Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Hosted by Financial Advisor Coach, Ray Sclafani, "Building The Billion Dollar Business" is the ultimate podcast for financial advisors seeking to elevate their practice. Each episode features deep dives into actionable advice and exclusive interviews with top professionals in the financial services industry. Tune in to unlock your potential and build a successful, enduring financial advisory practice.
Ray Sclafani (00:00.366)
Welcome to Building the Billion Dollar Business, the podcast where we dive deep into the strategies, insights, and stories behind the world's most successful financial advisors and introduce content and actionable ideas to fuel your growth. Together, we'll unlock the methods, tactics, and mindset shifts that set the top 1 % apart from the rest. I'm Ray Sclafani and I'll be your host.
What can Mark Twain teach financial advisors about purpose-driven client acquisition? While most people remember Mark Twain as the brilliant mind behind Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, for me, he's always been one of my favorite authors, not just for his storytelling, but for the way he observed the world with clarity, wit, and purpose. What many don't realize is that Twain's most impactful contribution to the publishing world wasn't something he wrote
but something he sold and how he sold it. You see, in 1885, Twain personally helped Ulysses S. Grant, the former US president and civil war general, publish the personal memoirs of US Grant, a powerful firsthand account completed while Grant was actually terminally ill and financially destitute. Twain didn't just secure the rights and publish the book.
He spearheaded one of the most innovative and values-based sales efforts in American history. The campaign employed more than 10,000 door-to-door salespeople armed with carefully crafted scripts and tools to help Americans see the value of the work. Twain knew what he was doing, telling a meaningful story, communicating purpose, and inviting others into something bigger than a transaction. So I hope you enjoy today's very short episode
and what Twain is teaching us more than 140 years later. So let's dive right in. I called to give you an opportunity to see General Grant's book, of which so much has been said in the papers. Thus begins the introduction of the 37-page sales manual that one of 10,000 book agents was instructed to say as they sold the personal memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant
Ray Sclafani (02:24.878)
in one of the most remarkable sales campaigns of the 19th century. Even more incredible is the fact that this campaign was conceived and led by none other than Mark Twain. In 1884, following his presidency, Ulysses Grant invested his entire life's savings in an investment firm with offices on 2 Wall Street. The other partners in the firm were his son Buck Grant and a third partner, Ferdinand Ward.
It turned out that Ward was a fraud and the investment firm was little more than a Ponzi scheme. Grant lost everything, but the $80 he had left in his pocket. Mark Twain had been casually introduced to Grant some years earlier and considered Grant a national hero and the savior of the union. Upon hearing of Grant's plight, Twain went to Grant with a proposal that he write his personal memoirs, which Twain would publish and distribute.
Since Grant was destitute, there were no presidential pensions just yet. He took Twain up on his offer and began writing his story. Well, two months into the project, Grant learned that he had throat cancer. At the time, he had a 24 per day cigar habit. And the book obviously took on new urgency. Writing day and night in excruciating pain and medicated by cocaine and opiates, Grant continued to write.
He completed his memoirs in July of 1885 and died two weeks later. Twain sprung into action. During Grant's illness, Twain had begun a publishing house led by his nephew, Charles Webster. They had assembled a veritable army of 10,000 salespeople known as book agents or canvassers, many of whom had fought for Grant in the war. Twain's book agents covered the country. Although sales of the book were moderate in the South, no kidding,
They were enormous in the West. 325,000 copies were sold, the largest selling book ever in the United States next to the Bible. Ultimately, Twain was able to present Grant's widow with a royalty check totaling $450,000. In today's terms, that's more than $15 million. There are four key lessons here. The first is lead with purpose, not product.
Ray Sclafani (04:49.91)
Not only did he publish a sales script for the canvassers, had it introduced the personal memoirs of U.S. Grant, by the way, you can find it on the web. It's a fascinating sales memoir and sales guidebook, but he codified this informal rule of human behavior, politeness and courtesy that allowed the canvassers to navigate contemporary culture of the time, which kind of sounds like the time of today. Twain believed in the value of what he was offering. He wasn't selling pages.
He was helping preserve a legacy and support a family in need. Advisors too, recognize that what they're offering is more than financial products or even planning. It's the peace of mind, the family continuity, the freedom to live fully, purpose, fuels, passion, and clients feel it. What's the deeper why behind the solutions that your team provides? The second was crafting a narrative that resonates. know, Twain approached the bookselling process like a campaign.
He employed veterans from the grand army of the Republic and also used language and methodologies that veterans could easily understand. Twain understood that stories sell better than statistics. He helped position Grant's memoir as a moral and historical imperative, something every American family could relate to and be part of. Advisors who help clients see themselves in a story of growth and stewardship and legacy.
Well, they build stronger emotional connections than those who focus only on performance metrics. Here's the coaching tip. Review your client communications and ask yourself, how are our team members presenting more stories than just data? The third key lesson here, I think, is about equipping your advocates. Twain and his nephew looked for canvassers who had that something else required in professional business development. It was the energy, the confidence, the enthusiasm.
They looked for canvassers who could be part soldier, but also part evangelist, not only a believer, but also one who could get others to believe. Aim to make your influence a controlling one, the manual advised. Those 10,000 salespeople weren't improvising. Twain provided them language and tools and training to help them convey the book's value. As an advisor, your loyal client advocates and centers of influence are your most
Ray Sclafani (07:14.19)
powerful advocates who can tell your story, but only if you equip them with the right language and clarity of why referring you is a gift to others. Here's the team reflection. How is your team making it easier for clients to refer to you? I think the fourth lesson here is building trust through transparency. You Twain's noble cause, he believed that Grant was the nation's savior.
who was owed a debt of gratitude for holding the country together after the brutally divisive conflict. Although Twain had some monetary self-interest in the publishing of the memoirs, his overriding motivation was acknowledging and rewarding Grant's incomparable contribution to the nation. Twain's transparent approach, including generous royalty terms for the Grant family, built trust and elevated the entire campaign. Likewise, financial advisors who were transparent in pricing and process and purpose
build the kind of long-term trust that no market volatility can shake? Are there areas where your team could be even more transparent about how you describe your value? Here's a final thought. Mark Twain may not have known he was creating a new client acquisition framework for future financial advisors some 140 years ago, but in showing up with integrity, storytelling, and deep purpose, he left behind more than just great literature.
He modeled how belief in your offering when paired with clarity and conviction can really change lives. So let it be more than plans or projections. Let it be peace of mind and possibility and a partnership built on trust. With each episode, I'd like to provide these coaching questions that are relevant for your team or your leadership after listening to the episode. So today there's just three. The first is what story do you want your clients to be able to tell?
about the impact you've had on their lives five to 10 years from now. Second question, if your team fully embraced even more so a purpose-driven client acquisition approach, how would your client conversations and referrals and growth model look different a year from now? And finally, what one part of your client experience could be re-imagined to communicate better the real life outcomes your advice helps create?
Ray Sclafani (09:37.358)
and the families that you serve.