Earlier in Charles Kochel's career as a financial adviser, his job was one thing, and his passion — fly-fishing — was another.
The Jonesboro, Ark., adviser was working 16-hour days and spent a lot of his time cold-calling potential new clients. The money was good, but his quality of life wasn't.
When he decided to switch firms and join Merrill Lynch about three years ago, he also made another change. "I decided I wanted my career to be fun," he says.
Now, Kochel spends two days every other week casting for fish — and for clients — on one or another of the 30 rivers surrounding the Arkansas River.
There are some trophy catches to be had in those waters: By Kochel's estimate, 80% to 90% of fly fishermen and those connected to the sport are high-net-worth individuals. A quality fly-fishing rod and reel can cost hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. Trips to fish for trout in exotic waters, in Patagonia or the Pyrenees, are not for people with small bank accounts.
To break into this niche, Kochel took an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission map and highlighted the locations along several rivers where there are upscale resorts and restaurants.
He started frequenting those resorts and restaurants, getting to know the owners and restaurant managers. He also began volunteering, working on and co-sponsoring river conservation projects and teaching fly-fishing to elementary-school students and breast-cancer survivors. He joined organizations like the Federation of Fly Fishers and attended local meetings of these close-knit groups.
A conversation on the stream or at a fishing group's meeting will usually come around to business at some point. Typically, it's the prospect who brings up the subject, which makes it easy for Kochel to explain what he does for a living and position himself as their go-to adviser.
He's been working these waters for about three years, and about 30% of his clients are connected to fly-fishing. He hopes to raise this to 90% in another four years.
Kochel continues to prospect in other channels, but it's hard to beat the kind of prospecting trip he'll be taking next week: an overnight visit to a river where he'll give the chief executive and chief financial officer of a Fortune 500 company pointers on how to cast flies and on some hard-to-get-to fishing spots. Kochel doesn't charge guiding fees for these trips.
On the stream, silence can be part of a good sales pitch.
"You form a much deeper bond with someone on the river and don't always need to talk," he says.
And catching fish isn't the most important thing. "It's about the art and poetry of fly-fishing, the sound of the river while you're surrounded by nature," he says.
For advisers who'd like to develop their own niche, Kochel suggests they first decide what it is they love, be it riding motorcycles or involvement in a church. Then, get involved in a group of like-minded people and work toward a leadership role in that organization.
The activity itself, and the opportunity to give back to the community, will make for a happier adviser. And it should translate into a solid business, Kochel says. "People like to work with people who are like them."
