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600 W Broadway Ste 600
One America Plaza
San Diego, CA 92101-3359
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Office: 619-234-3111
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The San Diego Group

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Are you ready for financial independence? Are you ready to be your own boss? Are you ready to make a positive impact on people's lives?

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Training

Building a successful practice as a Northwestern Mutual financial representative requires motivation to succeed, hard work, and confidence in your abilities and knowledge of our products and services. You will gain this confidence through proper training and development; both top priorities within our group. Our strategic development plan incorporates best practices that will guide you through each stage of your career – from establishing your initial business plan, to managing a growing practice, to succession planning. We are with you every step of the way. 

You will receive fundamental industry and sales training, access to online educational resources, and will be able to take part in mentoring and joint work programs to gain hands-on experience.
 
Fastrack Training System – The Fastrack Training System gives new representatives the confidence and skills needed to become successful members of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. There are three components to the system: Basics, Sales School, and Comprehensive Ongoing Representative Education (CORE). 
  • Fastrack Basics provides you with background and knowledge to maximize your Fastrack Sales School experience and get you off to a fast start in the business. You will finalize your own personalized marketing plan and become familiar with field-tested sales language for use with prospects and clients. You will learn about insurance, finance, and sales cycle concepts; how to manage your activity; and Northwestern Mutual’s products and traditions.

Your training will have a strong emphasis on the risk management stage of your clients’ lives – success in your career rests on your ability to help your clients meet these basic financial protection needs. Wealth accumulation, preservation, and distribution build on this foundation to help you grow your business and offers opportunities to work with network advisors and specialists. 

  • Fastrack Sales School will help you build a foundation of knowledge in Northwestern Mutual’s sales techniques, with an emphasis on the art of obtaining favorable introductions and comprehensive factfinding. At the end of training you will understand how to:
    • Prepare for prospecting, handle objections and effectively build relationships
    • Ask probing and challenging questions to uncover a prospective client’s needs
    • Identify and understand a prospect’s needs to help create unique solutions
    • Convey your conviction for our business and our needs-analysis process
       
  • Fastrack CORE is a three-part follow-up training curriculum that includes three training programs: Fastrack CORE, COREplus, and VIP CORE. These programs are designed to successfully impact new representatives’ businesses and inspire them to be career representatives with Northwestern Mutual. CORE and COREplus include non-variable topics ranging from product training and skill building to business management. VIP CORE reinforces the knowledge and sales skills needed to get properly licensed registered representatives off to a fast start in offering variable and investment products to their prospects and clients. 
The Learning Network – Access to our online Learning Network provides quality, job-related training in a timely, consistent, and convenient manner. It encompasses many types of learning events, formats and
materials. It uses familiar, traditional formats such as schools and seminars, books, CDs and DVDs, as well as new methods of learning that utilize technology, including online courses and exams, webcasts, and virtual classes.
 
Coaching and Mentoring – A variety of coaching and mentoring programs are also offered, including:
  • Record Activity Compared to Expectation Program (RACE) – These daily meetings with a coach during your first two months keep you on track.
  • Weekly Activity Coaching – These weekly programs assist you in developing sound sales and business practices (after RACE).
  • Weekly and Monthly Client Builders – These weekly and monthly study groups fosters the growth and development of your business.
  • Internships – As full-time college students, interns generally work 15 to 20 hours per week developing business- and Client Building skills. In many respects, our interns follow the same process for establishing their careers as our full-time financial representatives.

Kelly Thede

Director of Development

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Kelly Thede received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from UCLA in 2006. She has been working for Northwestern Mutual since then.  As Director of Development, Kelly is an associate representative and part of the leadership team at The San Diego Group. In this role, she works closely with Gary Bleakley, Rick Abell, and the Management Team to oversee and implement specific growth strategies for the agency.

Kelly currently lives in la Jolla with her husband Garrett.

 

 

Katie Condon

Director of Development

 Katie received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Colorado-Boulder.  She joined the San Diego Group in 2009.  As the Director of Development for the La Jolla Group, Katie works closely with Garrett Bleakley, the Managing Director, to grow and develop the new district office.