Thursday, January 3, 2013

Are you a Transaction or a Relationship Investor? Knowing counts

Back in the 1980's when I was in training to be a broker for E.F. Hutton, ah yes the days when everybody listened to what E.F. Hutton said, in the very last hour of instruction a psychologist came into the lecture hall, and had us answer 20 questions, and then scored our answers. On the basis of our answers, a total score indicated whether we were the type of person that loved "transactions" or loved "relationship investing better." As he strolled up and down the isle...he stopped by me and smiled: "Yup he said, you are a transaction guy". A transaction guy loves interacting with the public, selling things, and whether it is a large sale for small sale, loves the thrill of closing the sale. I remember Phil Laut, the author of "Money is My Friend" asking the small business owners to try just selling a pencil or pen to someone...just anything small...just to get practice in the process...the total dollar amount of the sale was not important.. You might wonder why it mattered...yes I did love stocks and trading....and on some wild and crazy days, four hours was long term....I just got impatient to take profits.... On the other hand, one of my friends in the class, when asked what his marketing plan was, he responded that he planned to sit on a beach near his home, and just chat with the millionaires that lived nearby...I was stunned. No analysis, No detail or anything...and then he mentioned that one of his neighbors had already penciled in two million for him to start his book with...nice... The reason that half hour of instruction mattered for me, ---- I now knew what my button was, and knew that I needed to work on my relationship skills since they were a weakness...and now when I am looking for a full service broker, when I do look for one, I look for somebody to trust, and also for someone who has the ability to and capacity to develop a relationship long term...with a firm that likewise is interested in more than "churn and burn." Make a note of it.