Andrew Rosenbaum, CLU, didn't take up the game of golf until he was in his 40s. Little did he know that this common obsession would soon have a dramatic effect on his professional practice.
Watching Tiger in a major on TV back around 2000, Rosenbaum was surprised to learn that even the dominating Woods utilized a "swing coach" -- at the time it was Butch Harmon.
This was one of those light bulb moments. Even though Tiger Woods is the best golfer in the world, he realizes he cannot see himself swing. Harmon, an elite teacher with an acute eye that enabled him to spot flaws in technique, was there to make sure Tiger was optimizing his efficiency.
Rosenbaum has been able to transfer this type of relationship from the golf course to his office at 140 Broadway in New York City, just two blocks from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street -- where many of his clients work.
"What the swing coach does for the world's greatest golfer is exactly what I do for some of the world's smartest executives and entrepreneurs. I'm their wealth swing coach."
That is a direct quote from the opening chapter of Rosenbaum's first book, The Wealth Swing Coach: A New Financial Strategy to Maximize Lasting Wealth With Certainty, Not Luck.
Seminars and beyond
Rosenbaum, 55, has been in the insurance industry as a financial advisor for 33 years. He joined Strategies for Wealth, a General Agency for Guardian Life, in 1976 and has been there ever since. His focus on simplified and "safe risk" financial, estate and retirement planning has stood the test of time. He is a 33-year qualifier for Guardian's Leaders Club, a 24-year qualifier for Guardian's President's Council, and is a former president of the Executive Committee of the Leaders Club, the highest honor to be bestowed on a member of Guardian's field force.
While there was some initial struggle and he came close to leaving the business early in his career, discovering the principle, "Remember the mission, forget the commission" struck a chord. Instead of focusing on what he wanted, Rosenbaum began to focus on the client's wants and needs. He was mentored by General Agents Ron Rosbruch, Jerry Harnik and Josh Becker at Strategies for Wealth.
He utilized the tutelage in client meetings with productive results. While competitors were shouting about being product-centric, he excelled by becoming client-centric. He went from selling to serving.
"I saw that Guardian's top producers were doing 'seminar selling' to generate business. I formed a partnership with an associate of mine at the firm, Vincent D'Addona, and we held pension and estate planning seminars for business owners in the New York metropolitan area," Rosenbaum says. "That really was a turning point. It took us to the next level because we began to talk to a better, more affluent group of prospects."
That system lasted for a number of years until the Internet really took hold. "Seminar selling doesn't work as well today because people have many more sources of information. That's one of the reasons I wrote the book. I wanted to have something that was impressive and credible to leave behind. The book is a way to separate me from the competition," Rosenbaum says.
It has succeeded in that regard, and it has also been a surprise hit with fellow advisors (and other Guardian advisors in particular). Written in only three months with the help of Steve D'Annunzio -- who has been Rosenbaum's life coach since 2000 -- the book led to a seven-city speaking tour this fall at other Guardian agencies.
"I've been shocked at its success," Rosenbaum says. "I wrote it for my clients and prospects. I never expected it would resonate the way it has with other agents. But they really like the message. It is a written verification of what they've been saying to their own clients, and they find it is effective in getting their message across to their clients."
Positioning whole life
On the speaking tour, he talked to agents about whole life and its role in a solid financial plan to offset or hedge risk that people have in their other investments. "I explained that whole life has been around forever, but right now, context around the product has changed. Safety is key, and that's why my message is so timely," Rosenbaum says. "A sound financial plan is not about wringing every last bit of return out of an investment -- it is about balancing and offsetting risk. Even if overall returns are lowered a bit by adding whole life, on balance, the entire portfolio is stronger as a result.
"I use the analogy of how Tiger Woods plays. He doesn't try to hit the ball 350 yards every time he swings. He assesses the conditions he is playing in that day, and then swings. People need to do that with their money," Rosenbaum says.
Having a "wealth swing coach" helps. "In a golf swing, there are pieces of the swing that cannot be isolated by the player. You need another pair of eyes to see where those flaws might be," Rosenbaum says. "In financial planning, there are flaws that people do not typically see or understand. A prime example is that people go crazy over big rates of return, but they don't take into account the taxes and fees they have to pay to obtain those returns. They fixate on a gross number. As a 'wealth swing coach,' I enable them to see that what's really important is not what you make -- it is what you keep."
In positioning whole life as an asset class, Rosenbaum tries to shift the focus away from the numbers and onto what clients want their money to do for them.
"What do they want to leave for their family? What are their charitable interests? Many agents are not able to coach and guide their clients to give them a deeper understanding of what's truly important," Rosenbaum says. "Numerical goals don't mean everything. Everybody's goal is to live a good life now, but they know they should be saving money for a rainy day. That's the battle everyone fights, which is why they chase big returns. They think if the ROI is big enough, it means they can save less. What I talk about is injecting certainty into a financial plan. Everybody is risk-tolerant until they lose money. I believe strongly in guarantees and using guarantees to offset some of the risks we face."
Getting the best of stress
While Rosenbaum has been a very successful advisor for essentially his entire career, excessive stress used to take its toll. D'Annunzio, who has worked with people in the financial services industry for years, helped him work through it and develop a healthier outlook.
"He helped me change my mindset. I was very successful. To the outside world, everything seemed great. But I worried a lot. I was afraid that the bottom of my business would fall out and my success would go away. I was caught up in the old insurance sales mentality of production numbers and goals and beating my numbers year after year," Rosenbaum says. "Steve helped me deal with that in a healthier way and now I'm a much happier guy. It's added to my success because I'm now closer to my clients. I recognized that if I was dealing with these emotions, then probably my clients were going through this as well. That's why in my next book I want to explore the connection between money and real happiness."
Rosenbaum is currently working to balance his personal production, speaking, and the writing (he is thinking his next book could be published in late 2010).
"I love the speaking. I enjoy the writing. I have to make sure I don't ignore my 'day job,' so that is a bit of a challenge," Rosenbaum says.
In terms of the industry, he is keenly aware that there is a lot of fear and worry out there on the part of general public. "Within the life insurance industry we have a lot of the answers to those problems. Some agents are thriving in these conditions and others are finding it very difficult because they don't see enough people and may not have the core belief in the products they sell. If agents themselves are doubtful, the chances of that being picked up by clients are greater than ever," Rosenbaum says.
"That's what I talk about when I speak to the other agents. I tell them better opportunities are out there now because the financial world has changed radically. But you have to be prepared to handle those challenges. Some agents are and some are not."
Case in point
The economic downturn has opened people's eyes to what I've been saying. One client -- a savvy private equity investor -- doubled his whole life coverage this past year because he understood that permanent life insurance can balance portfolio risk the same way treasuries do, and it also offers tax benefits as well as a death benefit. Many of my clients are on Wall Street. They have taken a hit asset-wise. Some did not have permanent life insurance. They were playing the "buy term and invest the difference" game. I've been able to show them how whole life insurance will enhance their planning on a going-forward basis, and their reaction has been, "Wow, I never knew this. I never viewed whole life from this perspective." I position whole life as a way to inject certainty into a portfolio, and clients are really buying into it.
-- Andrew Rosenbaum
Andrew Rosenbaum's selling process
Rosenbaum is fortunate enough to meet almost exclusively with referred prospects. He typically meets with 10 to 12 clients and prospects per week, and says he sells a "high percentage" of the people he sees.
"A lot of my business comes from existing clients. I also accompany other reps to see potential clients because they may not have the confidence or experience to work with these prospects on their own," Rosenbaum says. Here's how he describes his selling
process:
"Our meeting is typically 45 minutes to an hour. We talk about philosophy, what the person likes about his existing situation, what he doesn't like, and what pitfalls he sees. I give people an opportunity to talk and then see if there is a match philosophically. If someone says they get an 8% return on their investments and want to get it up to 9%, that's not a match. But if someone says, 'I'm doing well, but I don't have a game plan or road map to get from where I am now to where I'd like to be when I retire,' that's something I can work with. I talk to them about what can get in the way and how we can get them there. If they want to move forward, I give them a financial questionnaire, I ask for their documents, existing insurance policies, wills, casualty insurance, homeowners, auto -- I don't do it myself, but work with others in my firm to review these policies as well as trust documents and account statements. I ask them to complete a cash flow worksheet so I can understand their expenses. I'll offer to set up their own Living Balance SheetTM, which is a proprietary Internet-based Guardian planning system. My second meeting with the client is a fact-finding session, and in the third meeting, I present specific recommendations."
Brian Anderson is Editor of Life Insurance Selling.
