In the late 1990’s Matthew began studying the Financial Industry. A financial advisor friend had hit a stumbling block in his business and asked Matt for help. As he started to learn more about the Financial Industry, Matt was intrigued by a rather stunning figure he’d read - that over 90% of financial advisors report they are new, qualified activity challenged. How could this be? He assumed that everyone needed a good financial advisor - one they trusted and respected. So why - with a potential market of about 80 million baby boomers plus millions of those already retired - aren’t advisors overwhelmed with new activity?

Matt began doing market research among this target, most of it hands-on, in the form of focus groups. He learned that:

1. the target market was either financially undereducated or uneducated. They were frightened about money and retirement. They needed and wanted help. They wanted advice and guidance;
2. the Financial Services Industry suffers from a very negative reputation;
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3. many in this market segment had a fixed bias or viewpoint, seeing the financial advisor industry as an “evil empire” - financial advisor Darth Vader’s, working for “their own self-interest”, “not to be trusted”, akin to a “used car salesman” or a “root canal specialist”;
4. while individuals in this market were looking for help, they complained about what they encountered - financial advisors who are takers, always saying the same things, always selling, selling, selling.

Matt then interviewed financial advisors. Here he learned that in spite of solid training and well-respected coaching programs, advisors still had difficulty getting in front of new qualified prospects on a regular basis. While they may have known that their most important centers of influence were their best, happiest clients, most admitted that they did not know how to effectively utilize this currency.

At this point Bellis realized two important things:

1. that his own marketing approach could well serve not only his financial advisor friend, but the financial advisor industry at large.
2. that he could train financial advisors to be effective marketers, to be the Luke Skywalker’s to those dreaded Darth Vader’s.

Matt’s philosophy is that learning to be an effective marketer is not difficult - it’s a learned skill. It just takes training, mentoring and time.

THE BELLIS METHOD: BEING A MARKETER WHO ADVISES, NOT AN ADVISOR WHO MARKETS

The Bellis Method was born out of an expressed desire: Financial Advisors wanting to be in control of their businesses by having a continuous stream of qualified prospects on a predictable and ongoing basis. This method is all about creating a culture of warm introductions.

Financial advisors have always been taught and trained to get facts, ask questions, educate, write proposals - to do all the good financial work. However, as one of Matt’s clients put it, they aren’t effectively learning to deal with the “elephant in the room” -- getting those coveted qualified prospects.

Matt teaches financial advisors how to be effective marketers, how to listen, appreciate, respect and work within the parameters of their clients’ biases and viewpoints, not push to change them. He cautions, “it doesn’t matter how we see ourselves - what’s important is how our prospects and clients see us”. He teaches advisors to be givers, not takers. Working closely with his clients, Matt isn’t a big believer in workbooks and materials overload. Rather, he teaches advisors how to craft the marketing tools they need to grow their businesses. A completely new and different skill.

The Bellis Method is built around four basic components:

The foundation and cornerstone of the Bellis Method is working with financial advisors to develop, embrace, live and breathe their story. It is core to what Bellis teaches, and ultimately becomes second nature to financial advisors, an energizing influence.

A strong, compelling marketing story must take into account two important elements: first, understanding that the market has specific, deep-rooted viewpoints and biases and second, knowing that your story must be told in a manner that does not attempt to manipulate or change those existing viewpoints but, rather, acknowledges and works within them. Effective storytelling reinforces the views and feelings consumers already have. Your story is told to existing clients, on your first appointment with new clients, and you continue to tell it in seminars, workshops, chance meetings, and with friends. There is a long and short version, an elevator version, an airplane version. Matt works with advisors to guide their story development. Through this process the story gets better, deeper and richer as it evolves. It becomes the quintessential definition of engagement, the foundation for building a strong financial advisor/client relationship.

Matt’s definition of capital is human capital, where financial advisors learn to garner cooperation with existing clients, and then with new clients. It’s the skill that gets advisors introductions to qualified friends, coworkers, family. Identifying the top 20% of a client base is not entirely cut and dried - Matt teaches the nuances of identifying clients they want to duplicate. He also teaches the principles of engaging and building networks within large organizations/companies in the advisor’s local market.

This is a critical point in the Bellis Method, where Financial Advisors learn to advance beyond their story to create a permission-based sphere of client cooperation, where most clients agree to advocate and champion for the advisor.

Here Bellis teaches Financial Advisors how to market RRC, the repository for everything they have learned in all of their training combined. RRC is their client education and advocacy center. It’s the free service offered to clients in exchange for their trust, loyalty and, ultimately, qualified introductions.

It will take approximately 4-8 months to get the Bellis Method installed, to learn it, understand it.

Advisors begin to see activity increase in the first 3 - 6 months; as such, the program pays for itself in the first 3-6 months.

Once the method is installed Mastermind Groups are formed. They are designed to enable continuous education through shared learning and mining other advisor experiences for building best practices.