For my From the Chair article today, I've asked our newest Hall of Fame inductee, Ed Wallach, to share some of his secrets to success in NPAworldwide. Enjoy! —Jim Lyons
Hello to all my esteemed NPA affiliate partners. I’ve been on this journey for over 32 years, when I joined my dad’s business back in 1991. He had started the firm in 1965. I was absolutely clueless and probably looked like a deer in headlights. I remember going to my first NPA meeting in 1991. I was skeptical at first and didn’t really get what was going to unfold over the next 30+ years. Besides the compensation we get from making splits, the top beneficiary I got was lifelong friends.
I have a very narrow niche that I work and that I’m always bullish about. It’s Science and Engineering in the Defense and Intelligence Community. It’s pretty recession-proof as the bad guys around the world never sleep nor slowdown and we mustn’t either.
The most important things I’ve learned along the way have been to:
- Treat your affiliates like you would your best client.
- Be instantly responsive.
- Give great details in feedback.
- Value your affiliate’s time as if it were your own.
- Be honest and tell the truth.
- Call before sending to learn about client and dos and don’ts.
- Don’t send low hanging fruit, which is usually crap.
- Fear the Whack-a-Mole mallet (what you get for sending crap)
These last 3 years have really been amazing for me in NPAworldwide. We’ve made around 15 splits a year, all imports with many different partners.
I’ve managed to stay in the top 5 in revenue and just hit the Double Platinum HOF. It’s been a crazy fun, wild ride, and I could not have done it without all of the talented partners that we have in the network.
The advice I would give to new members is to engage with other affiliates. Call up some affiliates that work in your niche and talk about making a split. Learn what they need and how they do it….and then listen and pay attention!
As for all the hype about technology and us all being replaced by the machine…it’s not gonna happen. I started in the paper era and mailed resumes before faxing came along. I saw Monster and all the other services come to life and threaten our livelihoods with doom and gloom prophecies. Didn’t happen. I believe the same will hold true with AI and ChatGPT, etc. They’re just tools to enhance what we can do and maybe do it faster. But they’re never going to replace the human element which is what is needed to make placements and splits.
So, don’t be afraid to pick up the phone. Don’t be afraid of my whack-a-mole mallet. I’m always available and would love to make a split with you.