Every couple of years, I am approached by someone who has recently become employed in the financial services industry. This is usually a friend or former coworker, who is working through their warm market, looking for candidates to sell financial products. This year, the approach seems to have evolved, because I was contacted via Facebook. I immediately suspected this wasn’t just a friendly greeting. But I hadn’t talked to this person for almost two years and I really wanted to call and say hello.
The Pitch
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The pitch was relatively straightforward and predictable. He wanted to review my finances with me to make sure I have all of my bases covered. The company he works for offers products that may be useful to me and my family. This isn’t something he could do over the phone, so we would have to meet either at my house or at his office. To spare my wife the monotony of the sales presentation, I elected for the office visit.
But first, I went into great detail about the investments and insurance I currently have in place. And, I took a fair amount of time to explain to my friend how they were less expensive and better yielding than the products he could offer me from his company. After managing my portfolio for 25 years, I have no interest in buying whole life insurance or mutual funds with loads, redemption fees or 12b-1 expenses.
None of this discouraged him from his mission of setting an appointment. I figured he was having a hard time finding clients. Obviously, he was under a lot of pressure to bring people into the office. Not to mention, he probably wasn’t making very much money. So, I promised to stop by and he sounded relieved. But, I warned him up-front that I wasn’t likely to buy anything.
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