Having determined to dealing with the competition

Step 5
 
     Having determined why your prospects are dealing with the competition, you must determine what, if anything, you can offer that will be appealing to them and may not now be offered by their connection. In the case of securities and related investment vehicles, it is very doubtful that you can offer any major price concessions, except to the most active traders. Commissions are no longer set by the New York Stock Exchange, and there are some firm that deal strictly in executing orders and offering commission price concessions. But an investment client who is looking for service cannot expect such price concessions. What is more important, you will probably not be able to offer them.
     You can however offer more service. You and your firm maybe able to do a number of things better than your prspects present stockbrokers.
     One things is to offer more appropriate advice by making it a practice to get to know your prspects resources and aspirations better than their present suppliers do. Youu certainly should be able to give prospective clients a feeling of greater impprtance than they are pesently enjoying, and this feeling alone maybe enough to win at least part of their business. We seem to be living in an era where many companies and many salespersons have altered the adage "The customer is always right" to "The customers is always wrong." As a resultof this attitude and the general deterioration in quality of most manufactured products, anyone who really attempts to understand and meet a prospective customers requiements will enjoy an advantage over competition.
     IT maybe possible, either through your own research or that of your firm, to provide better or different information than your prospects are receiving. Every brokerage firm and advisory service seems to make this claim. Brokers who ignore stereotyped investment advice and make up their own minds about a specific strategy and timing are most successful over a period of time.
      In determining if you are in a position to offer these or other services, it is wise to analyze your firm's resources and your own. Some individuals are better suited for speculation than others. If you are one of those who find making rapid decisions difficult or admitting mistakes agonizing, then you probably should confine yourself to the more conservative areas of investment. If, however, you enjoy working enough confidence in your abolity so that you will be unshaken by mistakes, then you maybe able to handle more speculative accounts. Whichever category you fall in, you should determine what services you and your firm can provide that maybe appealing to a prospective client.