Startling Facts About Advisors and Practice Management

What are your key practice management processes?

The advisors who have more processes are more successful than the advisors that lack key processes. But which processes are critical to your business success?

In researching practice management for financial advisors, I wanted to find strategies to help them. I came across some startling facts about advisors and practice management.*

85% of advisors have NO formal client feedback system or process

75% of advisors have NO formal definition of ideal client

73% of advisors have NO written service agreement or processes

43% of advisors have NO documented unique value proposition

What is holding you back?

Human behavior holds advisors back from accomplishing their goals. It is the same thing that holds clients back from achieving their financial goals. Advisors’ behavior affects their practice. When advisors follow their natural instincts or habits, they tend to apply faulty reasoning without research. Should I go 100% fee based? What does the research say? Why do I need a comprehensive value promise, I know a lot of advisors that do not have one? What questions keep you from growing your business? How many client relationships can you handle in one year? What is your ideal capacity? I know that most people rationalize business decisions based on facts, but you should implement business decisions based on feelings. This is where practice management needs to tap into your subconscious motivations.

What are your subconscious motivations? Do you want more time off? Do you see tremendous opportunities you want to capture in a certain market? Build a dream home? What is important to you in your practice? What are your internal and external motivators? Why do you do the things you do? What are you passionate about? What is the story you want to tell the world every day? What drives you, motivates you and invigorates you more than anything else? What is your why?

Top advisors have one thing above all other advisors, clarity.

Darren Hardy of Success Magazine shares and interesting story. Imagine a race between three people to complete a 1,000-piece puzzle.

Person No. 1 was given one with the picture on the box.

Person No. 2 was given the box with no picture on it.

Person No. 3 was given a box with the wrong picture on it.

Who is going to win?

Exactly, person No. 1.

You need a clear picture (vision) to complete the puzzle of your life.

Envision that you have already accomplished your most important goal for your business today. How does that make you feel? Act as if it has already been done. The message is clear, the best advisors spend more time on servicing clients BECAUSE they have invested the time and energy to put their processes in place.

*[Source USA FPA Research and Practice Institute study - Future of Practice Management -December 2013]