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Norm Trainor
Norm Trainor is the founder and CEO of The Covenant Group. He is an international speaker, the author of the best-selling book, The 8 Best Practices of High-Performing Salespeople, and a consultant to organizations around the world.
From One Generation To The Nextby Norm Trainor | July 13, 2010
I first met Norm Carroll in May, 2002. I was launching our Practice Development Program sponsored by Great West Life. Norm was one of 32 President’s Council qualifiers who signed up for the program. In our initial interview, Norm explained that his primary...
Lessons My Father Taught Meby Norm Trainor | June 25, 2010
The death of a parent is a defining moment in our lives. My father died in March of 2009. I was conducting a workshop in Des Moines, Iowa for a group of top advisors and received two calls from my brother and wife within five minutes of each other around 9:30AM. Their...
Defining Your Business Opportunityby Norm Trainor | June 11, 2010
Your Business Plan starts with Defining Your Business. The four components of Defining Your Business are: Vision, Mission, Values and Business Opportunity. Your Business Plan is the articulation of your Strategy for growing your business. Strategy is the systematic...
What Differentiates Entrepreneurs and Employees?by Norm Trainor | May 12, 2010
Entrepreneurs can avoid many of the problems associated with growing a business by recognizing the differences between employees and entrepreneurs. There are two important distinctions we can draw between entrepreneurs and employees. The first is in the way in which...
Lessons from Costa Ricaby Norm Trainor | April 14, 2010
For the last 11 days, I have been in Costa Rica with my wife, Wendy. We came here as guests of my friend and client, David Gray, Vice President, Wholesale Distribution, for Sun Life of Canada. David asked me to speak at the Sun Life Premier Partner Conference at the...
The Most Important Word in Businessby Norm Trainor | March 19, 2010
When I give a presentation, I often start out by asking the audience the following question: “ If you had to choose one word that is critical to the success of a business, what would that word be ?” Typically, people will respond with words such as...
The Entrepreneur as Achieverby Norm Trainor | March 4, 2010
Throughout history, human behaviour has been informed and influenced by archetypes. The Oxford dictionary defines archetype as: (1) original model, prototype; and (2) typical specimen. For centuries, philosophers, and, more recently, social scientists have used...
The Drive To Excelby Norm Trainor | February 11, 2010
What motivates someone who has built an eight figure financial advisory firm to continue growing? For John Nicola, the founder and CEO of Nicola Wealth Management, it is the desire to build a sustainable business and leave a legacy. All of us want to push as big a rock...
Lessons My Mother Taught Meby Norm Trainor | February 2, 2010
My mother died recently, only ten months after my father passed away. The depth of my grief seemed overwhelming. Taking the time to mourn is important. With my dad, I did not spend enough time in reflection. With my mother’s loss, it has been different. My...
From Art to Science . . .by Norm Trainor | January 11, 2010
What does it take to build a sustainable financial advisory business? For Don Leitzell, it was the ability to combine the art and science of business building. Don started his financial services career in 1984. He became an independent financial advisor in 1987. Now...
Lessons From Indiaby Norm Trainor | December 21, 2009
I just returned from a ten day business trip to India. During my trip, I learned many lessons about life, business and people in India. Hopefully, you will find these lessons of value in your business and personal life.
The importance of generosity of spirit:...
Individual Roles, Capabilities, & the Right Organization--Part 5by Norm Trainor | December 8, 2009
This is the fifth of five blogs that describe individual roles, individual capabilities and the right organizational structure (or as we say, defining the Requisite Organization). Today I'll describe advisors working at Stratum V and what their practices look like....
Individual Roles, Capabilities, & the Right Organization--Part 4by Norm Trainor | November 8, 2009
This is the fourth of five blogs that describe individual roles, individual capabilities and the right organizational structure (or as we say, defining the Requisite Organization). Today I'll describe advisors working at Stratum IV and what their...
Individual Roles, Capabilities, & the Right Organization--Part 3by Norm Trainor | October 20, 2009
This is the third of five blogs that describe individual roles, individual capabilities and the right organizational structure (or as we say, defining the Requisite Organization). Today I'll describe advisors working at Stratum III and what their...
Individual Roles, Capabilities, and the Right Organization -- Part 2by Norm Trainor | September 24, 2009
This is the second of six blogs that describe individual roles, individual capabilities and the right organizational structure (or as we say, defining the Requisite Organization). Today I'll describe advisors working at Stratum I and II and what...
Individual Roles, Capabilities, and the Right Organizationby Norm Trainor | September 8, 2009
This is the first of six blogs that describe individual roles, individual capabilities and the right organizational structure (or as we say, defining the Requisite Organization).
Foundation Principles
1. There are things about you that...
The Client Attraction Conversation — Part 2 of 2by Norm Trainor | June 21, 2009
In my last blog I described a simple framework for structuring client attraction conversations. The structure of the opening of an interview is You/Me/Us/We . In Part 1 we covered the You/Me part of the attraction conversation, in this posting we’ll cover the...
The Client Attraction Conversation — Part 1 of 2by Norm Trainor | June 2, 2009
There is an art to attracting clients. You can utilize a simple framework for structuring client attraction conversations. My friend and colleague, Bill Whitley says: “ If you know how to open, you don’t have to close .” Your Client Attraction...
Defining Your Business Opportunityby Norm Trainor | April 30, 2009
Your Business Plan starts with Defining Your Business. The four components of Defining Your Business are: Vision, Mission, Values and Business Opportunity. Your Business Plan is the articulation of your Strategy for growing your business. Strategy is the systematic...
Values and Operating Principlesby Norm Trainor | April 13, 2009
Expressing your values is facilitated when you are able to describe in one or two sentences how each value will be implemented. We call these descriptions of values in action, Operating Principles. The purpose of an Operating Principle is to provide a necessary frame of...
Expressing Your Valuesby Norm Trainor | March 27, 2009
A value is a thing or condition we consistently act upon to get and to keep. A value is a vector – a direction with a force. The clearest indication of what we value is how we spend our time and our money. It is not what we say that tells people what we value, it...
Four Fundamentals of an Effective Mission Statementby Norm Trainor | March 3, 2009
In my last blog, I described how Joel Goodhart developed the Mission Statement for BIRE Financial, “Financial Security Through Informed Decision Making.” Let’s review the four fundamentals in preparing your Mission Statement.
Start with...
The Power of a Good Mission Statementby Norm Trainor | February 11, 2009
What is a Mission Statement?
A Mission Statement describes why you are in business and is designed primarily for your clients. Ideally, the Mission Statement has meaning for every stakeholder in your business, e.g. shareholders, employees, associates, suppliers,...
Visionby Norm Trainor | January 22, 2009
Vision – The Starting Point in Defining Your Business
Your Vision is your mental picture of the direction in which you want to take your business. It is the goal for your business towards which you are working. A goal is a future desired state. It could be that...
Elements of a Business Planby Norm Trainor | December 4, 2008
Entrepreneurs start a business to fulfill a purpose that has meaning for them. The business becomes an instrument for the entrepreneur to do what s/he wants to do. Your business plan describes what you want your business to do. It must comprise the following elements....
Four Systems To Build Your Businessby Norm Trainor | November 17, 2008
Webster’s Dictionary definition of system includes: “a method or plan of classification or arrangement; an established way of doing something; method; procedure etc. There are four systems capabilities that are integral to building your business:...
Creating High-Performing Businessesby Norm Trainor | October 28, 2008
Creating a high-performing business means aligning five critical elements.
Vision – The starting point is the vision or picture of your business at some point
in the future. Vision answers the question: “Where are we going?” It...
Competition . . . Opportunity or Threat?by Norm Trainor | October 9, 2008
This is the last part of a four-part series on change. So far I’ve discussed: (1) Population , (2) Innovation , and (3) Globalization . Today I will discuss the impact of Competition . The way we do business today is different; we are undergoing significant...
Globalizationby Norm Trainor | September 12, 2008
In my last three blogs I have been discussing the Four Drivers of Change ; beginning with my blog on The Power of Demographics , following with blogs on the Impacts of Innovation. In this blog I continue discussing the Four Drivers of Change and discuss the third...
Impacts of Innovation: The Information Ageby Norm Trainor | August 29, 2008
This blog carries on the Four Drivers of Change topic and is the third article in a series of five. In this blog I pick up from where I left off in my last entry and continue discussing the second driver: Innovation.
As I cited in my previous entry...
Impacts of Innovation: The Beginningby Norm Trainor | August 15, 2008
In my last blog I discussed the first of Four Drivers of Change : “The Power of Demographics,” in this blog I continue with the Four Drivers of Change and discuss the second driver: Innovation.
In our history, humankind has undergone four...
The Power of Demographicsby Norm Trainor | June 27, 2008
The way we do business today is different from that of years past; in other words we have undergone change . This six letter word is often feared by many, but embraced as an opportunity by the true entrepreneur. This is the first of a five...
Three Things to Get Rightby Norm Trainor | April 30, 2008
Successful businesses usually get three things right.
The first thing they get right is a profile of their Ideal Client/Customer. A number of years ago, I was at a conference where a senior executive of Wal-Mart was a presenter. When he came on stage, he...
Musings at 4 AMby Norm Trainor | April 24, 2008
Many entrepreneurs tell me that they suffer from sleep disorders. I have experienced disruptive sleep patterns since my childhood. Often, I will wake up at 3 or 4 AM and have difficulty getting back to sleep. This morning, I woke up at 4 AM and my mind kicked in and...
Building Our Business in Hungaryby Norm Trainor | April 17, 2008
Working in another country has its advantages and disadvantages. At The Covenant Group, we are fortunate in that most of our business comes from the US and International markets.
Ten years ago, we made a strategic decision to focus on the US market and to build our...
Greetings From Hungaryby Norm Trainor | April 15, 2008
As I travel around the world, I continue to be amazed at how similar entrepreneurs are in every country.
For the past ten days, I have been in Hungary. Last week, I facilitated two workshops for over 60 top financial advisors with AVIVA Hungary. AVIVA is one of the...
Healthy Person, Healthy Business - Healthy Person, Healthy Practiceby Norm Trainor | April 9, 2008
When Greg walked into our first workshop, I was struck by how unhealthy he looked. He was at least thirty pounds overweight and seemed tired and worn down. When I interviewed Greg for our Business Builder program, he mentioned that at forty three, he was feeling...
Change Mindset to Change Behaviorby Norm Trainor | March 19, 2008
Entrepreneurs are often independent-minded. They fight structure and authority. This strength leads them to pursue their own vision and carve out their own path. Taken to an extreme, this strength becomes a weakness. The entrepreneur’s desire for independence and...
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