In Tim FitzGerald's world, "sale" is a four-letter word. At his Shreveport, La.-based business, TFG Financial, LLC, "sale" isn't allowed, and you will never catch him uttering the word. When FitzGerald, MSFS, AEP, entered the insurance business with New York Life 25 years ago, he made sure that the managing partner who hired him, Lad Cazedeauz knew that.
"I told him, 'There's no way I can s-e-l-l anything.' And he said, 'Good, you don't have to. All you have to do is call on people, find out what they are doing right now, find out where they're trying to go, and then educate them on ways to get there,'" FitzGerald says. "It's a philosophy that I still use in my operation today."
That philosophy has helped propel FitzGerald, 57, to the position of Council President at New York Life, an honor given to the producer with the highest production and service achievements. He is tops among 11,000 licensed New York Life producers, despite his aversion to selling.
"If you are looking for a super s-a-l-e-s-man, that's not me. What I'm really good at is calling people up, getting appointments, sitting down in front of them, and helping them take care of their needs and problems," FitzGerald says.
FitzGerald was appointed to the Council Presidency in July 2009 (his term runs until June of this year), but he was not even aware he was in the running until he attended a conference last May where the three frontrunners were announced, including him. Completely caught off guard, afterwards FitzGerald spoke with some of the past Council presidents, who asked him what he was going to do.
"I said, 'I'm not a totem pole guy, I'm just a problem-solver. I solve problems for my clients,'" FitzGerald says. "Ray Triplett responded, 'Well, let me get this straight - if you become Council President, doesn't that mean you've solved more problems for more clients than you've ever had ever before?'"
Back in 1985, FitzGerald had his own problems that needed solving. Having grown up in Shreveport, in a family-owned mechanical contracting business, he ended up a part of the company after leaving LSU. FitzGerald spent eight years in the construction business, but was not happy in the career. Finally, he approached his brother and cousin and told them, "I'm a mechanical contractor who isn't mechanically inclined. I need to find something else."
Taking time to find a new career, FitzGerald visited members of the Shreveport community and learned about their jobs, hoping that something would spark his interest. When someone gave New York Life his name and they called, FitzGerald's initial reaction was, "don't waste your time or mine; there's no way I'd do that." But Cazedeauz swayed him with his philosophy on selling, and FitzGerald joined the company.
One day at a time
As he ventured into a new career in insurance, FitzGerald looked for simple ways he could achieve success. While sorting through training manuals, FitzGerald and his friend, Bill Fisher, came across the concept of making two appointments a day for sometime in the future.
"If you do the math for that, you'll be booking up the calendar. At the end of the week, you have 10 appointments for the future, and if you work 48 weeks a year, you'll have 480 future appointments," FitzGerald says. "If I show up 480 times a year to see people, something's going to happen -- there will be problems solved."
The plan worked well for FitzGerald, as he found himself within the top 100 New York Life producers by his fourth year. He is also only one of a few who has maintained a position in the "Cabinet" since the company developed it 14 years ago to recognize its top 50 producers.
In 1992, FitzGerald was given the opportunity to attend The American College for the Masters of Science of Financial Services (MSFS) program. To finish the degree, in 1999, he wrote a masters thesis detailing his "two appointments a day for the future" system.
"It's the mechanism that allows our core purpose to happen, which is to be a producer," FitzGerald says. "And my definition of a producer is someone who adds value to their clients through their services."
The thesis, called, "Success ... One Day at a Time," caught the attention of New York Life and eventually became part of its training program, which FitzGerald consults on, giving talks 10 times a year to its Career Development Council.
In addition, even after his reign as Council President ends, FitzGerald will remain a part of New York Life's Advisory Board of Directors, a role that he is especially excited about.
"I'll actually have input in how things go in the future, from a producer's perspective. For the rest of my career, as long as I am the kind of producer I am, I will be on this advisory board, which can directly help my clients," FitzGerald says. "My clients literally bet the farm with New York Life, so this is all about them."
Branching out
As FitzGerald followed his system, and garnered success, he decided to start his own company as an independent broker who does 100% of his business with New York Life.
"Starting in my fourth year, I went out of my own, hung my shingle as Tim FitzGerald and Associates (now TFG Financial) -- it was me and a part-time assistant. I had an office that was more like a closet, but that was OK because I just had to get out there and go see people."
Today, FitzGerald has two partners, David Kendrick and Jerry Lorey, who are a key part of TFG's succession plan, along with two other young producers and six support staff members.
"If something happened to me, our clients wouldn't be scattered to the wind," FitzGerald says. "We are really into estate and business succession planning, and how can I get in front of you and talk to you about your business succession plan if I don't have a good plan in place?"
Of the cases FitzGerald works on, he estimates that 75% is business owner-related and 25% is straight estate planning. When he meets with clients, he shows them a photo of a man at his desk, it's getting dark outside, and he's still on the phone. FitzGerald then explains to the client, "That's you in the middle, and it's getting dark outside and you're still fighting the fires that go on inside your business. And out here on the peripheral, you have all these issues that you have to deal with, whether you want to or not. Here at TFG Financial, we put professionals in place where we will take as many of these things off your shoulders as you'd like us to.
"My typical clients are extremely busy. They're looking for someone like me, they just don't know it. When I make that statement, that I'm here to take care of as many things as they want me to, they listen."
Then FitzGerald goes through a thorough fact-finder. "I've got to know everything they have, everything they owe, and what's left over."
For clients who are high-net-worth, or have additional assets stacked up, FitzGerald enjoys overfunding life insurance policies to enable post-retirement withdrawals that are tax-free.
"The typical American philosophy is to postpone taxes by putting things into 401(k)s -- but when you take it out, you will be paying taxes," FitzGerald says. "I don't understand that philosophy. I'd rather pay my taxes today while I'm working and can pay, then, put it into a non-qualified life insurance program so when I retire, I'll get tax-free income when I'm no longer working.
"To me, the industry has it backwards. The non-qualified has to be a part of this -- we need to provide you with some tax-free income also. I also believe we are in a lower tax bracket today than we may ever be in, so I want to pay the taxes today."
FitzGerald and his partners handle business succession, estate, and retirement planning. They are also a member of Eagle Strategies, which handles their straight asset and money management, and have a group benefits department, run by Jason Weinland.
FitzGerald maintains his focus by always reminding himself, and his clients, that his work is not about him, but those he is helping.
"This is not a 'me' business -- it's a 'them' business. It's all about the clients." He never thinks twice about how much work he puts into something that doesn't turn into new business -- "It's just getting me that much closer to the next problem I'm going to be able to solve. I have a lot more failures than I do successes, but fortunately, I meet with a lot of people."
And along with those successes, FitzGerald continues to encounter challenges every day.
"I have some of my business owners who are not doing well, and others who are just thriving," FitzGerald says. "The ones who are not doing well, I tell them, 'Let's put a band-aid on this situation -- we can get term insurance so if something happened to you, we can take care of it.' And for the businesses that are thriving, we discuss how we can get some of this money put into the private bucket, so when things slow down, we have it protected. We have places we can go, either situation."
A family man
Despite the demands of his work, FitzGerald is extremely devoted to his family. He has been married to his wife, Laura, for 27 years, and they have three children, Miles, Mary and Conner. Their oldest son, Miles, has several disabilities due to encephalitis as an infant, and FitzGerald is grateful to New York Life for the support they provided, especially at the beginning of his career.
"Miles spent the first 7.5 months of his life in the hospital. How do you not work for 7.5 months, and come back and have the career that I have had? New York Life hung in there with me."
Beyond his family, FitzGerald is an avid cyclist and raises horses (a lifelong passion), yet he manages to stay extremely active in his community. While he is involved with several charities, he is most proud of his involvement with Paxton's Youth Boxing Gym, a boxing program run by Ray Paxton for more than 35 years. FitzGerald has been on the board of directors for the gym for seven years, working to raise funds.
"What I love about working with Ray is if I can raise a dollar or give a dollar, I see right where it goes. I've seen so many kids who say if it wasn't for Ray, they'd be dead or in jail," FitzGerald says.
Looking to the future
With the busy and successful life that FitzGerald leads, he doesn't concern himself too much with trying to control the future, wherever it may take him.
"Today, at this age, I don't have any illusions that I am in control of anything -- people, places or things," FitzGerald says. "I know that everything is happening as it should be, and it's my job to keep making those two appointments for the future, and keep helping people solve their problems."
Personal observation: The non-referral referral
While Tim FitzGerald is great at meeting with clients and helping them solve their problems, he admittedly has "never been good at referrals, because I'm too chicken to ask you for anything. I always want to do for you; I don't want to ask you for anything."
Instead, he relies on "personal observation" to find new clients. If he happens to see a client walking down the street with someone he doesn't know, he will take note of that, and next time he speaks with his client, FitzGerald will ask him or her about the person that the client was walking with.
"I'll find out about that person, call them, and go into my intro and try to get that appointment with them," FitzGerald says. "I will go into it expecting them to say no, and then just overcome the objections until I get the appointment. And the reason that person is nice to me is because I tied them to my other client. I didn't ask that client for permission to call their friend -- I just personally observed them."
Laura Graesser is Associate Editor for Life Insurance Selling.
Other recent Producer Profile articles:
"The 'Hands-on' approach" - Ed. Thauer Jr.
"The wealth 'swing coach' of Wall Street" - Andrew Rosenbaum
"Head of the class" - Mark Benson
