Welcome to the career information section of our website. We would like to thank you for considering Cornerstone Financial Services in your career search. Our Firm has much to offer an individual who is considering a career in the Financial Services Industry. We have opportunities for both experienced financial professionals looking to take their practice to the next level and for inexperienced candidates looking for the right environment to learn the business and how to build a successful financial services practice.
We are very excited about the value proposition we have developed at Cornerstone and look forward to sharing our philosophy, systems, and processes designed to help you achieve the level of success you desire in our industry. We will learn quite a lot about each other during the interview and selection process. Our assessment process is designed to acquaint you with the Financial Services Industry, Cornerstone Financial Services, and whether pursuing a career in Financial Services is an appropriate choice for you.
Whether you are quite familiar with Financial Services or just starting to consider this field as part of your career exploration process, you are bound to have many questions. We have created this FAQ section to try to address many of the questions you are considering as you weigh your options. There are many choices available to you. While our interview and selection process is designed to provide you with answers to your questions and a comprehensive assessment of your suitability for a career with Cornerstone, we felt that the FAQ section would provide helpful information as well. We would like to stress that this is a very important career decision for you and that there is no substitute for you seeking out and thoroughly researching other information sources as well.
Cornerstone FAQs:
When a person is considering what it is like to have a career in Financial Services the most frequently asked question is “What will I be doing”? There are so many aspects to the career that a simple answer won’t suffice. We have broken the answer down into several sections to provide a more comprehensive overview.
Our Firm has access numerous products providing a variety of solutions to our clients needs. Before addressing specifics, let’s address an important aspect concerning how we approach this subject at Cornerstone. We don’t believe in “leading” with a particular product or trying to “push” a product with a client. When working with a client, product recommendations should really come last. The product is not necessarily the most important thing, what the product does, is. We believe in building a relationship with our clients and conducting a thorough “discovery interview” which brings to light their most important “needs” and “concerns”. Only after this has been ascertained do we start to consider which product or combination of products will address the financial issues our client is concerned with.
Our solutions approach is holistic. Depending on the client’s needs and concerns, you may be dealing with various types of coverage which may include life insurance, disability insurance, individual and group health plans and Long Term Care insurance. We also have access to fixed investments such as CDs and Annuities. If you decide to complete the proper licensing to become a member of our broker dealer, Ameritas Investment Corp., you will have access to variable protection products as well as mutual funds and “managed money” platforms.
Our Firm is affiliated with Basin Insurance and if you pursue your P&C license, you will be able to offer home and auto and commercial business coverage as well.
We have designed Cornerstone Financial Services to be able to approach a potential client from virtually any need or concern they may have instead of the limited “one size fits all” product offerings that many agencies pursue.
We work in a variety of markets. We work with both individuals and small business owners. Some of our associates work in an ethnic market. Depending on where your interests lie we will help you develop strategies to select and penetrate certain markets hold interest for you and that you might have an affinity with. Markets can be comprised of individuals with similar careers or interests, or businesses of a particular type. We can help you determine the viability of a market and a strategy to help you effectively penetrate your selected segment.
In helping with your strategy we can assist you in analyzing a segment based on the following customer characteristics:
In addition to having different needs, segments will be evaluated against the following criteria:
In order for a market segment to be viable we look for members that are internally homogeneous and externally heterogeneous. You may work in more than one market segment and you may decide to work in different markets over time. This is one of the great things about our business; you have a lot of latitude in deciding who you want to work with.
The most important thing to remember when evaluating a career in Financial Services is to keep in mind that this is a very entrepreneurial and often unstructured business. Notwithstanding the lack of structure we do have set meeting and training times although much of the days’ scheduling is left up to you. There are certain daily activities that relate to the sales cycle that should be performed on a daily and weekly basis to achieve success in your practice. The key daily activities are:
We teach and utilize a proven activity tracking system (The One Card System OCS) that assigns a “point value” to each critical activity. Utilization of this system helps you stay on track and gives you feedback as to whether you are doing enough of the right things each week to achieve success in your practice. This system enables us to mentor you and coach your efforts effectively and perform diagnostics so that we can pinpoint areas in which you may need help or additional training to maximize your effectiveness.
While this varies for everyone it should be remembered that this is not a 9-5 job. This is a career in which you are an entrepreneur building a practice. The first few years will be quite demanding, but most people find that it does get easier. The time and effort required are directly related to how seriously you want to achieve success in this business. It is not uncommon to work some long hours and a few evenings per week initially. Time and effort should not be confused with efficiency and effectiveness. Just working long hours does not insure success. Doing enough of the right things correctly each week does. That is why we exclusively use the “One Card System” to measure your efforts in relation to results. In other words the OCS activity tracking system will provide you with the feedback needed to ascertain whether you are doing enough of the right things each week to attain success and if you are developing your practice in an efficient and effective manner.
One of the most attractive features of this career for many of us is the aspect of the lifelong learning that is required for continuing success as you develop your practice. Whether you are brand new to the industry or have years of experience we have a myriad of training options available to you. We conduct regular training meetings on a variety of subjects. We host many webinars on a variety topics and often bring in guest speakers. In addition to general training we schedule individual training sessions depending on your particular needs and interests.
We work extensively with you on developing your unique selling style. We spend a lot of time on the psychology of the sale and what actually takes place in the interaction with the client. You will initially be perceived as a “sales person” by your client. Your objective is to begin to build a relationship that causes the client to regard you as a “trusted advisor”. By using our techniques you get the client to articulate his or her problem instead of you “telling” them what it is. This puts you in a consultative position of being able to solve their problem instead of trying to sell a product for a problem that you may inaccurately perceive that they may have.
Once you develop your unique process we will roll play and even video tape you until you are satisfied with your ability to conduct an effective client meeting.
Our goal is to develop your skills and instill confidence in your abilities. In addition to the “in house” training previously mentioned, staff are available to do “joint work” with you. There is no substitute for going out in the field and seeing how it’s done. We will transition from doing most of the meeting initially, to involving you, to having you conduct the meeting with only minimal help. After each meeting we will conduct a debriefing session to explain how the meeting went and how your ability is developing. We have found that this process instills confidence quickly so that you can develop the ability to conduct your own client meetings. Even after you have developed your sales confidence we are always here to help in your professional development. Many of our colleagues prefer to continue to use a joint work model as they build their practices.
Many candidates have an erroneous concept of what selling is. First of all we feel that “selling” is a learned skill and that people are not necessarily what would be considered natural salespersons, but must be developed. We work with you to develop your unique process that will help you be perceived as a “trusted advisor” instead of a salesperson. This involves techniques that include asking the right questions and active listening. We have a saying that “selling is not telling” and you were born with two ears and one mouth and they should be used in that proportion.
During the selection process we will examine your natural market. You will be conducting job sampling surveys to get a feel for what the business is like. Many of the people that complete the surveys express an interest in going through our process and these will form the basis for some of your first appointments. Your natural market will also provide a springboard for activity as you develop your referral introduction process and target markets
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3. What are the Rewards?
Of course there is a bias, but we feel that this is the most exciting and rewarding careers there is. If your personality fits the criteria you will probably wonder where this career has been all of your life. During the selection process we examine your interests and personality traits and measure them against the career. We have found that many types of people from a variety of backgrounds find success in the Financial Services business. One of the most important things for you to do is decide whether this career provides you with a platform to exercise your personality traits and take advantage of your strengths. For example, if you are creative or competitive and find yourself in a career that doesn’t call upon these traits you may find your career choice frustrating and unrewarding. On the other hand if your career utilizes your unique traits and interests you may find that the line between work and play blurs. One of our objectives in the selection process is to determine if you are the type of person who can develop a real passion for this career. If you are that person you may find so much enjoyment and fulfillment in what you do that it never feels like you are “going to work” anymore. One of the greatest rewards of this career is not all of the goals you will set for yourself and achieve, but who you will become by reaching them.
During the selection interview process you will be provided with detailed information on our lucrative commission and residual income structure. One of the unique things about this business is that you can develop a substantial residual income that provides you with true job security that seems so elusive in many fields these days. We offer a variety of products and compensation can vary greatly depending on what is being sold. We will explain commission and residual schedules during the interview process.
During the selection interview process you will be introduced to the benefits of working with Cornerstone. Depending on the type of affiliation you enter into with our firm will determine the types of benefits that will be available to you. As you progress through your transition to our firm all of your options will be explained in detail.
There are so many positive aspects of building your practice at Cornerstone Financial Services in addition to the lucrative compensation you can earn. There are many careers available but very few that can give you the sense of satisfaction of truly helping someone change their financial lives for the better. Many people are confused when it comes to their financial concerns. As their “trusted advisor” you can help them make sense of where they are at and help them develop a strategy for reaching their goals. Truly helping people for a living and the person you will develop into as you “grow” in the business make for an exceptionally rewarding career choice.
We take our responsibility for evaluating your potential for success very seriously. There are many types of people who attain success in our business. Are you one of them? When a mutual decision is reached for you to join Cornerstone we want to have a high level of confidence that this is the right career for you and our Firm is the organization for you to join. We will conduct multiple interviews with you, utilize industry testing tools, and have you spend time interview our representatives. We will examine your “natural market” and have you do sample surveys to experience what the career is like. Prior to joining us you will have a very accurate understanding of what building your practice at Cornerstone will be like and confidence that this is the right choice for you.
There are many types of individuals who enjoy success in our business. With all the differences there seems to be some commonalities that most successful representatives posses. Are you a person with exceptional character and integrity? Do you have a high achievement drive and a history of demonstrated success? We are looking for candidates with a high energy level who enjoy the challenge of competition. Are you someone who is "coachable” as well as someone who will produce a consistent effort without close daily supervision? Do you want a career which will enable you to truly help people? Does being paid for your successful efforts as well as the opportunity for unlimited earnings appeal to you? Although hardly exhaustive these are some of the criteria we look for in a successful candidate. If this sounds like you, it is
likely that you may enjoy and find success in a career in the Financial Services Industry and with Cornerstone Financial Services.
*** Any information from this site or our representatives should not be considered tax advice. Consult with your tax advisor regarding your own tax situation.
***All Property and Casualty lines are run through Basin Insurance Associates.