Meet new people = Explore the new world !!

Since I returned to Thailand I have been working as a wealth management advisor. This job involves providing advisory services to people on selecting a good financial plan for their lives. I chose this job so that I could learn about how to make a better return on investment as well as to share my skills with others on how better to manage their finances. In Thailand this kind of job is still new and not very popular because people do not see how having a financial plan can be important for them. I think I can gain new experience and skills in communication while trying to make people understand the importance of this issue.

This type of job is also totally new for me. To say in another word, this job is like a salesperson. There is no guarantee of a regular salary, no existing clients. So, not having marketing skills and not having a degree in the financial field, I began my first month working hard on studying to gain many certifications, while I learned how to sell plans by going out with other colleagues to observe them at work.

The hard part of this job is that I have to go out and find my own client base. How to do that? The first suggestion from my boss was to make a list of people I knew,at least 100 names, and then rate their potential to be my client. I made phone calls to many friends and the result was quite disappointing. Why? I tried to reflect on what I was doing to experience so much failure. The first time that I got rejected by a close friend, I wrote down everything that I could not answer him. Next day I brought that paper to clarify with my colleague. She just told me simply, “your story is nothing more than you talked with a person who was not interested. Why don’t you try to meet new people?”

I still keep continuing to contact other friends while I try to participate in some seminar where I might possibly find a new client. I find that I can easily talk with new people. Instead of focusing on the potential gain from new clients, I try to focus on the relationship with people. The first response from a new friend that I made at a seminar was an invitation to play golf. I have never thought about playing golf before but he encouraged me to try once.

My colleagues have also experienced the same. Some have been invited to special fashion shows, or to play archery or to participate in exclusive events at the embassies and more.

If I simply work as an employee, as in my previous work, I would not have tried to get to know many people. I might be happy to have a new friend but I would not have had much to offer them. Even with an old friend, I might not have talked much. When my best friend decided to let me help her with a financial plan, we have a lot more to talk now than previously. I look back to the time when I worked as an employee without investing in relationships and I see that I did not try to keep contact details of colleagues because I did not see the point earlier in keeping touch with people.

Now I find that I do not only go out and meet new people, I also like to connect people to others when I see how that can benefit each other. One of my clients from a seminar told me that he would like to expand his business in Myanmar. It was perfect timing as I had planned to go to Myanmar for the APLP event. I told him that I would see how the business environment was there and share details with him, upon my return. I made contact with new people in Myanmar and one of whom decided to visit Thailand. I saw a good opportunity of connecting my client with my new friend and have organized a lunch meeting between them. Similarly, my new Burmese friend introduced me to his friend in Thailand – a sustainability manager who has invited me to her monthly lunch seminar. I look forward to exploring how the new connection turns out.

Looking back from the time I started the program to the end of APLP, I can see that my attitude has changed tremendously. I have become a better public speaker. I am also more confident in myself and value my own opinion and belief. I get the good memory of establishing several long-lasting friendships with APLPers and people in Hawaii. Now I’m combining my character of excited to know new people and the experience of establishing good relationship from APLP and then I adapt them to use with my job and my life.

(Pictures from countryside of Myanmar)

Best wish to all and Thank you APLP,

Nam