“Sell Me This Pen!” – A Financial Planning Story

Some of you may have watched the Leonardo DiCaprio movie “The Wolf of Wall Street” and, while I am not recommending the movie to anyone, there is one lesson that stuck with me—and it is not really a Wall Street lesson. The character played by DiCaprio is an actual person, Jordan Belfort, who had quite an interesting career. In trying to create an aggressive team of salespeople for one of his many financial schemes, Belfort would use a test on prospective employees where he simply asked them to sell him a pen he was holding up.

Most of the people he asked started describing the features of the pen, how it looked, the smoothness of the writing, the convenience of the pocket clip, etc. Belfort shut them all down quickly as he was not looking for features, he wanted them to tell him what the pen could do for him. How it would solve a problem he had or provide a means to accomplish a goal. As Belfort has explained: "Before I'm even going to sell a pen to anybody, I need to know about the person. I want to know what their needs are, what kind of pens they use, do they use a pen, how often do they use a pen."

While Belfort was recruiting a sales team for his high-pressure financial product sales, this same lesson applies in other aspects of financial services. If you have a discussion with a financial advisor, they should never lead off with a particular product or the features of that product. In my opinion they need to ask you questions about what you need, what problem you are trying to solve, what concerns you have that might be addressed by one or more products, or simply by engaging in some financial planning that you are not doing.

The reason this pen lesson came to my mind was that during my recent time manning a MidAtlantic Wealth Partners booth at the Cape Henlopen High School Home Show I was asked a question by someone that was along the lines of what I had for them that someone else did not. I interpreted that as “sell me on MidAtlantic.” But that was not the approach I took. While I firmly believe that our services are distinguishable from many of our local competitors, those differences might not be relevant to any particular person. Before I could simply rattle off the benefits of working with me or the MidAtlantic team, I needed to get more information from this person to see if we were even a good fit for their needs.

To get started I needed to ask about their age, their stage in life (still working, considering retirement, in retirement, well into retirement, etc.), their concerns about their own financial situation, if any, their experience working with other financial advisors—or were they do-it-yourselfers—and their marital and family situation. And that was even before we could get into their net worth, amount of investable assets, etc. Since we take a comprehensive approach to a client’s financial and life planning, we need to know about them, not just their balance sheet, to see if we can provide the services they need.

So, my answer did not try to sell them that “pen,” but rather to try to learn more about them and explore the possibilities. The features of our services were not as critical in this initial conversation, as was the client’s own needs and wants. The features and service offerings certainly have a role to play but not at the outset. We have to establish the needs, goals and develop trust to truly provide the services the clients need. That is our approach. If you just want to be sold a “pen” you should go to someone else. We want to know all about why you want to buy that “pen.” It’s that important!

This is where the MidAtlantic Wealth Partners team can help you achieve a sense of financial security. Through our focused but comprehensive analysis of your situation, your expenses, income needs, and legacy and other goals, we become your partners along your retirement journey, and serve as your Retirement Success Advocates.

You can reach George Reilly to discuss your personal financial situation by calling 302-313-6644, or emailing Reilly@MARPS401k.com. The Coastal Delaware office of MidAtlantic Wealth Partners is conveniently located at 2400 Coastal Highway in Dewey Beach where we have our own parking lot.

Note: This article is for educational purposes only and does not offer any investment, tax, or other planning advice, nor does it create any advisor-client relationship with a reader of this article.

Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. MidAtlantic Wealth Partners is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS.

This article is published for residents of the United States only. Registered Representatives of Kestra Investment Services, LLC and Investment Advisor Representatives of Kestra Advisory Services, LLC, may only conduct business with residents of the states and jurisdictions in which they are properly registered. Neither Kestra IS or Kestra AS provides legal or tax advice. For additional information, please contact our Compliance department at 844-5-KESTRA (844-553-7872)