To begin, can you tell us about how things have been going for you?

I have had a pretty good year with Thrivent. I’m in my third year and it’s better than last year, which was better than the year before. I've been getting the right traction.

Refresh my memory John, what did you do before you became an advisor?

I was in charge of the sales training department at Wyatt Pharmaceutical over in College Ville. We were bought out and anybody over 55 was fair game for retirement. I had three children going to college, so I thought I better go back to work and make some money again. I wanted my own business and I looked into a couple different franchises. The day my severance ran out, somebody told me Thrivent had opportunities and I had been a Thrivent member for 22 years at that point. I thought I could see myself doing it considering I did classroom teaching and workshops which is a part of our prospecting. I walked in and they gave an old guy a break and here I am being productive again.

Once you made the decision to become a financial representative, what has been your biggest surprise after three years?

Just how hard it is to get people who what to do business, actually call you back. A lot of people want my help, want insurance or retirement planning unfortunately we are not always high on their priority list. I overcome that by just being persistent. I think if people called as much as I call some of these people, I would be annoyed but I haven’t had anyone tell me to back off. In fact I got the opposite, the other day someone called and apologized for not getting back to me, gave me a reason and when to call her back.

Overall, it’s making those contacts, once I get in front of people, I do pretty well. CAPS™ certainly helped that.

You say that CAPS™ has helped you in front of people, what else do you see it doing for you?

It helps with the interaction between clients and being more thoughtful with the questions I ask. When I was in training prior to Thrivent I did a lot of presenting, while you do have to do a little presenting with this job and have topics in mind to cover with clients you really have to do a lot of questioning and then listening.

The things I really needed help with was questioning and listening. I know I still do, I’m not suddenly perfect at it but I’m definitely making some progress. Once I connect with somebody I just ask questions and let them talk. I will take notes then refer back to those notes for action steps and closing.

About how long had you been in the business when you went thought the workshop?

Around a year or more.

How did you feel about going through the training at that point in your career?

It was good. Thrivent had actually given us some other training since then, I had training from the 70’s and I taught training course for many years so what I use is a combination of everything. Having been in the business of selling and training it was a good refresher of selling skills. Back when I started with Thrivent we did a lot with the advice process, product training, and online training but I don’t remember a lot of selling skills.

Thinking back when you were invited to attend the workshop, how did you feel about that?

I had heard about it and I know some of the veteran reps had taken it the year before I did. I don’t want to say that I was insulted that I didn’t get invited but it was something I wanted to attend and year or so ago I got the invite to attend.

In my group we had a good mix of veterans and ages. Anytime Thrivent reps get together we learn so much from each other, even if it is at coffee hour.

At the conclusion of the workshop, what were your thoughts at that point? Any concerns or ideas about the implementation of the skills once you left?

I still work on my listening skills and it made me more aware. It gave me a few extra techniques. One thing, my background is in what you call Probing, sometimes I feel that probing is to direct with the client. As long as we understand how to present the probe it works well.

You mentioned that you had been through the training after the workshop, was it sales related or product related?

It was more technique and skill related on handling objections and trying to convince people that there is a need while not scaring them into business. 

So, when you look at your career as a whole, how are you doing compared to what you though you would be doing at this point?

Between the first and second year I doubled my production and I am going to shoot for that this year. In this past year I was able to get an office in hopes for some more walk in traffic, but I feel like I am still hunting people down.

My philosophy is do what is right for the member and the rest of it will happen. I have done a little joint field work, with three different people now. Veterans, my financial guy that got me into the business and some with a new guy last week, which I feel was a good experience because he knew something’s I didn’t and I knew a lot of things he didn’t. The client appreciated that he had two people there, not double teaming him but looking out for his best interest.

So, being in the training side of the industry for so long, what feedback can you give us for the class and follow-up?

I think a lot of people say they hate the roll play but as a previous trainer if you don’t use it right away it doesn’t get into your brain right away. I liked the conference call after the fact because we were revisiting what we had already covered.  It forced us to crack open the book and look at it again.

Well, I appreciate your feedback. As 2014 comes to a close, what are your aspirations for 2015?

I am waiting for them to get the business planning website up with Thrivent. We had one before, I understand it is going to be similar but a little different. I am hoping it’s more customization. My first couple years it good to have a generic program considering I was new and wasn’t sure where to go and what to do, but now that I am a bit more experienced it will be good to customize it myself.

So, as you look ahead, any aspirations of possible becoming a partner as some point?

I haven’t gotten that far but I wouldn't mind the idea of helping the launch manager provide training for new reps, not necessarily in the classroom but in the field.

If someone were to ask you about a career with Thrivent as a Financial Representative, what would you say to them?

Well, I had a guy last week tell me he was going with Edward Jones because he had a connection there. I asked him to look at Thrivent, there is nothing like our mix of finances, insurance and charitable giving back. That’s why I chose Thrivent. Yeah, I like doing the workshops and making money but I like the fact that Thrivent gives back to our churches and communities. Our new Action Theme really seems to be big hit. Those that are doing fundraising or service projects can apply online and they recieve a Thrivent t-shirts and a $250 gift card. I like to share that with people because it might be something other companies are doing, but not at the grassroots level of Thrivent. Apply directly and use the money directly.

It’s not the financial business that keeps me here, I like Thrivent.

So, if someone was invited to the CAPS™ workshop and they asked you about it, what would you tell them?

Basically, you have to take that time to sharpen the saw. You will walk away with skills to grow your business. Those skills are good on the phone and in person. If you are an experienced rep with lots of selling tools you can always learning something else.