GAMA International Journal Jul-Aug 2013 - 30

I

It’s amazing how successful people can be
when simple attention to detail becomes an
integral and deliberate part of their plan.

everyone evenTUally eXPerienCeS his or
her “perfect storm” — a rare combination of
circumstances that combine to create a unique situation
or event of unusual magnitude or importance, and may
well involve a serious challenge. my perfect storm
occurred in june 2011.
our mission at Thrivent Financial for lutherans is
to strengthen Christian communities by helping people
be wise with money so they can live more generous
lives. as a community engagement coordinator for
Thrivent, i help our financial associates enhance our
current member (client) experience and bring new
members to their practices using a series of events and
small-group activities. Before june 2011, i wasn’t very
good at it.
Then three things happened at the same time: my
manager of lutheran engagement announced that our
team would now be responsible for achieving goals for
bringing in new members. Second, some of our new
financial associates, with whom our team works
closely, said they were getting so inundated with new
information that it was hard to know where to focus,
and asked me to help them target the right activities to
grow their practices. and finally, our divisional vice
president asked me what i was going to do to help the
new associates find new members. So i had my work
cut out for me.
Up to this point, our events and activities tended to
be large and expensive, with little interaction between
the financial associates and the attendees. They were
time-consuming and lacked follow-up. most guests
were the same members from the year before, and few
new prospects attended. we would all feel good about

Key Strategies
»

engage in small, relationshiporiented activities driven by the
interests of the current member or
new prospect.
develop a strength-based
leadership team founded on a
principle of trust.

»

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g a m a i n t e r n at i o n a l j o u r n a l

having 100 people in the room but be lucky to have an
associate add six to eight new members in a year. These
large events were simply not helping financial associates
add new clients to their practice. Something had to
change.
So instead of being an event planner, i became a
prospecting coach. and “The weekly Prospecting
review Tool” was born.
Finding Prospects
i worked with other zone partners to find a way to
help our financial associates develop and execute the
skill sets required to create a successful practice.
although we all knew the numbers needed to be
successful, we agreed that there was a major lack of
accountability. we determined that our new associates
would attend weekly Sales Builder classes, which,
among other things, allow the opportunity for regular
accountability. During this time they would report
their activity around the number of dials, contacts,
appointments set and held, business written, referrals
received, and new members obtained. each associate
would then discuss the successes and challenges of the
week.
Business-writing opportunities started to improve,
but new-member growth remained stagnant. So we
changed the focus.
i asked a simple question: if you are going to add
members to your practice, whom do you need to see?
answer: People who are not currently members. we
would track first appointments with clients as
“connects.” an associate could have a “connect
appointment” with a current member that could lead

Creating a Prospecting Culture

»

increase prospecting using the
“wheeling” exercise and weekly
one-on-one prospecting review.
promote a culture of healthy
competition and reward.

»

»have a 90-day action plans for
every associate and hold
accountability/support sessions
around the plan each quarter.
GAMA International Journal Jul-Aug 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GAMA International Journal Jul-Aug 2013
