{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Sales Leader’s Playbook: In Their Words","title":"E08 How to Build a $7B Financial Services Firm from Zero | With Michael Konopaski and Justine Tindall","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2834,"description":"\nDiscover how Michael Konopaski built Designed Wealth from $0 to $7 billion in assets under administration in just 3 years—competing directly against Canada's biggest banks with virtually no marketing budget.\nIn this episode of Sales Leaders Unscripted, host Justine Tindall sits down with Michael Konopaski, Managing Director of Designed Wealth, to uncover the unconventional sales and business development strategies that helped him succeed where 97% of financial advisors fail.\nWhat You'll Learn:\nSales & Marketing Strategies:\nWhy direct mail outperforms digital in financial services (and how to use it effectively)\nThe LinkedIn algorithm secrets that drove 5,000+ hours of organic reach\nHow to compete against billion-dollar brands with minimal budget\nThe critical difference between selling features and solving pain points\nBusiness Development:\nManaging a 98% failure rate while scaling to 175+ advisors\nThe 2-3 year sales cycle strategy for high-stakes B2B deals\nWhy you should never call prospects (and who you should focus on instead)\nHow to identify and attract advisors ready to make the move\nLeadership & Growth:\nTransitioning from startup survival mode to sustainable scaling\nThe hardest part of hiring business development reps (and why salary expectations are crushing startups)\nBuilding a self-managing team as you scale\nWhy your market should emerge rather than be targeted\nReal Talk on Challenges:\nDealing with last-minute deal collapses after 100+ hours of work\nCompeting against $5-15M signing bonuses from private equity firms\nThe truth about hiring salespeople who \"look great on paper\"\nManaging 50 head office staff + 175 independent business models\nKey Takeaways:\n🎯 Stop targeting local markets—think 100x bigger from day one\n📧 Old school tactics (direct mail) work when everyone else abandons them\n🤝 Authenticity and transparency beat polished corporate messaging in B2B sales\n⏰ Accept the long game: B2B sales cycles can span 1-4 years\n💰 Performance-based compensation...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/NdfZGxVsWzYdpz90rBknYGaUpdUP2Lrn-aU7XvswGss/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8xOTBl/NDFhYzM3YWU1NzJi/ZGRlYTJmNTYzYmM2/ODQ4ZS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}