A Q&A with Vicki Gunvalson

DW: The industry is facing an aging advisor base. You're in your early 50s. Do you have a succession plan for your business? 

VG: My succession plan is my son. He's the VP of the company. He handles only life insurance, but he's hungry now to get into the retirement-planning side of it. If my son doesn't want to take it over, then there might be an option for my daughter to do so down the road. If that doesn't work, then I'll sell the business. But I don't plan to stop for a while. My goal is 65 and then to go to three days a week.

DW: You've been building your business for 10 years. What does the next 10 years like?

VG: I still want to grow. I wrote about 15 million last year on FIAs, and my goal this year is 20 million. I've got a goal board, and I work against that goal board. My son is going to start shadowing me on the workshops. By having him shadow me, in every appointment — the first appointment, the second appointment, the close — he will learn how the process goes.

DW: We talked a little bit about marketing, but not the social media side of it. What role does social media play in your overall marketing plan?

VG: Social media is very important because the Baby Boomers are going to the Internet for information. So I have a strong presence on Facebook, LinkedIn. I've seen a lot of clients who have lost their jobs or have 401(k)s they need to rollover. So we have a strong presence on LinkedIn, and we're building new clients from that.

DW: Regarding seminars, how many of those do you do?

VG: We do 2 to 4 a month, depending on my calendar. I do a women's workshop every other month. We always have a great turnout at those because women like to be around other women. We like to know that we're not alone if we're single. So I cater to single, widowed or divorced women, and it's nice. They have a little bit of a synergy between them going in. Maybe they own their own business, or maybe they've been employed by someone and have a pension coming in. It's been a really nice, easy way to get into the women's market.

DW: We conduct a poll each year, and the number one thing that keeps advisors up at night is getting in front of qualified leads.

VG: It's always about having enough prospects to keep the business going. We have a lot of overhead — 12 employees, payroll taxes, federal and state taxes. It's definitely a lot of pressure. But I can handle it. It's about continuing to do the right thing for the client. I get referrals, so that helps. But really, I'm consistent with my seminars. Every single month I book 2 to 4 seminars. That's my staple business. From there, we have the branches: LinkedIn, social media, referrals. 

DW: How about client-appreciation events?

VG: We actually do two a year. One of them is a cruise. I take all my clients out on a yacht out of Newport Beach. It's about nothing more than thanking them and educating them on where we're going with the economy. Beyond that, it's just dancing and nice food. They look forward to it. We did a holiday party last year with a shredding truck. We rolled out a red carpet with a little Santa, and the elves unloaded documents from their trunks and shredded them. We had beautiful music and catered food. It was like an open house — really lovely.

DW: Advisors just starting out have a high failure rate: about 80 percent. What advice can you give new advisors? 

VG: I've definitely had my highs and lows in this business. To new advisors I would say, if this is your true passion, you're going to go through some bad times. This is not an easy career. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. You've got to have a strong team behind you. And I believe in mentorship. So find somebody who is successful in your area and latch on to them. Learn from them. I didn't have that. I did it all myself. I knew what I had to produce every single month in order to make my bills, and I never ever stopped until I made those goals. So on my board in my office, I have a goal sheet and I hit those goals every month. That way I never fall behind.