How to love your practice — and how to make it love you back

Financial services is the hardest career in the world — and that’s why you should love it.
Joe Templin is an advisor who is co-founder and president of The Intro Machine. He also is the author of Becoming an Introduction Machine, in which he discusses how to create a strictly introduction-based practice in 90 days. He described how to build a practice you love — and that loves you back — during a recent webinar.

“Serving your clients is a reflection of love,” Templin said. “I want you to love your business and to build a business that loves you back.”

Templin called the financial services business “the hardest career in the world.

“We work with people who don’t want to talk to us, talking about stuff they don’t want to do, to then give us money that they want to spend on anything else,” he said. “Then we’re with them at their darkest time.

“But that’s exactly why you should love it. Because we’re there with them through the rough patches, and we’re there for the best parts of their lives. I get calls from kids who say, ‘You don’t know me, but you worked with my mom and dad, and I want you to know I just graduated from college because of you.’”

Templin told the audience that “if you’re not quitting this business every single day for your first couple of years, that means you’re not loving it hard enough.

“Because love and hate are twin emotions. There will be times when you hate this, but I want you to see why you should absolutely love being in financial services.”

There are several reasons not to love the business, Templin said. They include:

» Paperwork.
» Decreasing commissions.
» Lawsuits because of bad actors.
» Out-of-control compliance.
» Decline of training and standards.

But there are reasons to love the business as well, he continued.

» COVID-19 increased consumer awareness. Templin quoted the results of a 2021 Insurance Barometer survey that showed about 40% of the American population believe they need to buy life insurance or increase their coverage. “That’s more than 100 million Americans who said, ‘We want to buy your product; sell me life insurance.’ How many of you went out and sold 100 million policies? None of us. You have to be ready to sell it.”

» Only about one-fifth of those in the workforce own individual disability insurance, according to the Insurance Barometer, and that percentage continues to fall. “That means 80% of the workforce doesn’t have DI. That’s more than 200 million people who should buy it,” he said.

» Millennials want guaranteed income in retirement. “I think you might have a product in your arsenal that gives guaranteed income — it’s called an annuity,” he said.

» Generation Z is saving more than members of any other generation. “Because they lived through two recessions,” Templin said. “Where can they put their savings? We have some places.”

» Of baby boomers over age 65, 75% will need long-term care in their lifetime. “This is an opportunity,” he said.

» The greatest transfer of wealth is expected to take place over the next 25 years. “We’re talking about $30 trillion from one generation transferred to about 200 million people from the next generation,” he said. “That means everybody is a client.”

» Fewer agents per person. “That means there’s more business for you to write! Everybody wants you, and there’s nobody to take their orders,” he said.

» Technology leverage. Technology makes it easier to serve clients and write business.

» Greater awareness of the need for financial education. “There is so much demand for good guidance,” he said.

» The graying of the profession. The average of age of an advisor is around 55 years old, Templin said. “If you have a 22-year-old coming into your business, they are getting ready to inherit all this. And if you’re that 55-year-old advisor, you can still have 20 years of great production left. Find a young person to mentor. When they’re 35, they’re ready to take over, and you still have a share of the business for the next 15-20 years.”

The business of real love

“Our business is the business of love — real love,” Templin said.

He described love as “doing the right thing for others.”

“You advocate for the best version of others. You say to your client, ‘That 2-year-old in the corner can’t say to you, ‘Mom, I think you should buy that life insurance because when you are in that car accident six months from now, I’m going to be OK and still go on to college.’ That 2-year-old is not saying that — you have to advocate for them. And we advocate for our clients.”

Finding ikigai

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means “your reason for being.” Ikigai occurs when passion, mission, vocation and profession come together.

Templin urged his audience to find their ikigai.

Templin listed several ways to “build the business you love that loves you back.”

1. Game time is not practice time. Too many people wing it with a client or prospect, he said. Prepare and practice what you will say in a phone call or in a meeting so many times that it becomes natural to you.

2. If you are in your first few years in the business, put practice time on the calendar. Spend 30 minutes a day practicing a skill. At the end of the year, that will total 190 hours of practice.

3. After-action debrief. After a client meeting, look back on what you can improve next time. “When you are good at things, you enjoy doing them more,” Templin said.

4. See more clients. If you aren’t seeing a lot of clients, you won’t know whether you like the business or not, he said. “If you’re a new agent and you’re keeping 15-18 appointments a week for six months, you will love this business.”

5. Pursue knowledge. “Having more knowledge lets you find cooler things,” he said. He recommended learning about something not related to work in addition to studying for professional designations. “Having something you’re working at that’s slightly difficult and non-work-related will help you recharge your energy.”

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].