Improving Financial Advice with Derek Notman

eorge grombacher 0:00
Come on

life live this is George G. And the time is right. Welcome. Today’s guest is strong, powerful. Derek Notman Derek, are you ready to do this? Let’s do this by man, George. Let’s get into it. Let’s go. Derek is a CFP is the founder of intrepid wealth partners. also the founder of connector is a FinTech empowering financial advisors to thrive in the 21st century. Eric, excited to have you on tell us a little about your personal life. So more about your work and why you do what you do. Likewise, thank you, George. Appreciate you having me on today. Yeah, I love what you’re doing. You are a powerhouse of a podcaster. So pretty cool to be to be here.

Derek Notman 0:51
What do I who am I personal life married? I’ve got a 10 year old son. I love old cars. I’ve got a 65 Mustang. I love to serve. I love to travel. I’ve got over a million miles on Delta.

Did it the whole traditional way. figured out I didn’t like working nights and weekends and having high overhead and all of those things and went virtual back in 2013. And, yeah, it’s just, it’s an awesome thing because like I just I found more more balanced in my life and more happiness and made more money too, even though I had more time to do what I wanted to do, which was pretty awesome.

Unknown Speaker 1:48
And yeah, that that was you know, you mentioned connector. That’s what spurred me on to Creek connector. So I can empower other advisors to do the same thing. And I’ve got another project I’m kind of working on in the stealth mode here right now, which we may get into here in a little bit. Nice.

george grombacher 2:04
I appreciate all that. So you and I have have these awesome connections that I grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, and you are a University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldog. So you both you and I both understand what what Duluth winters are like, Oh, my. And we both. We both started our careers at New York Life. So we we can do a couple of different handshakes together.

Unknown Speaker 2:28
We can’t so funny, because we’ve never met if works. Ah, yeah, I yeah, you MD grad grew up in twins, you started off. And it’s just it’s funny how that stuff works. But a lot. I’m sure a lot of us have similar paths. We just haven’t met each other yet.

george grombacher 2:49
Yeah, that’s a good point. So you started in 2006 pivoted to virtual and you recognize, okay, wow, this is great. I’m working less hours, I have more free time, I’m making more money. So I’m just, I’m sort of optimizing, I’m becoming a lot more efficient. And you refer to yourself, or you think about yourself as an advisor, turn FinTech on entrepreneur, because that that’s really what you are. So what what is the motivator? Or what problems do you see that you’re working to solve?

Unknown Speaker 3:25
Well, as an advisor, you know, it can be really tough. It’s nights and weekends. It’s door knocking and seminar sounds very cold outbound solicitation. And as much as some people will put on a good face and wear the shiny, you know, watch and the nice shoes and suit, a lot of them are hurting inside. It’s a really tough industry to be successful in. And doing the old way, like I call it, the brick and mortar model was not scalable. And I found this out the hard way, because that’s what I did. That’s what I learned just like you and it took its toll. And like now this is this isn’t cool. So I wanted to be able to work less, and make the same or more. So I can have more fun with my family, pursue my own passions, all of those things. And that’s why I set out to create connector was there’s got to be a better way for financial advisors to build their practice in the 21st century. And so really, it’s just this updated model of everything that they need to do and so I think that’s like that’s the big problem is like here, we need a better model. How do we do it? Don’t just tell me I need to do social media. Okay, I get it. I need to be online. But how show me step by step what I need to do and a lot of there’s a lot of stuff out there that says conceptually Yeah, that’s great. You should do this but then it never actually tells you how to do it shows you how to do it. So connector does that. But again, it is as you said earlier, we want to empower financial advisors to thrive today. In the world we live in while not having to put their lives on hold to do it. So that’s, that’s, that’s what I’m doing

george grombacher 5:07
nice. Yeah, it is a it’s it’s challenging for so many different reasons because obviously the world of personal finance is incredibly complex. And then you also need to be a professional salesperson. And then you need to be a professional marketing person. And then oh, yeah, by the way, you need to be doing social media as well. And you need to master technology. And just so just just go ahead and do all that. So, actually having a step by step kind of a blueprint for it, I know that I would have greatly valued that.

Unknown Speaker 5:38
Well, that’s it. It took me years to figure it out. When I first went down that path people like, yeah, it’s not, it’s, it ain’t gonna work. It’s got this is a belly to belly business. I’m like, Well, I as the entrepreneur, and he’s like, No, I’m gonna figure out a better way to do this. And don’t tell me I can’t. But what I quickly realized is there was no roadmap for me to follow. So I had to cut my teeth the entire time. So connector, empowers advisors to do what took me years. It can it can get them up and running in 90 days, right? It’s that it’s so it’s really just, it’s there. It’s mapped out for him and so forth. You’re exactly right. Like, it’s hard enough as it is. You know, there were plenty of times in the early days where I almost went bankrupt. You know, I had those looking to sell which baseball cards, I had baseball cards I wanted to sell just like to pay my bills, you know, like, it was tough. It’s not, it shouldn’t, it doesn’t have to be that way. Financial Advisors shouldn’t have to fail out of the business, just because we’re stuck doing things from 1985.

george grombacher 6:44
Yeah, yeah, I appreciate that. And that’s, I don’t know if it’s a dirty secret or not. But I don’t know what attrition is these days, I imagine still upwards of 9090 plus percent?

Unknown Speaker 6:56
I think it is. I don’t I don’t know if you’re ever gonna actually see those published numbers, because they’re, I mean, what are what are the other industry doing? Like 90%? Fail? That’s pretty bad, right? I don’t think you’ll see if I was talking to another advisor, who’s maybe three or four years in now, Spot A month ago, there were 14 people in his class when he started. He was the only one left. You know, I mean, that’s even worse than 90%. Right. So it’s, it’s crazy. It’s just crazy. And

george grombacher 7:26
I’m sure that was your experience too dark.

Unknown Speaker 7:28
I was the only one that made it through.

george grombacher 7:31
And certainly my experience as well. So So there’s got to be a better way. So I certainly appreciate you, you know, getting the mud on your face and the arrows in your back to actually go ahead and blazed that trail and to put everything together. So. So you’ve you’ve you’ve you’ve done that. And now you’ve you’ve shared with me that you’ve got a new project that you’re working on, what what was the motivator there.

Unknown Speaker 7:57
So this other project is actually something I’ve had an idea on for six, seven years, life happened, didn’t get around to it. But now I’m really starting to take a hard, serious look at it. At the end of the day, what do advisors need, especially newer advisors need more than anything else? To run a successful practice? What do you think you need people to talk to? Bingo, right? And, you know, Well, long story short, lead generation is broken. And I think we’ve got a better way to do that. And I’m really excited about something that we’re, you know, we’re getting ready to launch early in 2022. I can’t do it quite yet, for a number of reasons. But we’re almost there. And just super stoked about it. Because it’s, it’s really when you see it when you hear it. And I’m purposely being like, kind of like, vague here right now, because I want to make sure that people need to see it. And when they do see it, it’s gonna be like, Duh, why didn’t I think of that? It’s like, it’s just gonna feel right. So more to come on that. So yeah, I am going to remain a little mysterious, but you’re gonna see a lot more of that in the coming months here as we actually really push this thing out.

george grombacher 9:16
Nice. I appreciate that. So from a why is it distrust from from the public standpoint of the financial industry? I’m just thinking, how and I’m not trying to guess at what this deal is. I’m just saying, Okay, if I were to try and which is I assume what all financial firms are trying to do is bring down these walls, and make that connection a little easier and a little bit more comfortable. But what are some of those frictions?

Unknown Speaker 9:50
Trust is a huge one for a number of reasons. There’s a lot of lack of trust in our industry, but we also have this sales person hat that we wear Hmm. And like my I love the example My wife gave. She mentioned this like a month ago or so, we’ve all been in a situation where we walk into a store in the mall, maybe or even like a car dealership? Clearly we’re there because we think we want to buy something. Right? Yay. But don’t swarm me the second I get in the building or the storefront. Let me in. Let me get comfortable. Let me go take a look at the products on the shelf or kick the tires of a couple of cars to see, hey, is this what I want? Is this what I think it is? Let me do some my own research and vetting. And then when I’m ready, I’ll come find a salesperson to say, Hey, this is what I think I need. Here’s the stuff I’ve researched. Am I on the right, you know, my in the right place, right? Because consumers are buyers we want to buy, we don’t want to be sold to. So part of this new thing that we’re working on is we’re really empowering the consumer to drive the interaction between consumer and advisor instead of the other way round, where it’s a natural fit, and then we’re connecting. So think about this thing, if you call God you can even think of like a large online retailer where you have to speak with a salesperson before you purchase something. What if you got connected to a salesperson that was just like you that you understood that they understood you that you had shared kind of like, I mean, think about George, we both have Duluth connections in your life connections. So you and I understand each other on a level that is much deeper than we would if we didn’t have those those similarities, those commonalities. And because of that, we’re able to trust each other faster, build a relationship faster. And so if there’s any business that’s to be had, I’m gonna feel a heck of a lot better doing it with somebody I know. And trust that I know that they get me versus some other cold person that’s just pitching me something. Does that make sense? For sure. So we’re doing that but on a massive scale and using technology to to really enhance it in many ways that it’s just never been done before. Actually, while at least not in our space, there’s another space that has been done very, very successfully. It’s never been applied to financial services.

george grombacher 12:13
Nice. Well, that’s super exciting. And, yeah, it certainly everything he laid out is a better buying experience where where the consumer can be educated, and they can be empowered to here’s, here’s a lot of the common things that people common questions people have when they’re looking at financial advising, and should they be working with a financial advisor, so you can feel free to peruse on your own. And then when you’re ready, I’ll be sitting right over here kind of a thing you can ask me if you just have a question. Or if you actually want to schedule a conversation, whatever it might be.

Unknown Speaker 12:51
Exactly like, let them come to you. Because some people are always going to be DIY, right? Some will start off that way and be like, Man, I really messed that up. I needed I need help now. And someone be like, I don’t want to deal with it. I’m just gonna go find a professional, but I want to find the right professional for me, that I can trust. But yeah, we have to empower we have to give them that and when right now when we’re forcing them to hand out content and information and financial information that’s gonna be shared with strangers who are going to now solicit me, doesn’t feel pretty doesn’t feel good at all. Feels like, you know, Tinder or Grindr or something? I don’t know.

Unknown Speaker 13:27
Yeah. Yeah. I,

george grombacher 13:31
it is a it is so typical, or expected, which is why we’re so reticent as consumers because I don’t want to be sold to I’m interested in mine. But I don’t want your cookies to track me. I don’t want you to target me all over the frickin internet. I don’t want to sign up for your newsletter, because I don’t even know what your organization is about, or if we have any common interest at all. And so it’s like you, you walk in getting ready to get smacked by something. Yeah, right. Sounds like you’re talking about the opposite.

Unknown Speaker 14:05
total opposite. Yeah, you know, I’ll even do this. When I go into stores. Sometimes I’ll keep my sunglasses on, just so I don’t have to make eye contact. Right? Just like, leave me alone. I’ll come back to you. If I got a question. Just let me do my thing. You know. So we want to we want to let consumers take off their sunglasses and feel comfortable doing it.

george grombacher 14:22
It strikes me that in order to do that, you just have to be coming from it with with more of an abundance attitude.

Unknown Speaker 14:29
Oh, yeah. Yeah, you have to I mean, there’s so much opportunity for consumers and for advisors, there really is but it the way that we connect with each other needs to change. It’s just I mean, we’re human beings. We’re wired to connect on a human level. So why aren’t we doing that? You know, even like the fact finders that you and I learned on name, date of birth, you know, rank serial number, you know, like, what happened to like, hey, like, what do you like to do on a weekend? You know, like, what happened to the relationship building part of it? You know, what are your hopes, dreams and goals? That that’s kind of important?

george grombacher 15:08
I feel like the like the second or third question that I was trained to ask was like birthdate and maybe social security number. I can’t remember, if 22 year old George grombacher. With no sales experience, I was trained to ask somebody for their most sensitive information immediately upon meeting potential.

Unknown Speaker 15:25
You don’t know me, but give me all your information? Yeah. It’s crazy. Well, I

george grombacher 15:31
write it down. Well, I

Unknown Speaker 15:33
write it down and walk away with it, you may never see me again.

george grombacher 15:36
But am I gonna do with this information? I don’t know. I don’t know. They just

Unknown Speaker 15:40
don’t know. I’m gonna go talk to my manager.

george grombacher 15:44
That’s, that’s like that. That’s awesome. So lots of new learning for you too. Well, I imagine obviously, with connector, you had a ton of new learning from a from a tech standpoint, just talked about all the learning that you have to do to become a successful entrepreneur and then a successful financial person. But then to put courses together and trainings and learn all the tech. And this sounds like it’s a whole nother level.

Unknown Speaker 16:09
It is it is a whole nother level. And that’s why I’m so excited about it. But he had the learnings and you know, I’ve run a poll on this a couple times on LinkedIn, like our financial advisors, entrepreneurs, and it’s not a definite yes, or definite, no, it’s really somewhere in the middle. So you know, I always thought of myself as an entrepreneur. But when I finally jumped into connector, I actually figured out what that meant, and how much work it actually is and what it requires, but also how much freedom and fulfillment that come with it. It’s been amazing like and how to deal with like, contracts in different countries and building relationships remotely. And all of these things. It’s been absolutely fascinating. And with this new thing, it’s going to be the same way I’m sure. You know, it’s early on in the journey, but it’s, yeah, it’s Oh, man. It’s just, it’s something that you have to love for sure. And it’s funny, because yeah, I mean, I, for many years, I was going to be just an advisor. And then I got this itch, and I couldn’t scratch it enough. And now I’m down this other path, which is pretty cool. And I’m still going to be an advisor, that’s not changing. But my time primarily now, because my practice is really where I want it to be is to do this new FinTech thing.

george grombacher 17:25
I think that’s great. That’s fascinating, right. And I think that the language you use is similar to the language that that I would use in saying that, you know, I was I was never interested in being just an advisor. And as those words leave my mouth, I’m like, Well, you know, I don’t think that that’s that that’s, that’s right for me. But you know, being a financial advisors is this amazing career. And I think that if you do it, right, it certainly can be entrepreneurial. But it’s all in the eye of the beholder kind of a thing.

Unknown Speaker 17:55
It is, it is I think that financial advising professions really underappreciated. I’ve met so many amazing advisors out there who are truly trying to do what’s best for their clients. And when they do that, like society actually gets better because financial literacy is really lacking around the world. And when we have a great financial advisor, helping a client improve their life, like that has like exponential effect around so I love financial advisors. I think they’re absolutely amazing. But I just that. I don’t know if I’ve seen it. If it wasn’t enough, was there is the right way to say that. But I knew there was something else I wanted to do. And I had to go after it. Mm hmm.

george grombacher 18:34
Yeah, I appreciate that.

Unknown Speaker 18:36
I know you have I mean, when you’re over 3000 episodes now on a podcast, you don’t do that on like, part time on weekends?

Unknown Speaker 18:44
For sure. For sure, for sure.

george grombacher 18:47
Well, we were gonna get here, Derek, it’s time for that difference making tip. What do you got?

Unknown Speaker 18:54
You know, the first thing that comes to mind, something that I realized really late to the game, but I’ve really benefited from now is become a master at your own personal brand. More than anything, personal brand marketing is so valuable. It’s a blue ocean for every one of us, because every one of us is different. And it’s just a really great way for you to attract your tribe. So if you’re an advisor, listen to this. Just be you and be an awesome master your personal branding and attract the type of clients you want to have come in. If you’re serving advisors do that. If you’re a consumer, do that just be you like be be yourself. So when you’re looking for help from others, they’re gonna know who you are. So it’s really just being true to yourself, but man, personal brand marketing for me has opened up so many doors. And the only reason I didn’t do as scared I was just like, someone’s get scared going to networking events. You know, like, I don’t want to go shake a whole bunch of hands and talk to people. I don’t know. I get it. I didn’t want to do that. But you get out there in a social media It’s almost easier because you’re not getting the data What’s it? What’s the word?

george grombacher 20:06
Jackson? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 20:08
right. Yeah, I mean, you can on social media, but it’s different. And you will find your tribe that way. And so I just, I just started being me and being vocal and doors continue to open. So that that’s my tip. If that’s worth anything, I hope.

Unknown Speaker 20:22
I think that that is great stuff that definitely gets come up there.

george grombacher 20:28
Thank you so much for coming on. It was long overdue. Excited to see the new program when it rolls out. And to see all the success of that in the future. Let us know how how can people get in touch with you? How can people engage with you?

Unknown Speaker 20:45
Yeah, LinkedIn is great. I’m very active on LinkedIn very open. So please, you know, go ahead and follow me there. I’m sure you can link to that in your show notes. And then for advisors wanting to know more about connector, just go to connector.co connectors spelled co nn e q, t o r.co. And I’m sure you can put that in the notes as well. Best Places to get a hold of me. I’m an open book. George’s you know, we’re all on the same team here. There’s plenty of opportunity for all of us. So we should really help each other out. So you know, you got questions hit me up. I’m here to help however, I can

george grombacher 21:19
love it. If you enjoyed this as much as I did. So Derek, your appreciation and share today share with a friend who also appreciates good ideas. Go to connector.co that’s c o n n e qtr.co. Find Derek on LinkedIn as well. And I’ll list all those in the notes of the show. Thanks, Ken.

Unknown Speaker 21:38
Awesome. Thank you, George. Really appreciate it all the best to

george grombacher 21:41
and until next time, keep fighting the good fight. We’re all in this together. And go Bulldogs Derek, go, go

Unknown Speaker 21:49
Bulldogs. 100%

Transcribed by https://otter.ai