Rajesh Kumar Sodhani, founder of Sodhani Investments shared his secret sauce with his peers in a webinar organised by Arthmitra Gurukulam. Here are excerpts from this webinar.
Set goals and make commitment
Rajesh sets goals of reaching certain milestones every year. He has written his goal on a piece of paper that is hung on his office wall. Seeing his goal every day encourages him to give his best. His firm currently pays an income tax of Rs 25,000 per day. His goal is to pay an income tax of Rs 1 lakh per day.
Don’t keep the goals in your mind. Write them on a paper and tell everyone. He dreamed of a bigger office space. He had an office space of 700 sq. ft. in 2006. In 2019, he built a three storey office building spanning 12,000 sq. ft. One floor is reserved for conducting investor meets.
Work smart
Work hard but be smart. He shares two of his lead generation examples. In 2004, Rajesh asked the staff at a maternity clinic to share contact numbers of people who became parents. Rajesh contacted these parents and recommended them to invest in child plans to secure their child’s future. He sold around 200 child plans in one year through this idea.
Back in 2005, Rajesh was trying to contact a doctor whose daily income was around Rs 50,000. However, the doctor was not responding to his calls and messages for three years. Rajesh didn’t give up. He called the doctor’s staff and got to know about the doctor’s marriage anniversary. On the doctor’s marriage anniversary, Rajesh sent a large bouquet costing around Rs 4,000. The bouquet was so large that it was delivered by four men at the doctor’s house. This made him stand out. The doctor’s wife called Rajesh to thank him and invited home for a cup of tea. Rajesh received an investment of Rs 10 lakh that day.
Be positive
Rajesh received a call from a prospect in Dubai who wished to invest Rs 10 lakh. The prospect requested Rajesh to meet him in Dubai. Rajesh flew to Dubai. After reaching the prospect’s office, the secretary informed him that her boss can’t invest this money now.
Rajesh returned to Dubai airport to board a flight to Mumbai. At the airport, he saw a woman with two infants. She had extra luggage and was struggling to handle all of it alone. Rajesh approached her for help and she told him that she is travelling in an airplane for the first time and was heading to Mumbai. Rajesh carried one infant and the extra luggage. He helped her check-in luggage, get her boarding pass and complete other formalities at the airport. Upon reaching Mumbai, the lady’s husband thanked Rajesh and they exchanged business cards. This is how he acquired a new client with his selfless act to help a fellow passenger. Rajesh got many referrals from this client.
Invest in business
Rajesh has been conducting one of the largest investor events called Niveshak Darbaar which sees attendance from more than 1,000 investors for four years now. The events are conducted in five-star hotels without any compromise on cost.
Rajesh recommends that IFAs should spend at least 5% of their income on office infrastructure, business development or acquiring knowledge. “Clients/prospects should feel good when they come to your office. The office infrastructure gives them an assurance that we are serious players and we are in this business for the long haul.”
The era of doing part-time mutual fund advisory business has ended.
Have good body language
Be presentable while meeting a prospect. Don’t be afraid that you are going to seek business from a prospect. You are doing a noble job of channelizing money in productive assets. You are helping them achieve their goals.
Be flexible
You have to adapt to changing business dynamics. Rajesh kept evolving his services and products with changing market dynamics. He transitioned from physical transactions to online. He migrated from endowment policies to term plans. He expanded his product offerings by including other insurance products like Mediclaim and loan services. He recommends advisers to diversify their product offerings and not be dependent solely on generating income through one product.
Make your staff partners in business
Nurture a good and talented staff. If possible, make them your business partner by offering a small stake. This will encourage them to take the business to the next level. They will go the extra mile to achieve results.
Be in touch with clients
Avoid sharing greetings like good morning or any political news with clients on WhatsApp. Only share information related to finance or investment which will help them gain knowledge. Have a fixed day and time for sending broadcast. Rajesh personally sends a broadcast to 3,500 clients every Monday. His clients look forward to it.
Don’t be complacent
After reaching a certain AUM threshold with decent trail income, some advisers tend to take it easy and don’t make any extra effort to grow their business further. “Your growth comes down the day you think you have achieved your business goal.”
Follow up
Follow up is essential after meeting a prospect. “Your follow up should be so strong that the prospect should start avoiding your call. If the prospect is avoiding your call that means he/she is not able to decline to invest with you. The client is convinced but is shying away from making a commitment.”
Give back to society
Involve yourself in charitable work. Rajesh and his team distribute food for patients in a nearby hospital every week.
