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Create Lifelong Customers with Eric McNiel of Diamond Financial Group

When you build relationships of trust, you create lifelong clients and customers. Learn how to build your business the right way with Eric McNiel of Diamond Financial Group.

Show Notes

When you build relationships of trust, you create lifelong clients and customers. Learn how to build your business the right way with Eric McNiel of Diamond Financial Group.

Financial Regulation

  • Is it enough to be certified? Will that make people trust you?
  • In the financial space, it’s a good idea to start with brand recognition. Work with a big bank with big name recognition.
  • You can go to broker check and type in anyone in the industry and get their full history.

Interview your clients

  • When you’re in the sales process, you are interviewing them as much as they’re interviewing you.
  • Find the type of client that you want to work for.
  • Don’t be desperate!
  • Before you go into business, have some funds to fall on so that you aren’t as desperate.
  • If a sale falls through the first time, try one more time. Don’t push one client too hard though.
  • Always explain WHY you’re giving a recommendation. That’s a great way to build trust.

Building an online reputation and reviews

  • Make sure that you’re putting your clients first and taking care of them.
  • If there are any issues or problems with your service, sit down with your client and talk through it. Treat them like people!
  • Don’t get your money and then let things go.
  • Sit down with your client and talk through what you’ve done and make a plan for the future.
  • Create lifelong clients.
  • Be different. Go above and beyond what your industry does.

Best things Eric has done to market his business

  • Eric has started putting a lot of effort into bigger businesses and people that can refer others.
  • Look for the right client sources.
  • Be efficient. Find a marketing plan that will get your more bang for your buck.
  • Talk about the value that you bring. Instead of selling your service, talk about the problems your industry is experiencing.
  • If you do it right, your clients will come to you. Inbound marketing is the best!
  • Be active on social media, but give a variety of content.

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Transcript

Jacob Harmon: Welcome back to another episode of trust, cast the podcast where we talk about building trust and brand loyalty. And today we have a real treat for you. We have Eric McNeill of diamond financial group. How are you doing today, Eric?

Eric McNiel: I'm doing great. Thank you so much. How many Jacob?

Jacob Harmon: Of course, I'm happy to have you here. And more than anything, I'm really excited to dive into a topic that I think is very, very important when you're talking about trust.  And that is how you deal with sensitive information, because I really haven't talked to anybody who's in the financial space up to this point.

And I know that that's a very highly regulated and very difficult market to be in because you literally have to. Get someone to trust you before they're willing to give you their social security numbers and their address and all of their background information. Like literally you, you have all this data on, on your customers and you have to be protecting that at all times.

Right?

Eric McNiel: Oh, absolutely. Uh, the biggest, , role that we would play here in our industry is being a fiduciary. I think times have changed so much where, you know, you represented yourself as, our stock broker or an investment advisor, whatever it might be like, Hey. Turn over your money, we can help you get money.

Just like your neighbors did get the same returns and like fantastic. And they give you your money and then they run away and they never pay you back. So times have definitely changed. Change has been so highly regulated as you mentioned. , but I think that's just better for, for the tase world, you know, like it makes it a little bit more difficult.

Um, on my side, uh, on working side, right for the career, however, it becomes so much more rewarding because like you said, it is a difficult catch. Um, but if it was easy and everyone's doing it, you know, it's not as fun.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah, for sure.  Let's talk about the regulation side of things first then. Um, is it as simple as that to make someone trust you to say, Hey, we're, we're certified with whatever boards , I know nothing about this financial space, but I have this certification or that certification.

And therefore you can trust me. Is it, is it that simple or, or is it a gold hot, deeper than that?

Eric McNiel: A lot of times, and this is the reason yeah. Why I started through the bank channel. Right. Um, not everybody knows Eric McNeil, but just about everybody knows Wells Fargo or us bank and chase. Right. So you start with brand recognition. Right. And they've all done a pretty good job at building trust, building loyalty.

So that's how it typically starts. Um, especially in my line of work, I don't know anybody or any listeners that have. Interested in starting up in the career and it's a very rewarding career. However, you need to start with recognition, right. And that's just building your resume. So to answer your question, I started through the banking route, which stays on my resume, and then I went and passed all my exams necessary.

Um, and I'm also working on a professional designation. Um, so once they have all that done, you know, with my charter financial consultant is recognized across the board. Um, it actually allows me to start working, you know, with like professional athletes and being within that world. And then they kind of have that sponsor if you will.

Right. So the more you can do the better off it is for you. Um, there are websites as well. It's pretty cool. It's called broker check. Uh, you can type in anybody who has a license in that database. And it tells you their full history. So it'll tell you the year  all the exams that I passed, the years that I passed them, my education and the best part, any time, a customer complaints, and they want to keep it on your permanent record.

That is such a bummer. If you end up on that, um, you want to avoid that at all costs. And that's why I think people are, you know, in our industry are a lot more careful. And not a lot of people are sending, like if I take you out to lunch, for example, Jacob, and I'm trying to make you a client of mine, we're interviewing each other.

It's not just you interviewing me anymore. Right? Like if I see you as a guy, who's gonna cause me headaches or potentially complain, right. Like, I don't want that on my record because then it's going to prevent me from getting more clients, you know? So, um, it's funny. That sounds, I mean, it's, it's, a mutual interview.

The first time you guys meet.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah,  that's a super interesting thing. And I think that it's important that all businesses do a little bit of that too. Not just highly regulated, um, people like in the financial industry, because really at the end of the day I found and. I think that you're going to find this across the board, but some of the hardest clients of mine, the ones that want to haggle on price, the ones that don't want to pay, the ones that, that are just a pain to work with.

I probably knew that the first time I met them, But I took them on as a client. I took them on as a client because I needed a client, you know, or I needed the money. And I think too often in business, we get stuck in that when we really should think twice about, do I really want to deal with this client?

Eric McNiel: 100% and it's not demeaning in any way. Right. I think that people who work independently or fund their own clients, they kind of see where we're coming from. , I can see where it sounds a little bit arrogant or demeaning, but if you're in the business of, you know, commission sales and you're building relationships and lifetime clients, because I mean, I don't know how it is on your side, but for me.

It's not just a one cell and done, like I do planning. So these clients are going to be for lifers, including, you know, eventually when it passes onto their heirs, I can pick on their kids as new clients. Right. So it's how much, like you said, man, like in the first interaction you can just tell, right.

Just kind of the way they carry themselves, the way they talk to you. And that's so funny. Start immediately talking about pricing haggling. You know, just like, Oh my gosh, are they going to call me every single day? Cause if they do right it's yeah. It's not a rude thing, but if they're calling me every single day, right.

That takes away from me being able to study for other clients and doing research, you know, and improving my overall portfolios. Like it just takes away so much time and effort for, and it's really like, you know, make a ton of money on each client. It's a volume game. Right. And so. Yeah, you can't let that get in your way.

I was just thinking about that today. I mid day, I was like, man, we need a stop needing a sale. You can't, you need a sell. Your book is going to get tarnished so fast. You just can't do it.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah. And when you're desperate, not only do you take on clients that  at the end of the day are going to come back to bite you, but you also become a worst salesman and you're going to

Eric McNiel: Mel. It I've always said that you can smell desperation and it's disgusting.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah, a hundred percent. So really, I mean, in business and eventually I think everyone gets to the point where they can pick and choose and they can say, Hey, I don't want to work with this type of person. I do want to work with this person. But sometimes when you're just getting started, you, you kind of need every sale you can get.

Right. And so what are some of the things that people can look for? Like, what are some of the big red flags to say, Hey, I don't want to want to quit this person. Um, Even if they're willing to pay me, like, I need to walk the other way. What are some things that would, would be red flags for you?

Eric McNiel: are you, um, and business in general or in my, my line of work with the financial industry.

Jacob Harmon: Let's talk in your line of work and then I'm sure that we'll get some lessons for business in general.

Eric McNiel: Sure. Okay. Um, as I mentioned, you can smell desperation. Kay. And, and it goes hand in hand with what you wanted me to come on here today. Right. And building trust.  If you're getting desperate and you need a cell, you need money. The human nature. You're going to be tested. You're going to want to maybe hide some things or maybe exaggerated number here, you know, like it's, it's bound to happen if you need that sale.

Right. So first things first, if you're going to go in a line of work, commission-based make sure you have. Funds to form and a book of business already. So that way your bases are covered. If you can at least cover your expenses, go ahead and take your risks right now, going into like kind of red flags. there's a fine line of pushy and. I guess a hold, right?  You're going to have advisers who, for me, for example, I think a part of my planning, I think life insurance is an incredibly important. It's not just to pay off your debt. Like if I were to pass away, I don't want my wife to go replace my income. I want her to have the same lifestyle and take care of the kids and like, Continue to go on, right?

Like that's one less burden. She just lost her spouse. Like at the very least financially take care of it. Right. So it's funny, but not a lot of people see that. And so if I'm talking to a client and they're just like, nah, I don't really see the importance of it. I don't really care. I'm going to try one more time.

Right? It's not because I'm desperate for a sell. I'm just like, look. You're probably 25 30. You feel invincible. You don't think it's important. Like, let me try one more time. If it's still there, click. Okay. Let's move on. Right. So, I mean, I think the advice to someone trying to sell on that side, look, if they don't get it the first time, maybe they just didn't understand it.

Try it again. And then from there you got to move on because if you go again, you're going to miss everything and then the issue is. They missed the whole, section where I do. I'm a planner. I do investments. I do retirement. I do, you know, life insurance, taxation, legal work. Like I do so much, but if I press the issue on one concept too much, I'm going to miss out on a ton of business, you know?

So if everything else works fine, I get their investments. I do everything else. Then they're gonna be like, Hey, let's circle back to that. Right. Like, why is that important again? Or my neighbor said it, or I heard on the radio. Right. So. You just Mo the most important thing is if your advisor is not trying to build a relationship and they don't tell you why a recommendation or help you see how a recommendation is going to affect you do not do it because someone else, if not, they're just pushing a product to collect a commission.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, I think that that's a great thing to look for in business in general is they should be able to back up the reasons why they're trying to sell you something or, or the reasons why it would be beneficial to you. I mean, it's marketing one Oh one, right? Like you're selling value. You're not selling a product.

And if you are just selling a product for the product's sake, then, then that's not okay.

Eric McNiel: Tell me about it. So it's like, Just like this, for example. Right. And like you tell you, client, Hey, let me tell you something really quick about some life insurance. They're probably going to turn off, like, I don't want to talk about insurance too. I don't really know too much. I don't really care.

It's just going to cost me money don't care. Right. But if I'm doing your planning and I'm like, Hey, so do you have anything in place if you were to pass away? Like how, how set are you and your family? Well, what do you mean? Well, do you have like cash reserves or do you have anything that's been take care of your income?

No. Oh, shoot. Like, what do you want to do if that were to happen? Well, I don't know. My wife's gonna have to go to work. Well, I have something I can take care of that. Are you interested? Well, yeah, let's do it looks like, you know what I mean? So like it, because I'm asking the question first and then it kind of moves into it and it's not, it's not being, I know a lot of people, can you see that?

Like sleazy or you're trying to find a way around it. It's not, it's like. You do the best, you know, inventions, the best products are the ones that solve problems. So I look for a problem and then I find a solution, right. And so I think that's important is just problem solving.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah,

Eric McNiel: takes care of 90 of yourself.

Jacob Harmon: I love it. , it's such a big thing. And that's one of the big reasons why ever even started this podcast is I was sick of all the. Problems and the ways that people were doing business. And I just wanted to talk about like the right way to do it, which is by solving problems and helping people.

So I, I couldn't agree more. so you mentioned before that with all these regulations and things, um, One bad review can be on your record for the rest of your life. And I know that almost all businesses deal with reviews and one way or another, whether that's like Google reviews or Yelp reviews or whatever, Facebook, but obviously there, they have a little more weight in your industry, but what are some ways to make sure that people are willing to talk well about you and not go and leave a better view about you?

Eric McNiel: Yeah. Um, it's what we're talking about today. Like if they sent for a second, that. Your interest is above theirs. They're going to turn off so fast, so fast. Um, and so the reason why I transitioned out of banking into the independent world is because at the bank you have like your traditional financial advisors, right?

I dealt with clients from two 50 to 3 million in investible assets. They would come in. That we would present them with a portfolio, kind of like, Hey, when do you, when do you want to retire? How much do you need in retirement? Let's help you get there. Like, it's very, very straightforward. You just invest.

Right. But then you'd have some market pullbacks and the client would be like, Oh shoot. You know, I'm I only made three, three to 5% of my, my neighbor got seven. I think I'm going to go talk to his advice. Right. And so they do a lot of hopping around because they're comparing portfolios, but. If you come work with me or somebody who's, uh, a planner, um, you know, in a fiduciary working on your behalf, they're going to sit down and you're going to have a roadmap, right?

Like, I'm going to talk to you about your protection. I'm going to talk to you about your budgeting. are you putting money away towards wealth building retirement? Like everything right. And, and I run, what's called a Monte Carlo simulation, which is a thousand runs in the market to determine how likely your goals are.

To hit. And so if we're over 95%, like that's incredibly strong. And if it's like 98%, I'm like, look, let's get a little bit more aggressive. Like there's like, there's no point of being a hundred percent. Like let's take a little bit of charity to get a better return if we can be in that 95%, that's the sweet spot.

So, and the reason I say that is now let's say we have a market pull back, let's say, Oh shoot. I was down 10% this year, Eric, what the heck's going on? You know, ever since the new administration came in and the market's down, like. What's going on and it's like, okay, let's go to the plan. We pulled the plan.

We'd run the simulation. We're still on track because the, those simulations they account for pullbacks corrections, right? Like we've had the in recent memory of the big 2008 pullback. We had the.com bubble in two thousands, you know, even back to the great depression we have 1929, like. Through history, the S and P is anywhere from 11 to 15% after all of that is gained.

So it takes in that it takes all of that into consideration. And so if, again, if a client comes to me and they sit down, I'm like, look, we're still on track. You can still, you know, retire at X age, live off of Y income and take care of the expenses and nothing's changed. And then that's when that's going to make your clients sticky.

Is you're showing them how they're benefiting and why they're benefiting. And if they go to anybody else, like what different can they do? Right. Like we put in the numbers. And so if anything now, okay, let's change your, your spending. Let's change your, how aggressive you are. Like once I have a plan together, you're likely never going to leave 

Jacob Harmon: right.  what I'm hearing here is really the importance of sitting down with your clients and sitting down with your customers and walking them through it. Right. I feel like too many times a business will sell the client. They'll get the money and then they'll just kind of let things go.

Or let things ride, but really, if you're interested in building long-term relationships and long-term clients, then you need to be willing to sit down with them, whether that's a quarterly review or a yearly review or whatever that is. And every business will be a little bit different, right? But to sit down with that client and talk through, okay, here's what we've done.

Here's how things are changing. Here's where we're looking to into the future. And I think those very simple things was just sitting down with a client to talk to them, really create a lot of trust. 

Eric McNiel: Oh, absolutely. I totally agree with that.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah. and so what other things, especially what you said earlier about having lifelong clients and even when they die, like their children will continue to be your clients is so fascinating to me. And I feel like that's a very unique thing in your industry, but what are some things that any business owner can do to ensure that their clients stick with them and become lifelong customers?

Eric McNiel: Oh, that's a really good question. I think first and foremost, like do things different, right? Like find a way to show value. That's not just a carb, not just a thank you note. Like. That, that used to be the wow factor. Like you get home, you get a letter in the mail. You're like, Hey, you know, it's like printed, thank you for your business.

And then it's signed in ink. So it's like getting to really go through it. They just bought a bunch of priests football. Thank you. Cards signed them at 10 amount in the mail. Like that used to be the used to be the wow. But now it's like, people are getting more creative. Like if you're a business owner and you heavily rely on this client of yours.

Like take them golfing regularly, you know, once in a while or find out, I don't know if they drink like alcohol game, like a fine wine, or like, you know, some liquor is there, you know, find out what they're interested in without asking them, Hey, what's a good gift. Like, come on, like get creative. Think outside the box.

Like if you and I are sitting here talking. And you really, you know, you're really heavily into his podcasting stuff. You know, I could find something that could bring you value something. Cool. I can get you. I love you. Like your gamer chair. What if I bought you a new chair? Right? Like, and I put like something on there, like you did something to make you feel special that I listened to you.

I value you. And you know, here it is.

Jacob Harmon: yeah, you're you're so right. Uh, so because I am in the podcasting space, um, I follow someone on LinkedIn. Who's a big podcaster and yeah. One of , his guests on his show, they had mentioned during the show that, Oh, I'm looking into getting a new microphone or w or whatever, because my microphone is starting to die.

And that guest went and bought him a microphone and sent it to him. And it was just, he posted it on LinkedIn and just said, my gosh, like, nobody does this kind of stuff anymore. You know? And I mean, the microphone's a little big, that's like a pretty big gift, but still it was, it was the fact that he listened.

That he realized there's a problem this guy has, and I can solve that problem.

Eric McNiel: hundred percent.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah. I'm just trying to think now about some of my clients and in some of the things that I could do for them. Cause I've had hundreds of conversations with them and I think, I, I know them pretty well. And so like, Ooh, I should send this person this and I should send that person that

Eric McNiel: No, I love it. And then something cool that I do as well as like, after I kind of get a new client, let's say they're like, uh, this was really fun. So when I was at the bank, I did a lot of both sides. So I did a lot of like auto loans and I did a lot of wealth management. And so one client that I attracted was a donut shop.

And they're like a small little business. They hadn't really franchised yet. It was just the one, one brick and mortar. And then we had one dealership that tons of deals. So what I did is I went the donut shop. I said, Hey, can I buy five dozen donuts? She's like, what the heck? Like, are you serious? I was like, yes, we have this huge dealership that sends us a lot of business.

I want to introduce them to you, let them know that you have the best donuts in town. And then , I appreciate my clients and she was like, Oh my gosh, that's so cool. And I got a ton of doughnuts and I went down and I hand delivered them all through the dealership and they're just like, wow.

You know what I mean? So it's like, when you can promote your clients, like that was such a simple gesture. It took me like 20 minutes. You know what I mean? Like, it's a very simple thing to do. You just have to think of. If you were that person, how would you like to be treated? How would you like other people to promote you and like, hear about you?

You know? So that's just one example that like stuck with me that I think really impacted them. And I would highly, highly, highly recommend anybody in a line of work. If you want to retain a client. I mean, you've got to do stuff like that.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah. And really, I think the, the effort and the fact that you did something is even more important than the actual gift, but the fact that you're thinking outside of the box and that you're thinking of them, um, is huge. Uh, yeah, that that's super amazing. Cool. so. I guess one of the big questions that I have for you then is since this is a marketing podcast, what are some of the, the best things and the best outlets that you've been able to use to market your business?

Eric McNiel: that's a great question. So a few few things that I've been doing is I spent a lot of time tracking down the ones, right. I try to get individuals that try to get friends and family and then, you know, start branching out. Um, Whereas, if you can get, you know, a big fountain, then like you can go fishing unlimited there.

Right? So it's like finding the right resources of people who are going to be getting your referrals or the, you know, are big companies. Right. So instead of just going to all of my individual family, friends, and, you know, like Instagram, which have all been really, really great resources, I started knocking around at businesses. you know, and just like, , I try to link up with somebody on LinkedIn, like an HR rep, something of that nature. And then that way I can just stop by and be like, Hey, is the Susie here? They're like, Oh yeah, she's just in the back. Okay, cool. We talked online for a moment and I just want to present something and then you just drop off something nice.

Just like, Hey, you know, here's a little gift for you guys. Um, here's what I do. I would love to see if you're doing anything similar. This is how it's going to benefit you. How's going to make you look like a better employer and not cost you anything. And so they're just like, Holy cow, I can give something to my employees for free and it makes me look good who wouldn't do that.

And so ever since I started doing that, it's like I have one client who is so funny. I went to, a networking event back last year in January. And, um, I came across this plan. They're kind of doing like, you know, some massages and stuff like that. And I was like, shoot, like, I'll try this out. And like, I got one and we just got to talking and I was like, Hey, let me take you out to lunch and talk to you a little bit about what I do.

And just from that interaction, it turned into about almost 2000 individual clients because of all of their employees. So it's like just from talking to the right people, right? Like. You only have so many hours in a day and so many marketing dollars make it count.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah, I like that idea of, of the efficiency. Right. Um, instead of just marketing to friends and family, looking for, for the things that will give you the most bang for your buck. And I think every business has that every business can, can look at their plan and say, okay, how can we, how can we get more bang for our buck, whether that be time or whether that be money?

Uh, so it's just a simple, simple exercise and a simple question to ask yourself, you know,

Eric McNiel: absolutely. I think, um, and sometimes just thought of as well. I noticed, um, early on in my career, I would always post, so I have a pretty decent Instagram following and that's where I do probably 90% of my business. Now it's starting to get a little bit less just because I'm meeting so many people in person like big corporations, right.

But for individuals, at least 90% plus, okay. At the very beginning, I was like, I would just go to create on my story and say, Hey, if you or someone, you know, is looking for insurance or investments, like contact me, I'm your guy. And like, not just say that's a bad thing because it puts you, it puts you at the front of mine.

But they're not going to like, open the respond right away. Cause they don't see the value yet. They just say, Oh, you're a guy. Like, like if I'm going to go buy a house, like, okay, I know that I have twenty-five real estate friends. Like, I don't know if would use, but like, Hey, I know that they're all there.

Right. but what I started doing was on the, okay, I need a better approach. So I started taking pictures of me working on plans with, and I take all of their sensitive information. None of that shows.

Jacob Harmon: Of course. Yeah.

Eric McNiel: But I showed like that money. Co-stimulation right. I said, I, my job still fulfilling. I talked to a client today.

They thought they were on P on track, but they only had about a 60% shot of retiring. Right. And like, could you imagine in 20 years getting to where you thought you were okay. And retiring and not having enough, and you outlive your money. Like how valuable is it to talk with someone 20 years sooner and not have to realize that firsthand. And once I started doing that, like, Holy cow, it started going crazy. Like a lot more people are responding. Like, Hey, you know what? This actually is pretty important. Like maybe we should talk. I'm like, I'm here when you're ready. And so now I'm not soliciting anybody anymore. Like, just like I make sure from 12, 12 to one, I work on social media.

I get part of my work calendar now. And I'm just like how you use social media. Like you're falling behind. That's where everyone's at. Yeah. And someone even says, I think it's Gary V. He was like, even Superbowl commercials. As soon as the game, not planning more, you get on Instagram, you get on Facebook, like you get on your phone.

And so people are paying millions of dollars for a super bowl commercial, but you have Instagram for free at your fingertips.

And so if they were to get some good content, find out what works for your followers. And provide massive value for free and people will come.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah. And I want to underscore that last sentence that you just said, provide massive value for free. I think really that's the real secret is what, as you provide value to your network and they start to see that value. Then as you said before, they will come to you. You don't need to solicit anymore because you will have a lot of inbound clients at that point.

Eric McNiel: Absolutely. And that's where it gets you. Right? Do you need to create, create a way to attract inbound? Like you can't constantly be doing the outbound stuff. It gets exhausted. You lose. And it's not always about on them. It's about discipline, right? You're not going to wake up every day, you know, motivated to do what you got to do.

A lot of times discipline kicks in. You don't want to do it, but you got it. Right. And so just by creating that from outbound and inbound is crucial to keeping your business alive.

Jacob Harmon: And I know there's people out there who loves selling and like, they get a lot of energy from that, but I know most people and definitely me. I don't.

Eric McNiel: tell you, I've had some people kick back and I'm like, look for me for business. Like, it's pretty true. I think Dwight Schrute might give you some kickbacks, like the most, or like even like if you're dieting, right. I do like a lot of the fitness stuff. So like, Like, I'm just not motivated today, but I know I got to go to the gym.

I know I've got to eat. Right. It's just easy to skip it. It's easy to not hop on a call and do two hours of cold calling. It's easy to not do some of the admin, especially if you're working from home and it's COVID and you got your couch, like 20 feet away calling your name. Like it's easy to step away, right?

It's not always motivation. A lot of it is discipline and you have to. You know, find your strengths and weaknesses and, and that's just gonna know, make or break you.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah.  , but if you put it in that,  investment, now, if you invest into that valuable content and all that, it takes a lot of hard work, but eventually you get to the point where those clients are coming to you, it's all inbound. And then you don't have to worry as much about that outbound strategy.

Although I think that there's always a place for that, for sure. But, I think. putting in that effort right now. It's just like financial investments. You invest that time. You invest that effort and you will reap dividends and the rewards.

Eric McNiel: Right. Absolutely. If you go and you start investment portfolio, it's not just your initial investment, you got to add to it monthly or else like you missed out on so much. If that's what I'm saying, it's like I put in a ton of time to get my stuff ready. But every single day for at least an hour, I hop on social media and I'm just like, okay, how am I going to add some value today?

How am I going to attract people today? And even if it's not about attracting them, it's like, no matter what I'm doing, even if it's lifestyle, I want people to be thinking about me. Like, they'll see me driving around, like, I'm going to get your pulley today. Okay. Well, you're thinking about Eric all day, right?

Like you see him daily and then now I'm going to post them value. You're like, Okay. Now this is really interesting. That's really cool. Right? It's like that way you don't get burned out on the same stuff, you know, hit them with a couple of other things, but be active.

Jacob Harmon: Yeah. Very, very cool. Okay. Well, , we've covered so much already and I just love this, concept of creating a lifelong customer. I think that that's such an important thing to think about. Is there anything that we haven't covered when it comes to branding or marketing or creating a powerful brand that you would like to mention before we sign off Eric?

Eric McNiel: I just think what you are trying to hit home with this podcast is so, so vitally important, um, of trust. and, uh, in this world of social media, e-commerce, it is so hard to have to trust people, but we end up having to a little bit, because of like the nationwide touch, a lot of people are starting their own companies.

And so it's important to do your due diligence. It's important to meet the person. So for me, I know I'm sorry, my camera's not working.

It's a little. You know what I mean? So it's, but it's like, I love the face to face. I meet my clients at least once my, like I said earlier, my very first meeting is rarely about business.

I go, I get lunch with them. We meet each other. Do we get along? You know, at the very least, can it be, you know, professional and then go from there. And then from era, we can do everything on zoom. Cause we already know each other. We've seen each other, but it's up to them. I leave everything in the client's hand.

I don't force anything. And you just gotta be patient. You have to be bold, but you gotta be patient. So you're awesome, man. Thank you so much for having me. I hope I provided some value here as well.

Jacob Harmon: You absolutely did. And thank you, Eric, for being on the show. Uh, where can people follow you? You mentioned Instagram that you're pretty active on there. Uh, where else can people follow you if they want to follow along?

Eric McNiel: Instagram is the best place Eric underscore McNeil. Um, I'm also on LinkedIn undercutting nail on the same with my Facebook, but where I'm active daily is on Instagram. even feel free to put my number in here. Uh it's  two nine six nine zero three seven. I would love to take calls, texts, whatever, just don't sell me anything. If it's valuable, I'll take a listen, but I would love to help anybody out. Honestly, I get questions all the time. If I have limits for my clients, um, ideally a hundred grand is for starting an investment, but I got in the industry for one reason. And one reason alone is to help. And so I will never turn down a conversation regardless of the money you have.

I'm always here to help and provide value. If you have any questions on getting started, don't hesitate.

Jacob Harmon: well, thank you, Eric. And I'll, I'll throw all your information in the show notes. Uh, so you listening at home. Go ahead and just look at the show notes in your podcast app and reach out to Eric. Thank you so much again for being here, Eric. I appreciate all the value you've provided.

Eric McNiel: Awesome. Thanks Jake. And we'll talk to him.

Jacob Harmon: Yep. So, yeah.