J. W. - Florida
"My “big break” came in 2008 when I became aware of a different and unique approach for generating activity, a “warm marketing” approach from a guy named Matt Bellis. One person at my broker/dealer had been working with Bellis and was successfully building his business, bucking the industry trends. When I asked the rep about Bellis and he told me about Bellis’s ideas and concepts, my first reaction was to say that there was nothing new here – nothing I didn’t already know. I’ll never forget what the rep said to me: “When I first heard about Bellis I felt the same as you. Nothing new here. Trust me and be open-minded, you might not know everything you think you know.” So, I decided to check it out. I called Matt Bellis, liked what I heard, made a decision to sign on and the rest is history. I am now more excited than ever about my ability to generate prospects and accelerate my business growth in a more cost-effective manner than I had ever imagined."

I’ve had several folks in the past few years call me and ask me about the Bellis Warm Introduction System.  Most advisors want to know what my experience has been with Matt Bellis and they want to know the bottom line.  Did it help my business? Was it anything new?  Would I do it again? And even if it worked for me, could it work for them?

The short answer to each of these questions is yes, yes, yes, and maybe.  Let me elaborate.

1.  Did it help my business?
Yes.

Let me tell you my story. I met Matt through my Vice President who insisted that I give him a call.  I did not want to call him; so in fact, it took me two months and incessant badgering from my Vice President before I made an initial call to him. He told me that Bellis’ business philosophy and system was unique , but I was hesitant because my Vice President was always trying to talk me into his next “great sales system” that was going to help me “explode” my business—yeah, right! I had been in financial services for over 10 years and I was nearing the end my rope—in other words, I was seriously considering going back to school and changing my course in life since I had almost given up on my ability to make a living in this business.  I loved helping people and providing a financial education to them, but like many of us in this business, I just wasn’t able to get in front of enough qualified clients.

So to get my VP off my back, I called Mr. Bellis.  Even though I was incredibly skeptical, Matt peaked my interest when he explained his philosophy of business and his marketing system and how it could work for me and my business.  I made a decision to work with Matt and I am sure he was totally unaware that if this did not work, I was done with this business.

Initially, I was still skeptical that my work with Matt would change anything.  Frankly, I had raised my hopes with many marketing “gimmicks” in the past and I was just hoping this wasn’t just one more “system” that would only “lighten my pocketbook.” (I’d had enough of those.)

I started working with Matt in a mentoring group—it was less expensive (less risk, therefore, more left in my pocketbook if it didn’t work).  I tried to be a good student.  Sometimes I was, sometimes I wasn’t.  I can tell you, however, that it took a relatively short time for me to see some incredible success.  Clients really would introduce me to their friends and family and for the first time I had folks actually waiting for me to call them. Even more than that, I learned to understand that learning how to market my business was different than learning my trade as a financial professional. They were two separate skills and I had to learn to master them both to have a successful business.  Matt’s expertise was the marketing side.

It’s funny, because my husband and I farm and Matt would consistently make comparisons to our farming business and the fact that there were two separate aspects of that business as well.  There was the actual farming of the crops and, of course, there was the marketing of the grain and other business decisions that were vital to our success.
And I can tell you that there were plenty of excellent farmers that could raise an unbelievable crop, but they weren’t marketers and they certainly were not good businessmen.  Consequently, they are no longer in business.   Similarly, it wasn’t enough just to be able to put together a good financial plan for a client and have the knowledge and expertise to help the implement the plan. What did that matter if I didn’t have anyone to see?  I needed a marketing system. That is what working with Matt was all about.

And the mentoring group turned out to be an excellent forum for me to master the process.  I was constantly talking to fellow advisors with their success and challenges as we mastered the system together.  We learned from Matt and we learned from each other.

Over time, I got more and more proficient with his process.  As I improved, I also hit a few stumbling blocks.  One of the things Matt had tried to train us to do was to be sure that we properly train our clients in the process of introducing us to their friends and family.  I wasn’t comfortable doing this at first and frankly, I didn’t want to do it.  I was, however, paying for his program so eventually I recognized that it only made sense to “try things his way.”     Some of us in the group were more open to trying things he suggested, others weren’t.  I can tell you that those of us, who were the most open to his suggestions, had the most success.

One call that I recall specifically, Matt explained that after we mastered this process and our clients became our advocates, eventually qualified friends and family members of our clients would be calling us, and/or walking in our doors asking to meet with us.  I remember thinking, ‘Sure, Matt—I’m not holding my breath for that to happen!’  This past year, however, I can tell you that is exactly what is happening.  So, it did not happen overnight, but the last months, I have been averaging two –four new qualified prospects a month either calling me to schedule an appointment or they walk in my office and want to set up a time to meet.  In every case, they have been introduced to me from a current client. 
 

Further into the process, I made the decision to work one on one with him.  I recognized the rate of return on working with him; the decision was easy.  My husband and I farm, and I always understood the concept of “return on investment.” (I should explain that some of my peers working with Matt decided to work one on one with him, others stayed in a mentoring group—it depended on their situation.)

 Now just a few years later, my office is know as the Retirement Resource Center in my community where folks know they can come and get answers to their questions without the fear of someone just “trying to sell them something.”   And, as a result, all of my clients continue to introduce me to more friends and family. 

Did it help my business?  Yes, business is good. In fact, my son joined me, and my company has expanded and now we have two locations in Iowa.

2.  Was it anything new?
       Yes and no.  Everyone in this business knows that the best referrals come from current satisfied clients—that concept is not new. However, before learning the Bellis introduction system I could do great work for great clients and sometimes I felt like I was pulling teeth just to get them to think of a few folks they could refer me to.  And then, of course, they would just give me some names and numbers.  Frankly, I could probably have gotten the same thing from the phone book.
  
Below are the things that made this process NEW for me.

• I concentrate on getting introductions from my best clients, the top 20% of my client base.  We call them qualified warm introductions, because they are friends and family of my best qualified clients.
• All of my clients agree to introduce me to five of their friends, family, or co-workers before we meet for the second appointment.
• My clients call me and let me know that I have permission to call their friends and they let me know the best time to call them and the best phone number.
• Frequently on client reviews, my clients begin the appointment with the name of another family or friend or co-worker that would like me to call them.
• My clients truly are “my partners” and understand that their friends and family need to be introduced to me and to my Retirement Resource Center.

3. Would I do it again?
     Yes.  I may be from a small town in Iowa, but I am not stupid.

4. Could it work for you?
    Maybe.

There really is no good reason that it couldn’t work for most financial professionals.  After all, if someone like me, who lives in a town of 3000 people can learn this system and build a good business, then, theoretically, the system could work for anyone.

What’s the catch? That’s easy- it takes work.  I am sure that there are other places in the country besides Iowa where work is not considered a four letter word.  You need to be committed to being a good student and communicating frequently with Matt –when something is working and especially if something is not working. I’ve been working with Matt for several years and he continues to help me with all aspects of my business and I expect that we will continue to work together for years to come.