Leading Advisor Training, Coaching, and Professional Speaker - Simon Reilly » Uncategorized

Tips On Budgeting & Maximizing Cash & Time

Simon — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

I thought you might enjoy this transcript of a coaching conversation about the importance of having a budget cash flow spreadsheet.

Please note that this is also about budgeting and maximizing time as this transcription was type set by Deanne McAndrews, our Virtual Assistant and I proofed and posted this blog while doing cardio.

Simon: Please give me an update on the budget cash flow document that you are working on.

Client: The budget cash flow form, I go to it every couple of days and I start fiddling with it and populating it a bit here and there but I’ve got to sit down, there are things in it that I’d like to change so I’ve made a date with myself for Friday to work on that.

Simon: They say life is a journey, it’s not a destination and I think a budget cash flow document is the same thing. It’s never ever finished and we’ve got to be able to keep working at it to get it refined. You just do your best the first time you create one and then go to work creating income and then revisit the budget cash flow in 30 days when you have income to add and measure, you can tweak the expenses at that time also.

Client: The budget cash flow document has me looking at my books to look at how much should I spend here, what did I do there, what do I expect to have here for income. Because it’s technical and it’s not a fun thing to do, it’s kind of like doing homework, you don’t want to but you have to. It does help you understand your business a lot better, that is one thing that I did take away from that, just from playing with it. That’s a key component to why I believe I feel a lot more confident than I ever have before.

Simon: When you first start thinking about or looking at the budget cash flow document, the fear based ego mind plays tricks telling you stories that there’s not going to be enough and you’re not going to make it and it’s going to be difficult. The ego is saying … No, we’re too busy, we don’t have time for this right now, there must be something else to do. You’ve got to go out and sell something to survive another day. Not creating a budget cash flow document doing is an avoidance strategy. By not doing it then we run a pattern of; there’s not enough and I have to work hard to survive, and it’s complete scarcity. Doing the budget cash flow is a right of passage towards emotional and financial security. For without it, we remain unsafe and stuck in survival.

Client: It’s because there’s that big question mark always there. It’s that big uncertainty. It’s like that junk drawer that you don’t want to open and start sorting through. It’s like, I don’t want to do this, so you just keep it closed and you forget about it. And then it comes back. It keeps reminding you in the back of your mind. Every time you’re spending for the business or personally you think, will I able to afford this and so on. Am I running on the wrong path here? By working on it, it gives you clarity. The first time you look at the budget cash flow you don’t want to do it because the ego has you convinced that you will be in the red. Then you do the work and you say to yourself, it’s not as bad as I thought it was. Or, look, it’s actually really good. Things are better than I thought they were. It gives you a definite picture.

Client: I’ve done a budget cash flow in the past in it just created more scary. Every year the managers would talk about business plans and you’re going to sell this much. What they never taught you was go back and measure what you’ve done in the past to help you move forward. Or, look at what areas need improvement. The budget cash flow helps you do that. What I find is I see where I’ve been and where I was at a certain point in the year because you’ve got all the months there. You see where your strongest months are. It’s measurement. It’s a visual picture of something that’s abstract. If you put it down on one sheet then you see, okay, this is where we’re at.

Simon: You’re going back and you’re looking at the expenses and so you’re getting clear on what they actually are versus an absence of understanding. When there’s an absence of understanding then there’s judgment. When you’re going forward and you want to be able to make a personal or a business expenditure… There are 2 things going on there. One, is that I don’t feel comfortable making this investment. The biggest part of it all is that I haven’t been tracking what my income is. I have not been celebrating what my income is along the way. A budget cash flow is not so much about the ending balance. It’s more to do with celebrating the income that one is creating and in the absence of the budget cash flow, there is no celebration … Only fear.

Leading Advisor Distinctions

Simon — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:00:25 +0000

The following distinctions in this blog are an adventure. These distinctions are to help you see and experience subtleties of language — we call these distinctions. Please use it to increase your own awareness and the awareness of your friends and clients.

Please don’t take everything in this blog literally. Rather, simply try on the distinctions and see which ones fit. Please ignore what does not work for you.

Regarding usage of these distinctions, the first of the two words or terms is generally the better, stronger, more useful one. Usually, nothing is “wrong” with the second word or term; it is simply weaker or less inclusive.

Offer expertise versus prospecting
Take a genuine interest versus building rapport
Set a target to sell twice the quota amount versus selling to meet quota
Seek to serve versus using sales techniques
Seek to educate versus attempting to sell during the appointment
Be graceful and very professional versus being pushy
Expand the potential customer’s vision, expectations and goals versus touting just features and benefits
Feel motivated by how many lives you make better, sale or not versus getting pumped up to sell
Develop 20% of your customers to refer lots of business versus relying on leads from promotion
Generate interest continually versus marketing and prospecting in cycles

These distinctions were inspired by the Distinctions for a Richer Life, developed by Thomas J. Leonard, Linda Talley and Coach U, Inc.

Free One Page Business Plan Webinars May 11^th & 26^th – Register Now!

Announcing Leading Advisor’s One Page Business Plan^(TM) Free Webinars and the One Page Business Plan^(TM) Webinars!

“If you don’t get the words right, you might build the wrong business and may never get the numbers right.”

The dates for the One Page Business Plan^(TM) Free Webinars are:

Wednesday, May 11^that 11:15am EDT
Thursday, May 26^th at 12:30pm EDT

Who should attend?

Do you have too many scattered ideas?
Do you need to focus on a few?
Do you need to jumpstart your business right now?
Do you have no time or interest in writing a 50 page business plan?
Do you need to determine if you’re focusing on the right things?
Do you need an effective blueprint to keep yourself and team focused?

Then consider a fresh, simple approach to business planning that will enable you to focus on what is important…the One Page Business Plan^(TM) – a powerful tool for building and managing a business. It’s short, it’s concise, and it delivers results quickly and effectively. There can be no question as to where your business is headed when it is in writing, especially when you have the key essentials about growing your business clearly specified on a single page.

Is this another ho-hum course on business planning like the ten others you have attended – no way! I know how to capture the essence of any business in just a few minutes using the innovative key word and short phrase techniques using the One Page Business Plan^(TM).

To Register for the One Page Business Plan^(TM) Free Webinar:

Call Laura at 250 248-6012 / 1 877 248-6012 or e-mail Laura at lreilly@leadingadvisor.com and you will receive your GoTo Meeting Webinar Link, Phone Number and Access Code.

Wednesday, May 11^that 11:15am EDT
Thursday, May 26^th at 12:30pm EDT

Thank You To The Elite Advisor

Simon — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:04:15 +0000

The Elite Advisor has brought together an all-star line-up of World Class Coaches that helps financial advisors increase their sales and grow their practice.

We very much appreciate being part of The Elite Advisor and thank you for including our offer for our Free One Page Business Plan Webinars March 16^th & 22^nd.

Free One Page Business Plan Webinars March 16^th & 22^nd – Register Now!

Announcing Leading Advisor’s One Page Business Plan^(TM) Free Webinar and the One Page Business Plan^(TM) Webinars!

“If you don’t get the words right, you might build the wrong business and may never get the numbers right.”

The dates for the One Page Business Plan^(TM) Free Webinars are:

Wednesday March 16^th at 1:00pm EDT
Tuesday, March 22^ndat 4:15pm EDT

Who should attend?

Do you have too many scattered ideas?
Do you need to focus on a few?
Do you need to jumpstart your business right now?
Do you have no time or interest in writing a 50 page business plan?
Do you need to determine if you’re focusing on the right things?
Do you need an effective blueprint to keep yourself and team focused?

To Register for the One Page Business Plan^(TM) Free Webinar:

Call Laura at 250 248-6012 / 1 877 248-6012 or e-mail Laura at lreilly@leadingadvisor.com and you will receive your GoTo Meeting Webinar Link, Phone Number and Access Code.

Wednesday, March 16^th at 1:00pm EDT
Tuesday, March 22^nd at 4:15pm EDT

Simon Reilly Makes The Final Round Of Advisor.ca Visionary Poll!

Dear All,

I’ve made the final round for Advisor.ca’s ‘Name That Visionary Poll’.

The Advisor.ca ‘Name That Visionary Poll’ started last April. The first step was nomination, the second step was shortlisting the top twenty and this final round is choosing a winner from the top ten so please click here to cast your vote for me.

There are two ways I could have played this:

Pretending to be a shy and demure Canadian, because that is what Canadians do, in the hope that people will vote anyway – ”I don’t take part in these celebrity competitions because it’s beneath me”
Bold, outrageous and provocative – ”asking for the business” – vote for me because I love the exposure!

Another reason that I am doing this is to demonstrate the power of E-Nurture Marketing & Social Media as you are a reader of my Blog or E-Newsletter and we were initially introduced through financial advisor speaking or via the internet.

Honestly, it would cost tens of thousands to receive the exposure that this poll can create.

So I’m asking for your help.

The next step is to vote for one of the top ten finalists and you can do this by CLICKING HERE & PLEASE VOTE FOR ME.

Again, why am I asking?

■ The exposure is absolutely great for my professional career development

■ The publicity is a vindication for all the hard work done with clients and the philosophy and ideas that we share in these and other pages

■ The encouragement to me to keep fighting the fight for quality career and independent financial advisors

■ My coaches and mentors all get to take a break as my unmet need of recognition is satisfied

To vote CLICK HERE.

Please note that given Advisor.ca is a publication for financial and investment advisors, I humbly submit that I do not profess to be a Financial or Investment Visionary as far as financial planning, products and services.

If one were to see me as a Visionary it may be because of doing my best to walk my talk as a Financial & Investment Advisor Coach, Speaker & Writer that uses systems like a E-Nurture Marketing & Social Media in their own practice and this is why I suppose I gained the nomination in the first place for Advisor.ca Visionary Poll.

To vote CLICK HERE.

The Best Advisors Seem To Have The Deepest Scars

Simon — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:00:10 +0000

They say that wisdom enters through the wound and the core of the passion to serve is based on life experience both positive and negative and the best advisors seem to have the deepest scars.

The life experience equipped them with the knowledge and the skills to pass onto other people to help them move forward.

This experience gives one something interesting to stand up and say rather than;

Hi, I’m Joe Advisor and I sell investment products and life insurance.

They use what has happened to them both personally and professionally, good and bad and use it as a catalyst to pass their experience and passion onto other people.

Here is an outstanding example of a Parable from Rod Tyler of Tyler & Associates in Regina, SK.

My Graduate Degree – by Rod Tyler

“I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it ceased to be one” – Mark Twain.

When I was 24 years old, I left university and graduate school to live in a northern Manitoba mining town and write my thesis. This was the 1970′s and the cost of living in northern Manitoba was skyrocketing. I had only my scholarship funds and a promise of a job on which to survive financially. Before too long, I had spent all the scholarship money and was working at three jobs to make ends meet. One of those jobs was running a truck leasing and rental operation. After six months of working at this job, my friend and chartered accountant, who had convinced me to take this job, said that he had good news and bad news. The bad news was that I wasn’t going to get paid. The good news was that I could buy the rental company and assume its debt.

For six months, I continued to fulfill another contract, unloading 540 washers, dryers, fridges and stoves, and installing them in a townhouse complex. Then with my money from completing that contract, I flew off to Winnipeg, to meet a high priced lawyer, one of the partners of the city’s most prestigious and powerful law firms. I handed over all my money to him and took on the debt of the rental company and the rental vehicles. I went straight to my hotel room after this signing ceremony, with the intent of flying back to northern Manitoba the next day. I no sooner sat down, alone, in that hotel room, than I began to cry. I was a grown man, sort of, supposedly educated, and I had just given away all my savings and agreed to repay a huge debt. My crying lasted all of about 10 minutes when I realized that I had only one option; I needed to get back to my newly purchased business as quickly as I could and then get on with it. I called the airline, asked if I could get on that evening’s flight, and when they said yes, I rushed to the front desk of the hotel, slapped down my room money and hailed a cab to the airport. I never spent another minute thinking about what might happen. I was, as they say in poker, “all in”.

Over the next several years I put all my efforts into making my business as successful as I could. Eventually I sold it to another budding entrepreneur. I never did finish that thesis, but I received something more valuable. I got a graduate degree in the actual practice of running a real business. It wasn’t the least bit theoretical. I also learned not to spend my time worrying about outcomes that might never materialize. I learned that it is better to take action. My business provided me with “on the job training”, including more lessons from other missteps, but with all the rewards that accrue to persistence. For that, I am thankful.

You might be temped to conclude that I place little value in education. I do not want to mislead you, because I do place a great deal of emphasis on advanced learning. When I entered the world of financial services I immediately recognized the need to learn all I could about financial planning and to obtain all the professional accreditations. And so I took action and completed all the requisite courses. Later in life, recognizing the need to continue learning, I have added to the initials you see behind my name. I also still spend a great deal of time attending advanced learning seminars and professional workshops. In addition I completely embrace the concept of the Coop Program of Studies sponsored by my alma mater, the University of Regina. I have hired students to work in our business so they can appreciate the expectations of a business while they complete their program of studies and obtain a degree. However, the experience I gained from starting and successfully running a business at 24 years of age will be the best graduate degree I could ever earn.

Perhaps someday I will return to the halls of learning to offer a course focused on the entrepreneurial initiative. If I do, it will involve some theory and a lot of actual experience in starting and successfully operating a new business.

Simon Reilly Makes The Final Round Of Advisor.ca Visionary Poll!

Dear All,

I’ve made the final round for Advisor.ca’s ‘Name That Visionary Poll’.

There are two ways I could have played this:

Pretending to be a shy and demure Canadian, because that is what Canadians do, in the hope that people will vote anyway – ”I don’t take part in these celebrity competitions because it’s beneath me”
Bold, outrageous and provocative – ”asking for the business” – vote for me because I love the exposure!

Honestly, it would cost tens of thousands to receive the exposure that this poll can create.

So I’m asking for your help.

The next step is to vote for one of the top ten finalists and you can do this by CLICKING HERE & PLEASE VOTE FOR ME.

Again, why am I asking?

■ The exposure is absolutely great for my professional career development

■ The publicity is a vindication for all the hard work done with clients and the philosophy and ideas that we share in these and other pages

■ The encouragement to me to keep fighting the fight for quality career and independent financial advisors

■ My coaches and mentors all get to take a break as my unmet need of recognition is satisfied

To vote CLICK HERE.

Should You Be Satisfying Wants And Needs?

Simon — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:00:12 +0000

Testimonials from HUB Day Victoria – Victoria, BC – October 27, 2010

Simon — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:00:08 +0000

[ Important Message to attendees of;

Great West Life Insurance And Investment Strategies 2010 Congress – Montreal
Hub Financial Days – Montreal, Toronto, London, Calgary, Victoria & Vancouver
London Life Insurance And Investment Strategies 2010 Congress – Montreal

Please click the Advisor.ca Logo on the right to vote for Advisor.ca’s Visionary Contest and click the links below for follow up notes from my presentation via some of my latest thinking on;

end ]

Testimonials from HUB Day Victoria – Victoria, BC – October 27, 2010

“I enjoyed the score card exercise and the written vision reminder. One speaks to where I am and the other speaks to where I need to be going.”
Michael Crowe
Advantage Benefits Plus Inc. / Provident Firefighter Benefit Services

“I learned about myself. I enjoyed writing down what I did well today.”
John Mullane

“I am aware of the concept of unmet needs and I understand my roadblocks in order to remove them. Finally an answer to how to market my services to high net worth clients.”
Brian Lepilg
Queensburg Securities Inc.

“Passionate delivery of information that woke me up to the fact that I’m not reaching my potential. I have been reacting from a position of my needs not being met. Authentic, straight-talk and lively presentation, definitely something I’ll remember. ”
Stephanie Ritchie
Advantage Benefits Plus Inc.

“I enjoyed the concept of unmet needs. I didn’t expect a book.”
Ivan Vazquez
First Insurance Agencies

“I enjoyed the information presented and the energy with which it was presented. I expected it to be great and I wasn’t disappointed.”
Stan Wood

“Better than Tony Robins. What enthusiasm, I can’t wait to read the book. I didn’t expect the presentation to bring self-awareness.”
Tom Radford
LLB Insurance

“Made me think about where I’m at in this business after 33 years. I expected another boring speaker- ha ha not!”
Jim Duquette
Duquette Financial Services

“I enjoy Simon’s simple vision and enthusiasm of how easy it is to change. The best part was the ease of the presentation and the book!”
Mike Espey
First Insurance Agencies Ltd.

“Clarity of purpose and Simon’s matured passion. Thank you Simon and Laura for the significant investment in me and my business.”
Paul Elderfield
Wintercreek Insurance

Value Of Advocis Membership

Simon — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:00:20 +0000

Board chair, Terry Zavitz, has prepared a great video on the importance of a strong voice for Canada’s advisors and planners.

The Law Of Shameless Self Promotional Attraction

Simon — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:00:48 +0000

Way back in April I posted this article in my newsletter to shamelessly promote myself as a candidate and thanks to you, I have been nominated as one of the finalists in Advisor.ca’s ‘Name That Visionary Contest’.

Your vote automatically entered you to win a new 32GB iPhone 3G S.

I not only received the nomination as one the finalists through shameless self promotion, I shamelessly voted for myself (once) and won the 32GB iPhone 3G S!

If you don’t promote yourself, who will?

Tired Of Left Overs & Running Out Of Gas?

Simon — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:46:30 +0000

To be successful in life you must ask for what you want.

If you go into a restaurant, you run the risk of being disappointed when the service person asks you “what would you like” and you reply “bring me what you have” and they bring you left overs.

Part of our coaching program includes e-coaching, kind of like a drive through restaurant where you drive up to a menu board and order / use the tools that are offered.

One of the tools that is offered on our Menu Board is a Weekly Work Out Log that consists of the following questions follow by an e-mail reply from me.

1. Tell me what you consider to be your 5 top achievements this week and why are they significant?
2. What further progress could you make in this direction? What are you resisting doing?
3. How can you use your personal strengths to commit 3 needed actions next week to meet your 90-day goals?
4. How can I help? What will best move you forward with this?
5. How many marketing activities did you partake in? ( examples; attend events for networking, create a list of clients and calling them to ask for referrals, door knock in a business park to introduce yourself etc. )
6. How many calls did you make?
7. How many prospect conversations did you have?
8. How many sales presentations did you make?
9. How many sales did you make?

Some participants use the Weekly Work Out Log and it is not only inspirational to them, it is inspirational to me because their energy helps me to create valuable material for the rest of the participants.

What is the sense in driving up to a drive through restaurant’s menu board and not placing an order?

You will either get left overs or run out of gas.

The Power Of Eulogy

Simon — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:00:55 +0000

The Funeral and Celebration of Life for my mother Irene Reilly is taking place today at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Chilliwack, BC. I want to share with you, the Eulogy that I wrote in her memory.

Where does passion come from?

Some say that passion can be realized through living ones’ values and the values of Irene Reilly were Commitment, Dedication, and Duty.

My Mother was born to Emily and John Dargue in Scunthorpe, England in 1920.

I am sure that Commitment, Dedication, and Duty played a huge role in supporting her family when her Father John, a magistrate passed away at the young age of 55 when the world economy collapsed in1929. Irene was only 9 years old.

It is believed that passion enters through the wound and while it is my belief that my Mother never really got over the pain of the early passing of her Father, she turned the passing into passion.

Passion helped to fuel Commitment, Dedication, and Duty and the passion to help others inspired my mom to become a nurse by 18 in 1938 where she served in England through the Second World War.

My Mother and Father met after the war and my Mother converted from Anglican to Catholicism. They were married in England in 1949 and her Commitment, Dedication, and Duty to my Father’s dream carried her through when she didn’t really want to leave England. We sailed for Canada on my second birthday in 1957 after the passing of Irene’s Mother in 1956.

Irene continued with her nursing career in Vancouver from 1957 – 1959 while my Father tried to find his way in the steel mill less Vancouvertown.

Commitment, Dedication, and Duty played a huge role when we moved to Chilliwack in 1960. Irene worked with my Father in a metal salvage business from 1960 – 1965 in conditions that were just short of horrible. I can recall a freak accident where she nearly lost her leg from severing the main artery in her leg.

Commitment, Dedication, and Duty where inspired by attending St. Mary’s from 1960 onwards and through singing in the Church Choir and as an active member of The Catholic Women’s League.

My Mother’s Commitment, Dedication, and Duty inspired my Mother to teach me my manners and she imparted on me the appreciation for cinema and theater. My best memories of my Mother are the times when she took me to see special films like Dr. Zhivago and The Mikado.

My Mother rejoined her passion to help others in 1966 when she went back to nursing at Chilliwack General Hospital and worked until she retired in 1975. She lived her retired years in Chilliwack in service to St. Mary’s and The Catholic Women’s League until the passing of my Father John at 85 in 2003.

After the passing of my Father, my Mother settled into Logan Manor in Agassiz where she experienced the tranquil life that she deserved.

I would like to thank the management and staff of Logan Manor and Glenwood Care Center in Agassiz where my Mother was cared for from 2005 up until her passing.

I’m thankful that my Mother’s Commitment, Dedication, and Duty to help others created some good Karma in that she did not suffer horribly from a debilitating illness, but rather she lived until the ripe old age of 90 and passed away quietly in her sleep.

They say that wisdom enters through the wound. God only knows how I found myself to be a financial advisor business coach, speaker and writer.

My Mother passed away on Tuesday, April 27^th right after I finished a speaking presentation to Macquarie Private Wealth Inc. and I had two more speaking presentations to deliver the same week for Canada Life on Thursday and again on Friday.

I thought how can I find the energy to deliver the Canada Life presentations on Thursday and Friday with my Mother’s passing on my mind.

At the same time thinking, “what if I break down in front of the audience”, because part of my presentation includes a story about my Mother that goes back to when I was 8 years old.

Like my Mother and her instilled Commitment, Dedication, and Duty, the passion to help others inspired me to go out and deliver two excellent presentations that made a difference in people’s lives.

God Bless Irene Reilly.

Leading Advisor Training, Coaching, and Professional Speaker - Simon Reilly » Uncategorized

Tips On Budgeting & Maximizing Cash & Time

Leading Advisor Distinctions

Free One Page Business Plan Webinars May 11th & 26th – Register Now!

Thank You To The Elite Advisor

Simon Reilly Makes The Final Round Of Advisor.ca Visionary Poll!

The Best Advisors Seem To Have The Deepest Scars

Simon Reilly Makes The Final Round Of Advisor.ca Visionary Poll!

Should You Be Satisfying Wants And Needs?

Testimonials from HUB Day Victoria – Victoria, BC – October 27, 2010

Value Of Advocis Membership

The Law Of Shameless Self Promotional Attraction

Tired Of Left Overs & Running Out Of Gas?

The Power Of Eulogy

Free One Page Business Plan Webinars May 11^th & 26^th – Register Now!