It’s cold, rainy/snowy and the holiday hangover just won’t quit.  

Is radio silence still the only song playing in your headset?

Raise your hand if these sound familiar:

• Advisors aren’t answering the phone
• No money is moving
• More advisors are just using the models
• Client are focused on fees – only ETFs are selling
• Active management is out of favor
• Advisors are waiting for the impact of:  DOL, Trump (before that it was the election), interest rates, end of bull market, add yours here______
• The press isn’t helping: 5 Ominous Signs for the Securities Industry

The sky is falling chicken little

Woe be the internal who tries to combat the blues with ‘back in the day’  

• Opening prospect calls with a cheery: Hi it’s x, how are you? do you have a couple of quick seconds…”
• Sending template emails to webinar attendees or advisors who clicked on your site.
• Leading with performance.  The new buzzword for sales desk success is strategic thinking. Good strategy drives good activity.  Strategic thinking is a learned skill.  I’m pretty sure it’s not part of job descriptions or performance reviews.

Here’s two questions to ponder:

How are you developing your internals’ strategic skills?
How is your overall strategy for the desk different in 2017 than it was in 2016?  In particular:

• Gaining access
• Relationship management
• Pipeline management
• Quality conversations
• Smart touchpoints
• Internal / External partnerships

Maybe you need to learn more than you know now?