The Practice Doctor is IN

Al Depman, CLU, ChFC, CMFC, BH

What Can You Learn from Herb Alpert?

I enjoy playing what-if games:

What if I had a thousand dollars to invest back in 1965? What would have been the best stocks to buy?

What if I hit the lottery and won $250 million? How would life change? What would I do with it?

If I could have dinner with any two historical figures, who would they be?

If I could travel back in time and change something, what would that be?

All fun exercises. In the realm of “still possible but remotely so” is the answer to:

If I could have dinner with someone alive today, who would that be?

My choice is easy: Herb Alpert. Yes, that Herb Alpert, of Tijuana Brass fame in the 60’s. I was a devoted fan, growing up with his music on my monaural turntable and finally in stereo. His music was there before the British invasion arrived and I stuck by him through Beatles and Moody Blues obsessions.  Why have dinner with Herb?  Because he’s a survivor in the fickle music business. He learned to understand his gift and use that gift to change and grow over the years. I want to know about that journey.

There is no definitive biography of Herb. I’d be first in line to buy it if there was. I’ve collected all 34 of his albums of original music and a few of the greatest hit collections.

Born in 1935, Herb paid his dues, first picking up a trumpet at age 8 and learning his instrument and experimenting with various sounds and variations through the late 50’s. He wrote a number of popular songs, most notably “Wonderful World” which later became associated with Louis Armstrong.  He found his niche in 1962 with the mariachi-bullfight-flavored “The Lonely Bull,” his ticket to the big time. Only Elvis, The Beatles, and Frank Sinatra outsold Herb in the 60’s. He had his formula and it worked for a dozen years. His glory days past, Herb lost his trumpet “voice” and took time off in Ipanema to regain it.  His music took on a decidedly jazz flavor after that. His subsequent albums continued a growth in jazz, fusion, African, funk, hip-hop, and everything in-between. In 2006, Herb took his hit 1965 album “Whipped Cream and Other Delights” and allowed DJ mix-masters to re-imagine the 40-year-old material.

Along the way, Herb has run a couple of record companies, most notably A&M, which over the years launched a wide range of pop, rock, jazz, soul, and hip-hop careers. His talent at producing music has resulted in a plethora of top hits in many genres.

He is also an abstract artist, having completed many paintings, sketches, and sculptures. His Herb Alpert Foundation supports young musicians and he recently opened a jazz restaurant.  He also has a seemingly strong marriage to wife Lani Hall (a former Brasil ’66 singer) that continues to evolve as they tour together in small venues. What does all of this mean to you, the financial advisor?

In 2009, you are facing uncertain times. All the traditional wisdom may be wrong, or at least flawed. The investors are sitting on their assets waiting for some one to tell them it’s OK to go back into the market. This may even be the start of a prolonged Depression-era mindset of flight to safety and preservation of what’s left. What will the long-term impact of the Treasury’s manufacture of funds in the billions turn out to be?  Too many questions, but here’s where Herb comes in!

Herb Alpert knows his strength – he blows a mean trumpet. When the Tijuana Brass market dissipated, he lost his musical ear and couldn’t play for a year. Divorced and unable to produce music, he hit his nadir.  But his talent could not be held down for long. He took his gift and made it grow and evolve. Herb never rested on his laurels, and doesn’t ever think about living in the past.

I’m a client of Herb’s. Every new album, every artist he discovered and produced, every new direction he explored – I was there. I remain a client for whatever he’s up to next. 

Your clients are tired of the old wisdom. They’re tired of the media, the inane governors and the unimaginable size of egos and Ponzi schemes. Are you giving them reason to stay loyal clients? Repeating endless doom and gloom scenarios and stay-in-the-market chatter will only frustrate them further.

Do you need re-inventing? What is your gift as an advisor? Do you, like Herb, need to go back to the basics and rethink the focus of your practice?

Annette certainly is. She’s a three-year advisor whose potential has been severely tested by the market conditions. She’s still new enough that old money won’t readily flow her way, but has enough clients to hang in there. Looking at all the available evidence, Annette has taken her approach and revised it to emphasize insurance as well as asset management.

“Insurances are guarantees,” she says. “Today’s market is looking for guarantees. Life insurance is a flexible tax vehicle that has at its base, a guaranteed, tax-free death benefit. That death benefit has a lot of possible uses in structuring a client’s finances. Just the conversation about it has opened doors that were not open to talking investment strategies.”

Herb has taken his gift and broadened his offerings to art and philanthropy. These are pursuits that fit his philosophy and compliment his music. Are there other products and services that you should be concentrating on in 2009?

Martin, a ten-year advisor, responded with, legacy planning  “I need to deepen the legacy relationships with my clients’ beneficiaries, executors, trustees and other key people. They control the future purse strings. Helping them know their roles will get me in front of them and new business has come from those meetings.”

Next time your office’s easy-listening soundtrack plays an old Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass song, consider how far he’s come since those days. He was not willing to be stuck in TJB stereotype and fade into a golden oldie. His music is as vibrant today as it ever was.

And if you can get me a dinner date with him, all the better!

The Doctor is OUT.

Al Depman, CLU, ChFC, CMFC, BH, a.k.a. “The Practice Doctor”, is MitchAnthony.com’s Business Practice Consultant. He is the creator of “The Practice Management Assessment” tool and materials and has authored numerous articles in professional publications on practice management, and author of the forthcoming book, How to Build Your Financial Advisory Business, to be published by McGraw Hill in 2009. Al combined his Liberal Arts studies with 10 years of management experience with McDonald’s Corporation to enter the financial services world 25 years ago. Since then, Al has evolved from an MDRT-level sales rep into a full-time consultant specializing in helping others engineer their business practices to the next level. Contact him at al@mitchanthony.com.

© 2008 Al Depman