Sales Fees: Learn How Salespeople Get Their Money
They Do It by Taking, not Earning, Yours
Decades ago if you wanted to own stock you needed to contact a broker. Shares
were physically traded on one of the few exchanges, and only members of those
exchanges could trade. Thus you needed to talk with someone with access to these
members, whether they were employees or representatives. The commissions paid
were for the service of access - there was no other way to get stock. Mutual
funds were similar in that sales commissions provided the means for distribution
and growth. There was no internet, no financial TV channels, and not much
business content in regular news. Brokers not only provided access to stock
ownership; they also provided much of the information one might need or want to
make investment decisions.
Of course,
times have changed. Deregulation, automation, and the internet have all made
access to investments and relevant information practically costless. Amazingly,
there are still companies charging high prices for access to financial services.
They get away with this through massive advertising and sales training -
teaching reps how to discover prospect fears and needs and then meet such with
high commission products. Victimized clients gain no value - in fact they lose
such as commissions chew up huge percentages of their returns. Salespeople no
longer provide access or information; they are only conduits to bring assets
into the firms they represent so those firms can bleed money from client
accounts.
How
Can Help
identifies products that are rip-offs, firms that operate by ripping you off,
and ways that you can identify professionals trying to rip you off - all so you
are never again victimized.
shows you where to gain access to information,
inexpensive trading, and other services at the least (often zero) cost.
forums give you access to back and forth discussion you might expect from a rep, but
without commissions, without bias, and with no incentive other than to inform
and thereby benefit you.