firmly believe it was the EXACT right thing to do. He referred me a co-worker that wants to roll over $500,000. pretty sweet!



I present a lot. I am not a great closer. I am not aggressive. I don’t put all the money in annuities. I get rejected more than I get accepted. But because of the way we present, it simply becomes a decision and whether they want to make the deci-sion now or at a later date. I have moved $40 million plus from people that cane back to me anywhere from one to five years after their initial meetings with us.

How is your disposition when you present?Are you agreeable even if they are not? Are you argumenta-tive or defensive? There is simply no reason to be and trust me when I say your world and your life will get 1,000% easier when you start doing things the way that I am describing.


QUArterLy MeetInGAnything that can be measured can be improved and nothing is better than gathering once a quarter to assess where you have been and where you are going. Being a multi-millionaire does not happen by accident.

Quarterly MeetingThe purpose of gathering is to get plugged in to your power source. You will be away from distrac-tions from your office and life.

Agents that contract with us with all carriers will get con-cierge level treatment.

1. Ongoing Mentoring On All TopicsFrom myself to my team, the brightest and best in the indus-try we will charge you and re-charge you to purpose to be the person you were intended to be. It will be exciting.

Access on webcams, on Skype, with webinars and training ses-sions on a variety of topics like Income Day, Getting Superb Referrals, and how to really relax on a FREE DAY are available to advisors that contract with us with ALL CARRIERS.

Income Days- how to bring in $500,000 plus on 2 to 4 days a month, I will show you how. We do it every month and have for many, many years. I typically have 3 money days a month where I will bring in $600,000 to $1,500,000 in a single day. Income Days generally represent 85% of my monthly production. How would you like to bring in $1,000,000 dollars a month


QUArterLy MeetInG

in referral business? It’s quite easy and we will show you the REAL WAY it is done. This part of what I do has been the most ripped-off and plagiarized of anything I have ever presented, so buckle up, because when you here the real way it is done you will be ticked that the others only showed you part of the system.

2. New Areas for GrowthEach quarter there will be new techniques and strategies that will be taught based on my growth as an advisor and busi-ness owner. Give me three years and I can teach you nearly everything that I have learned. We can’t do this overnight, but we can accomplish the EXTRAORDINARY over time.

We have several areas that we will turn you on to over time. Trust me when I say you could not handle all of it at one time. I couldn’t and I didn’t, I built it over several years. So let us show you the TRUE way to build a business.

3. Accountability and MoreIf you actually have people you are accountable to for your growth you will likely experience exponential growth and profitability.

We will match you up with a SUCCESS consultant that has been personally trained by me and my partner, Brian Gengler. We are invested in your success.


QUArterLy MeetInG

I guarantee that if you contract with us with all carriers we will give you the absolute best chance at not only thriving but DOMINATING your local marketplace in ways that you can’t even imagine. I am in a super competitive market; in fact I created most of my competition. So I know when you take the stuff that we will give you, life will be radically different in the most positive way possible.

4. NetworkingThe chance to network with advisors that are not in your back-yard and that will share their experience and hope with you is unparalleled in the FMO world. This will change the industry.

I have a gift for bringing people together to leverage your talents. Most people have hidden talents that when exposed can be leveraged for optimal success. I will help you uncover your hidden talent or leverage the talent that is currently exposed.

This is the MAJOR LEAGUE of any FMO that has ever been created. Our FMO has been started by a super producer with systems and procedures as detailed and with such experience from the carrier level.First Income Advisors will change the FMO world. We wel-come the change because the ultimate beneficiary will be your clients and your personal firm.


PUBLISHed WorkOne of my friends is a full time Best Selling Author who has shared with me many things. Among them is this- everybody has 3 books inside them. Now let’s get them out!

Published Work New technology and the shifts in the publishing world have allowed unprecedented ability to create published work. I will show you and walk you through.

1. Understanding the PremiseWhat are going to write about and why? You must write about some-thing that someone has already paid you for, otherwise you are not be-ing truthful. You have to have high integrity when you write.

No matter who you are, I can help you write your book. I will do this. You will write it, not me. It is easy. Let me show you how.

2. Going through with an ExpertIf you don’t follow my advice you will pay a FORTUNE for something that may end up entirely useless. I will show you the EXACT steps to take.

I can show you to write it, get it edited and even published for a great price. This is where technology has driven prices way down. I will show you, you will love it.

What will your clients say when you show them your book?


PUBLISHed Work

3. Making money from your bookThe beauty of the approach that I use and teach you is that this is yours! It will be your experience and you may write one book or a dozen.

Most importantly, from a business perspective I will show you how to make money off of your book with your clients and re-ferrals. I know because I have made a lot of commissions this way and I will show you EXACTLY HOW TO DO IT.your clients and your personal firm.


My SUMMAryThe unfair advantage is we have done it on a large scale and can show you how to do it. Build a business. Work on it and not in it. Build it to sell. Make millions.

My commitment to you is this. If you fully contract with our FMO we will make you a better and more profitable entity whether you are a single producer or have a company.

I am interested in you if you are interested in us. If you want to kick the tires, we do not have time for you. We are going places and we would like you to come along for the ride. But I am not interested in building your business so some other FMO can profit from my hard work.

Please contact us at:888-556-1379www.firstincomeadvisors.com

unfair advantage - insurancewebx.com€¦ · for professinal use only / 5 my introduction, mike...

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