Even top producers can suffer from burnout.
Some simply retire. Some trudge on, with waning motivation and production. Some transition to a different career.
And then you have the ones who find a way to recharge their batteries, and they come back stronger than ever.
Go ahead and put Brent Koch in the latter category.
Koch, a principle at Wealth Management Strategies, LLC, in Irvine, Calif., was AXA Advisors' top producer in 2005, and has consistently finished among the top 25 in the past decade.
But the massive effort required to work his way to the top eventually took its toll. In 2006, he had another great year and ranked 11th among AXA's top producers, but by 2007 his production was losing momentum, as was his professional motivation.
"The whole reason I slowed down was really because of burnout," Koch says in looking back at those days. "All these years I was always pushing production and would set goals and hit those numbers and push and push and push. I was tired. My focus just kind of got 'off.' It just seemed mundane to me to continue to do the same thing."
Koch took a step back and evaluated his entire practice -- the way he did business, who he did business with, and how his performance compared to his business plans. "I found they were always successful in the areas of production," he says, but adds that the plans and results were also lacking in many other areas.
About this same time, Koch attended his first GRAND-AM road racing event at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, at the invitation of a client, Ted Ballou, who owns Mitchell Rubber Corporation in California.
"He had been racing in the GRAND-AM league and had invited me for over a year to come to a race and watch how it was done," Koch says. "They made arrangements for me to have a pass that allowed me to go everywhere inside the race track. As I walked around the paddock and pit areas and met the different team owners, I realized that many of them were wealthy businessmen."
The league is sponsored by Rolex and features road racing with sports cars and Daytona prototypes at the same time. All 12 of the 2010 races are being broadcast on the SPEED Network, including the legendary 24 Hours of Daytona (now officially known as the Rolex 24 at Daytona).
Koch watched that first race in Utah from pit row and also spent time in the hospitality tents in the paddock club. "The whole time, my marketing mind was working and I was interested," he says. The wheels were turning on the development of an innovative sponsorship arrangement. If he could become intricately involved, he would have near continuous access to a very desirable target demographic.
"There is a tremendous amount of wealth in the paddock that is concentrated in one location 12 to 15 times a year. The individuals and business owners meet the demographics of our ideal client. They know each other and work with each other -- B2B is well-received in that format," Koch says.
"There is a real love and affinity toward this sport by those who are participating in it, and because they are concentrated together at the track throughout the year, it creates a format where you can have time with them that you would never have in a business setting. Many times you would never be able to meet them at all."
In 2009, Koch got his feet wet with a partial sponsorship of TRG (The Racer's Group), a team created and owned by 2002 GT class 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Kevin Buckler (who also owns NASCAR Sprint Cup team TRG Motorsports). TRG provides the cars and the crew. Koch says Buckler and his client (and one of the drivers), Ted Ballou, have been instrumental in helping him learn the ropes.
"Kevin has allowed me to be a part of a crew and have a sponsor pass that has provided the opportunity and access to the crew and the pits to be involved and to learn how it all works," Koch says. "I believe you need to have a working knowledge in order to understand the market. Besides, it is a lot of fun and very interesting. I have been there when decisions were made on the race strategy, which was a great learning experience."
An "all in" attitude
Koch learned so much and became so intrigued with the possibilities that he decided to spring for sponsoring in 2009 and continued into 2010, to the tune of a seven-figure neighborhood for the full, 12-race schedule. But he knew that promoting the Wealth Management Strategies name wasn't the best way to go about this new endeavor. He needed something that already had name recognition. That's where AXA Advisors comes in.
"When I met with AXA and was going through this market, and what connections I felt like I had in this arena, AXA was very kind to allow me to brand the AXA name," Koch says. "They're a very large financial company, and who's going to know who WMS is, right? Even though I would fund it, they would support me by allowing me to use the name."
The sponsorship has led Koch to essentially create a brand new business, carving out a unique niche that focuses specifically on financial services for those involved in the motor sports industry.
"I made a decision that my last frontier was to really build a financial firm that didn't have my name on it; didn't have anybody's name on it. When I looked at motor sports, my goal was to transition and create a company that would be separate from WMS but will still have the AXA connection (Koch says he will soon announce a new DBA for the operation). He is confident it will become a viable business, and it is already extending well beyond GRAND-AM and into the Indy Racing League (IRL) and he has his eyes on NASCAR as well.
"As I became more involved in this league, I was introduced to wealthy influential families and business owners, where we have had several business meetings and social situations to talk," Koch says. "I have had introductions that have led to doing business with race drivers and opportunities in the IZOD Indy Car League Series." Koch works with the 2009 series champion and 2010 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti (look closely and you'll see the AXA "X" logo on the top of Franchitti's helmet -- prime logo real estate for an Indy car driver) and past IRL champion Scott Dixon. Koch was introduced to them through their agents Adrian Sussman (CSS Management) and Stefan Johansson (past Formula One driver). "We have been able to do some business in the areas of business planning and estate planning that will open up some great opportunities," Koch says.
"The format has worked in that it has provided us the opportunity to entertain potential clients at the track, meet potential clients through the track and do business from the track. We have been able to break into specialty insurance for drivers and teams."
While the eventual goal of the venture includes a significant presence throughout the motor sports world, it has been the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series where the vast majority of the resources -- and sponsorship visibility -- have been deployed so far. The No. 66 AXA Porsche 911 GT3 driven by Ballou and Andy Lally finished on the podium at the Rolex 24 at Daytona earlier this year, and Koch has made giant strides in making the sponsorship pay off. That is evident in the following story of how they handled the showcase Daytona event in 2010 compared to the first experience in 2009:
"The very first race I was involved in was the 24-hour race at Daytona. I had no idea what to expect or how we were going to activate on this. I have involved another person from my firm who has been becoming more and more important to our practice. His name is Richard Colarossi. We were at the race together and had clients from Florida that we had just forged a relationship with and everything went very well. We took second place in the race and the car got huge coverage on Fox and SPEED... We learned so much about what we can do and how we can do it better the next time. This year we had even a greater moment. At [Daytona] we were better prepared with clients, activation and the design of the car. Everything came together except that we faced mechanical problems and ended up at the back of the pack halfway through the race. But by the time the race was over, we had climbed to third to finish on the podium. The experience we had with our friends and potential clients at the time could not have gone better. Many of them were up most of the night watching in the cold from the pits."
Skin in the game
With a non-traditional sponsorship such as this, where Koch puts up the money but the AXA name is on the car, Koch knows his work behind the scenes is every bit as important as the impressions created by the logo on the car.
"I have learned that the only way any kind of sponsorship will work is if you activate on it. Simply creating signage will not create business. Activating and proactively moving forward is critical. I have also learned that if I am invested personally, my attention to the details of marketing and the types of business we are doing is keener. It is so important that they put a name and a face with who is on the car or who is involved.
"Any kind of affinity marketing or markets that you develop, regardless of the size and/or complexity, to be successful may require your passion, skin in the game and a genuine effort of caring. Nine times out of 10, we will get out of a venture what we put into it," Koch says.
"I had a vision of a financial service group in the motor sports industry that would be focused on doing business specifically in the industry in all aspects. Its sole purpose would be to market in all the racing leagues," Koch says. He originally figured he would give it two years, with an original goal being a return of all capital, and then a 15% return on capital.
"We're on track to do that," he says. "With this new venture, I am back in full swing and can honestly say, 'look out!'"
From the starting line
Brent Koch and his wife of 26 years Jana have four daughters, and they reside in Laguna Niguel, Calif., with their youngest daughter. The Wealth Management Strategies office is in Irvine, about a 20-minute drive from home. The office is a separate suite on the same floor as the local AXA Advisors branch office. Here, Koch shares how he got his start in the business:
"I first came into the business in 1982. I took a position selling life insurance out of a rate book and sold door-to-door with an independent agency in Salt Lake City while I was attending the University of Utah. I started to really produce, so I stopped going to school. I was recruited by a boutique money management firm and went the way of asset management. After being with them for three years, I started working for a corporate consulting firm called Human Resource Consulting Group (HRCG). I spent four years traveling for them, selling and implementing benefit plans for executive and employee levels.
"In 1986, our firm was awarded a contract with the Equitable Companies (at the time) -- now what's known as AXA Equitable. I headed up and trained the top producers in the West for our firm. This is how I met and became familiar with the firm.
"In 1988, I started looking at leaving the consulting firm and relocating my family to Southern California to take a sales position with Equitable. We rented our home in Salt Lake City and rented a small house in Laguna Niguel, Calif. (my wife Jana wanted to try it for a year). So I officially joined the firm in August of 1988 but moved with my family in January of 1989. We have lived here since. Two girls were born in Salt Lake City and two in Laguna Niguel.
Brent Koch: A typical day
"I try to keep myself focused on specific goals that will move things along. I start in the morning making all calls that need to be done to the East Coast. I spend a lot of time on the phone trying to develop new business and new clients as well as staying in touch with current clients. I break the week up into specific days as to when I will make prospecting calls, opening appointments, case prep, service calls and review work.
"I love the end of the day and early morning, when I can review the day and prep for the next. At the beginning of the month, we review all travel for races and meetings and how to coordinate that. It has been very difficult, and I have engaged two others in the process of being at the races for IRL, NASCAR and GRAND-AM. This is something that we are working hard on to get into a real system. I have not worked this hard for several years and I love it."
Brent Koch: The ideal client
"Our ideal client typically is a successful business owner, top executive and or affluent family. I grew up in a family business that is closely held. I am a small business owner and I relate to that mentality. We typically will share the same interest and have many of the same issues.
"I have also gravitated to this area because I like complex strategies and planning. We have the expertise and the scope to help these clients in the different types of challenges and needs they face. Whether it be business planning, exit strategies, executive compensation, retirement planning, financial and estate planning or employee benefits, we have the expertise, capabilities and the resources to accomplish it."
Brian Anderson is editor of Life Insurance Selling.
