IS THIS ABOUT INSURANCE?
By Brent Welch, CFP, ChFC, CLU
Study groups rock!
Since I joined my study group with Don, Paul, Lee, Blake, Dan and Jeff, I have
developed lifelong friendships with men
I love and respect. Oh yes, and my gross
business revenue has increased 300%,
my net revenue has increased 500%, and
I take off more time for rejuvenation, to be
with my family and to receive continuing
education through conferences.
This allows me to take better care of my
clients and perform at a higher level when
I am working. These stunning statistics are
due to my participation in a study group
that Paul put together back in 2002.
Brent Welch, CFP, ChFC, CLU, is founder and managing member of Welshire Capital LLC. Reach him at www.welshirecapital.com.
confidential.
This open sharing of diverse ideas
would accomplish what King Solomon
recorded in Proverbs: “As iron sharpens
iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Getting started
Paul was looking for a group of wealth
advisors who would openly share their
best ideas. He was looking for owners of
boutique firms who had a team approach
to service and systematic business development process. His search resulted in a
study group that includes some of my very
good friends, whom I consider some of the
best wealth advisors in America.
All the firms in the study group had
one thing in common: they built their
businesses through seminar marketing. The seminar marketing approaches
these firms began with approximately 20
years ago have now become much more
sophisticated. Today, the firms are marketing through private briefing dinners,
classes and client events.
Paul contacted everyone asking them if
they would be interested in joining a study
group. He said the format would include an
annual face-to-face visit and monthly conference calls. He wanted us to share things
openly and without cost to each other. We
should be ready to share all the details of
our practices, including our personal and
business financial statements, he said. We
all agreed that the information shared was
very personal and should remain strictly
Original format
The first annual meeting took place nine
years ago, and we met for four days, exchanging everything we could think of regarding our businesses. One person would
start sharing for a few hours until he was
done. Then we would break for lunch, refreshments or a walk together. Each study
group member would discuss what was
currently going right, why it was going
right, what was ideally right, what was
missing and what resources were needed
to fulfill what was missing.
During the presentation of each member
firm, feedback and opinions were openly
shared. Those original meetings were real
eye-openers for me. During those early
years, I created my own RIA, moved my
practice to fee-based wealth management
and created my own four-step investment
What has changed the most is that we are
getting tighter as a group. We are experi-
encing deeper friendships and love toward
one another. Our spouses are now more in-
volved and becoming closer friends, too.
Previously, the format was more about
business. Now we conduct business in
the morning and spend afternoons hanging out with our spouses and going out to
dinner. Of course, even during our personal time, business conversations happen sporadically.
This open sharing of diverse ideas
would accomplish what King Solomon
recorded in Proverbs: “As iron sharpens
iron, so one man sharpens another.”
process. We talked about how to protect
client assets through income riders, retirement and estate planning. We all helped
each other enormously.
Current format
This past April, we met again and helped
each other with our client services, processes, systems and marketing methods.
Results
The result of this kind of interaction is
cross-pollination of intellectual capital, a
sounding board for guidance and increased
confidence. I would encourage you to not
wait any longer. Be the catalyst to start
your own study group that can help your
business, professional and personal life
grow exponentially.
