Many of our clients are in the financial management industry. These times are very difficult I am sure. Many years ago I worked in the off season, my first real job was a professional football player, for Merrill Lynch. At Merrill I was a stock broker and managed customer accounts. Being a “customer’s man” had ups and downs. A lesson that was embedded in me came early. I watched how the brokers reacted in good times and in bad times. The entire office buzzed as markets and stocks rose. All brokers were on phones with clients telling them good news and some asking to average the positions up. On the down days, at least the dramatic downers, the office was quiet.
I saw brokers with large client positions hide under desks when phones rang in. I saw guys leave early to avoid the trauma of a few downer points. And then I saw brokers having meaningful conversations with key clients to assure them that the tiller was being held. These top professional salesmen made call after call to customers in up and down markets. To a man, these reps were the top producers in the office and retained customers the longest.
The hardest call to make is the one that is the most valuable to the rep and the customer. I believe this to be so.
