When working with other plan providers, trust is the biggest underpinning. Without it, you have nothing else. If you can’t trust the plan provider you’re working with, then why are you in business with them?
Rich Laurita is someone I have talked about for the past 13 years and he was the greatest third-party administration (TPA) salesman I have ever known. I joked he couldn’t spell 401(k), but he knew how to work with people and he knew how to cultivate trust with advisors when the TPA we worked at, had its own affiliated registered investment advisory firm. It was to the point that if one of our 401(k) plan sponsor clients would fire the advisor that referred Rich to the business, Rich would feel the need to be loyal and fire the client.
Trust is such a big deal for me in business and life. I have a wife who I adore and trust implicitly because, in 22 years, she’s never lied to me. I have had great relationships with plan providers because they’ve never lied to me and treated me with enough respect. As someone scarred by trust issues as a child and younger adult, I always say that if I can’t trust you, I don’t need you.
