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Top Advisor Podcast
#82 Financial Focus for College Athletes: A Winning Game Plan with Jeff Durr
00:24:28
Ever wondered how financial advisors can truly connect with niche markets? What if we told you the secret lies in a unique combination of athletics, education, and strategic branding? In this episode, Referral Coach Bill Cates interviews Jeff Durr from...
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- [00:04]
A
Welcome to the Top Advisor podcast, brought to you by Proudmouse podrocket Academy. I'm your host, Bill Cates, creator of the Cates Academy for Relationship Marketing. In each episode, I interview one of our industry's top performers, getting them to pass on their secrets to success to you so that you can impact more lives and generate more income. Now onto the show. I have worked with, interviewed and coached financial advisors who work with professional athletes. Today's guest focuses on successful college athletes, helping them plan for their financial futures and build wealth over time. He uses a strategy he calls the Lighthouse Effect. I really think you're going to enjoy today's interview, but before we jump in, I want you to know about some free resources that I invite you to retrieve. After you've listened to today's interview, you'll find checklists, guides, videos, other tools. Simply go to referralcoach.com resources. Now write this down unless you're driving referralcoach.com resources. Also, it's in the show Notes. While you're there, make sure you sign up for our weekly tips. They're always. We're always sharing best practices. And we'll notify you of our newest podcast interviews as they go live. And while these are free to you, I think you'll find them quite valuable. And now, on with today's show. I found today's featured guest while spending some time on LinkedIn, responding to some posts and doing a little relationship building. And I did a double take when I saw our guest LinkedIn profile that read RU Financial Athletic Department. So I looked a little further and connected with Jeff Durr, who is a senior partner at RU Financial Athletic Department. One thing that I noticed right away was that Jeff has a little over 28,000 followers on LinkedIn. Now, most financial advisors are lucky to have a couple of thousand followers. Jeff is both a financial advisor and coach to other financial advisors in his firm. Jeff has been in financial services since 1988, and since 2010, his RU financial team has been coaching current and former college athletes in New Jersey on financial strategies. They craft a playbook with their clients, emphasizing that wealth isn't just about the score on a financial statement, but but the ability to execute a full life experience. Jeff Durr zooming in from Warren, New Jersey. Welcome to Top Advisor Podcast, Bill.
- [02:37]
B
Thanks for having me. I am thrilled to be on the show today with you.
- [02:42]
A
Great to have you here. I understand you actually recently read my book, Language of Referrals.
- [02:47]
B
Yes, Bill, I not only read your book, I made it part of My playbook. And for those who may be following me on LinkedIn, like you said, I got a lot of followers. I posted, I read your book not too long ago and I don't. I didn't just read it, Bill. I studied it, I lived it, I highlighted it, I tabbed it, and then I put a video of it on LinkedIn for everybody to see. And I highly recommend for anybody out there who's looking to build a referral based practice, this is a must read. You have to read it.
- [03:18]
A
Well, thank you for that. I probably owe you a promo royalty on that one. Yeah, I just remember the video you sent and it had all these color coded tabs and stuff and I just, I love it. Thank you. But we're not here to talk about that. We're here to talk about you and what and the work you're doing so our folks listening can learn a few things. So tell us now, RU Financial Athletic Department. That's not a typical name for a financial services firm. So tell us a little bit about the origins of. Let me repeat it again for folks. Are you Financial Athletic Department? What sparked the idea? How has it evolved and what's your mission today?
- [03:56]
B
Yeah, so it started a while back, working really in the college world, Bill. Bringing financial literacy to college campuses. And the letters ru, it's just ru Financially Strong is really the name of the dba, for lack of better words, the company. And the idea is, can we bring financial literacy to the local college campuses to prepare these young men and women for life after school? I've been a passionate, passionate. Well, I'm a former college athlete myself and you know, I'm very passionate about coaching and helping, you know, the student athletes. So once the NIL stuff started to kind of blow up, the name, image and likeness, you know, I saw all these big name athletes getting all this attention that, hey, they're making millions, they're doing this, they're doing that, and all the top advisors are chasing them all. Well, there's only about 300 of them, Bill, that are really getting paid some significant dollars. Then there's millions of other ones that are going to school, getting their degrees and going out into the regular world. And I'm like, what about them? You know, hence the idea of, hey, I'm going to start a team, a program, a department called the RU Financial Athletic Department, where we specialize in bringing financial literacy to the local college athletic programs in the Northeast now, as well as to create financial game plans for former college athletes so they can go out there and What I call win the game of life. So that's kind of how that started.
- [05:30]
A
And I know that since you're from Jersey and they see the ru and the colors are red and white, people automatically think Rutgers University. And you don't mind that association, do you? It creates conversation. Tell us about that.
- [05:46]
B
It's all about marketing and branding. BILL. And you know, I'll be in the airport. I have hats, I have shirts, I have all kinds of stuff walking out and about in airports or I'm in the mall. So many people say, oh, is that Rutgers? Is that Rutgers? I'm like, no, it's not. But, you know, we, we've done a lot of work over there in the athletic department, but it, we're not, we're not part of that school itself. And I say, and I get into the story of what it's all about, and people say, wow, that's pretty neat. I like that idea.
- [06:12]
A
So you, you got invited to speak at schools. Right. And, and about financial literacy. And, and you also use that as a recruiting.
- [06:20]
B
Yeah.
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A
Tool, I guess, for other folks who want to, want to get in the career. So this, this speaking, which I want to get into more detail later, but, but just roughly now, you kind of use it. What I want to say for two things, it's prospecting for clients as well as prospecting for folks who might want.
- [06:38]
B
To get into the industry.
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A
Bill.
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B
Yes. So, you know, when we get in front of the college athletic programs, we talk about financial literacy, making sure they're prepared to make the right financial decisions when they graduate. But also many of them say, well, what's that career all about? You know, what kind of opportunities there? So I let them know we're hiring. We're looking for college athletes to join our team as well, to become financial advisors, to go back to their market, to their schools and to, and to bring financial education to their athletes and to the alumni.
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A
So you mentioned the nil name, image, likeness, like you said, about 300 athletes making some significant coin from that. And the rest are just kind of the athletes that were always around. Now they get an education, which is great in most cases, especially if it's Division one. So your focus isn't really on the, then the NIL folks you're working with regular with students and graduates, folks who have graduated. I think that's important because I can imagine some of the advisors listening right now are thinking, well, these young athletes, they don't have much money. You know, where's the profitability in this target market? What would you say to them, well.
- [07:51]
B
You know, I believe that people buy or work with financial advisors, Bill, because of three things, synergy, likability and commonality. Once that's established, then the trust factor comes in and they say, I want to work with this person. So the idea of the common student athlete, they don't really get a lot of education around financial literacy. It's almost literally nothing depending on the school. So when they come out of school, they're forced into life and they get their jobs. They have to make these financial decisions. A lot of them don't make the right ones. So the idea is we build the brand, we build the reputation, the synergy and commonality. While they're in school, they come out of school, they get jobs, but you know, they're going to grow up, they're going to get older, they're going to make more money, they're going to get married, they're going to have kids, they're going to have what we call dominant financial need, decision making parts of their life. And we want to be there when they're ready for that and they have the relationship with us so we can make the impact and help them.
- [08:49]
A
So it's clearly a longer play. And since you're bringing in and I want to talk about your team, you're bringing in folks that are a little newer to the business, a little younger in most cases. It's a good age group. I guess they can relate to each other and they all kind of grow together, I guess. So let's talk about the RU Financial athletic department. How is it structured? How are your expanding who you serve? I think you're looking to expand your team slowly in the right direction.
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B
Yeah, we.
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A
And you talk about the lighthouse effect. So talk about the team and the lighthouse effect.
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B
Yeah, that's, that's a, that's a great point, Bill. I'm glad you brought that up. You know, when people come out of college, they come into our fun, into the financial world. It's all about target markets. How can they specialize and develop a relationship with a specific target market where there's synergy, likability, commonality. Well, athletes, you know, as a former college athlete myself, when I come across any college athlete, I can create some sort of bond, some sort of connection really quick. Right. But I created what I call the lighthouse effect, marketing effect, where if I hire someone from a college, let's just say Rutgers for an example, because we brought that school up before, you know, the lighthouse effect for that athlete that I bring on is going to be Rutgers alumni of that sports program they played for. So let's assume they played football. So the lighthouse is the directional. So the football team is going to be their focus, their lighthouse and the alumni of the school. Now there's offshoots they can work with the baseball team, the basketball team, the soccer team as well. But the focus is going to be when I bring this athlete on is based on their synergy, likability and commonality will be in the sport that they played and the alumni from that school, which could go on for, you know, God knows how long ago the school started and when this, the team started, they could have 10, 20, 30, 40 years worth of alumni to talk to.
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A
So, so you're mostly recruiting athletes then, not just. Ah, okay, so there's, there's that added commonality, not just the, the age.
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B
Right.
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A
But yeah, college athletes can appreciate the experience of, of college athletics, etc.
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B
Right?
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A
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. And so how quickly can one of your advisors, newer advisors, start to reach a little deeper into that? The alumni, is that something they work on right away, right off the bat? Say they were lacrosse player. Let's say they just look at all the alumni that played lacrosse at their university and maybe starting to look at other universities too. But still in lacrosse, yeah, lacrosse would.
- [11:31]
B
Be their focus, Bill. Like that leave their lighthouse and their job. When I hire the athletes, I say your job is go to every lacrosse game possible you can attend. And they said really? Like I get to go to my school? I'm like, yeah, you have to go to every athletic event that that school has. A fundraiser, you know, an event, anything that has something to do with that athletic program that school I want you to attend, you know, and they're like, I mean, I get to do that for work. I'm like, yeah, you know, and especially if they're on the football team, they go create, I say create your own tailgate. Invite 30, 40, 50 people and you become the major tailgate and have the, have all the fun.
- [12:10]
A
So it's kind of cool. I like, it's target marketing. A little different though. Rather than employees in a certain company, it's folks who play lacrosse.
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B
Yeah, right.
- [12:23]
A
And it could, I guess they probably start maybe in their university, but can branch out fairly quickly. You know, I'm curious about in general, it's often talked about in our industry that athletes can make pretty good advisors in the sense that they, they're competitive, they know what hard work is all about. They know about team play, obviously they're coachable usually. Would you agree with all that? I mean, have you found that 100%.
- [12:55]
B
Bill, you know, and it's not always the star athlete either that becomes the best advisor. You know, the star athlete may get the most attention, but sometimes it's the second guy in the third girl in that is coming off the bench that is really putting in the time, the energy, the effort, the practice, the grit, the grind there is. Those are the ones who really come into our world and say, you know what? I know what I have to do. I'm willing to pay that price to get to where I got to be.
- [13:21]
A
Yeah. Love it. Great. So, gosh, there's more I want to talk about about 90 seconds. I want to continue the conversation. I want to talk a little bit about your speaking to groups because I know that a lot of folks listening should be speaking to groups in some form or another to help build their business. I want to talk a little bit about your social media and LinkedIn. But first, let's take a very brief pause to listen to a word from our sponsor, Pod Rocket Influence Academy, brought to you by Proudmouth. First, they make this podcast possible, and their core business is helping financial advisors accelerate their influence through marketing activities like podcasting. This podcast is sponsored by Proudmouth, the influence accelerators. Tired of chasing potential clients?
- [14:12]
B
We help you spend less time selling and more time time advising by amplifying your influence over a growing audience of.
- [14:19]
A
Magnetically attracted fans who will chase you down instead. Visit proudmouth.com to learn more.
- [14:26]
B
Be your own Loud.
- [14:38]
A
I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention the three main ways I work with financial advisors. First, we have my Katz Academy for relationship marketing. Some advisors go through the academy all on their own, and some add a bit of coaching with me to make sure they maximize their results. To learn more, go to thecatesacademy.com thekatesacademy.com Second, yes, I have several coaching programs designed to help you acquire more right fit clients through more relevant messaging, attracting ideal clients through reputation marketing, and multiplying your best clients through referrals and personal introductions. To learn more, go to coach Kate's.com that's coachkates.com and yes, I use a whistle because coaches use whistles. Third, I love sharing my proven strategies and methods in live forms such as speaking at conferences, virtual presentations. If you're part of an organization that brings in experts such as myself, I'd love to hear from you. Shoot me an email@billcates referralcoach.com Bill Catesferralcoach.com now back to my conversation with my featured guest, Jeff Durr, senior partner at RU Financial Athletic Department, a financial planning and education firm specializing in working with current and former college athletes. Jeff, before we get into all the speaking that you do and how you use that to build your business, should anyone want to contact you to learn more about your model and even explore possible opportunities with you, how should they contact you? What do you suggest?
- [16:07]
B
They can shoot me an email. Real, real simple. @j dur d u r r financialguide. Just the full words spelled out dot com. They. You can call me. You can call me on my. My cell number, 908-285-1052. You can go to my website, rufinancial.net you can find me on Instagram, you can find me on Facebook, you know, and any way you want to reach out to me, feel free.
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A
Right. You know, this is funny because you and all the interviews I've done, Jeff, this is, I think, like number 80 or something. In that range, you're only the second person actually give their phone number out. Okay.
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B
Is that a good thing or bad thing?
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A
No, it's neither good nor bad. I. I think it's pretty good. I mean, it just shows you want to talk to people, you're accessible. The more the better. Yeah. Okay, good. Um, so. So let's, let's talk about the speaking you do, the presentations you make. Who, whom do you speak and how does that fit your overall business strategy? And is this just about brand building? Is there more to it? Just give us a sense of your.
- [17:15]
B
Yeah, Bill, it's. It's both. One, it's a primarily brand building, getting the word out there. But I've been invited to numerous college athletic programs where I have a number of different topics that we talk about. The most prominent and let's say popular one is financial literacy. All the colleges want, hey, can you, can you teach the kids a little bit about making the right decisions? So it's great to get in front of. I just did Kean University not too long ago right here in New Jersey, which is great. And he's speaking in front of the football team about, you know, making the right decisions. But also I've done talks around how to prepare for an interview, you know, getting these athletes ready. So when they. They're on the spot again under the spotlight in an interview, are they ready? You know, and it's not just about ready to answer questions, Bill. It's about, are they prepared to ask the right questions.
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A
Yes. Right. Yes.
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B
Which. Which is big.
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A
Yes. It's so important that when you interview someone, when you're being interviewed, that you have good quality questions to ask. Yeah. And not just, how much time off do I get? How much sick leave do I get? And insightful questions to learn more about the possible employer.
- [18:27]
B
Yes, exactly. Exactly. You know, other talks I give are around, well, what does it take to succeed in the financial sales arena in building a financial planning practice? I have a whole talk around that, you know, and then. So there's a lot of different things that we talk about depending on what the school is looking for. But the big thing is that brand, that awareness. But I want to build a relationship, make an impact on these young athletes, Bill, So when they're ready to get out of school, they can have a career opportunity with us, or they have a place to go to where they have a financial coach to help them make the right decisions, you know, down the road.
- [19:05]
A
That's good. Last thing I want to mention is social media. Facebook, 28,000 followers and counting. Talk about that. I mean, first of all, how did you get that many? Because most advisors are lucky to have a thousand or two. And, yeah, it's not all about the numbers. Right. I mean, it's the right people, really. But I'm just, how does. How does that play in your world?
- [19:31]
B
Yeah. So, you know, it's funny you say that, and I'm one of the guys, Bill, that says I'm never above the work. I know a lot of advisors are like, well, hire someone to do that kind of stuff. Well, I literally sit there on my couch, Bill, on LinkedIn, you know, scrolling through, looking for the right candidate that I want to connect with. And I've been doing this for a number of years, and of those 28, 29,000 people that I'm connected to, you know, there many of them are in our business already who are former athletes. Right. Or are currently current athletes in current school systems, or they're in the professional world somewhere else, but they're all former college athletes. So that's the. That's the connection, you know, and. And it's very easy. One athlete to another. It's like instant hello.
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A
Yep, yep. So. So you spend a lot of time connecting, you build relationships, you make comments, I suppose. And as some of that activity, that LinkedIn activity actually turned into either clients or advisors that work for you, or both. It sounds like both.
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B
It's turned into clients, it's turned into advisors, you know, in both. Both sides of the house, Bill. And you know, we're on Instagram, we're on, on LinkedIn, we're on Facebook. And I've recently started a podcast also. It's called are you strong? Right? And it's really cool. It's, it's all around current and former college athletes. Right. And the mental and physical struggles and challenges they face both on and off the field, and how playing college sports prepared them for life after the game's over.
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A
Which is kind of neat. So it's, it's. Are you strong? Is it out now? Is it out now?
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B
Yep, 40 episodes in.
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A
Oh, wow, I gotta check that out. I think that's great. And clearly that's your market. They probably love hearing the stories of other athletes and they can relate to the challenges and the successes and all that good stuff.
- [21:34]
B
Correct.
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A
And then I, I, I, you know, that's part of building brand awareness. It's part of staying relevant too, isn't it? In front of your market?
- [21:44]
B
Oh, yeah. You know, I've had, I have NFL guys on there. I have coaches on their current college players, former. And, and it's staying relevant in that world, you know, because, you know, I'm, it's, I'm no spring chicken anymore, Bill.
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A
You know what I mean?
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B
And for me to stay relevant, I got to stay engaged with these young men and women and let them know that I'm out there, I'm involved, I'm engaged, and I'm, I'm really part of what they're doing.
- [22:06]
A
Yeah, staying relevant, not a spring chicken. I can relate to both of those. I just. For those listening also, you might want to Check out episode 19 in my podcast with Walter Stith. He's a former professional lineman. He was a left tackle protected the quarterback's blind side. Now he protects his clients financial blind side and he works with professional athletes and a lot of nil. So it's a different level. So. But if you want to get a full scope of working with athletes, check out episode 19 with Walter. And you know, Jeff, I just want to say thank you for being on the podcast. My feature guest, Jeff Durr, senior partner at RU Financial athletic department. I appreciate the value that you provide today and, and all you're doing not just for our industry, but I just love the financial literacy angle because most people don't get taught that. And that's part of, part of my mission. So thanks again for all you do, Bill.
- [23:09]
B
Bill, it's my pleasure. I enjoy being on and, and again, your book, you know, the language of referrals. I highly recommend it for all those advisors out there. I read it. It's a, it's a, it's a one day read. Once you're in it, you can't get out of it.
- [23:22]
A
Shucks. I appreciate that. Thanks. So for those listening, if you haven't already. Well, Jeff promoted my book a couple of times. I didn't, didn't expect that. Language of referrals.com Language of referrals.com if you want to get those free resources I mentioned the beginning of this program, that's referralcoach.com forward slash resources. Don't forget the katesacademy.com thekatesacademy.com and for my coaching coach kates.com so this is Bill Kates reminding you that ideas do not make you more successful. Only acting on those ideas will bring you the success you desire. Thanks for stopping by. Thank you for listening to the Top Advisor podcast brought to you by Proudmouth's Pod Rocket Academy. I encourage you to Visit my website referralcoach.com for links to my books, online courses and to register for the Katz Academy.