Tap into Change for Success

This past year will be remembered as a year of change. Change is often perceived with negative connotations. Change forces you to move out of your comfort zone. It can occur at any time lasting varying intervals of time and can touch your professional and/or personal life. Change is constant but reaction to change is different for each person and greatly impacted by one’s stage in life. Times of turmoil can be lonely stressful times for many. As a result of the stress, physical and emotional symptoms such as verbal attacks or headaches may emerge. For clients, they may be overwhelmed with financial loss and be stung by the inactivity bug or on the cycle of grief rollercoaster.

For advisors, you may be feeling the impact of the budget crunch with less management support, less training and development and an unclear corporate vision. Personal concerns can include declining revenue, potential employee layoffs and the energy drain from dealing with emotional clients.

Fear is a strong emotion that can stop you in your tracks. It can be vividly displayed in your facial expressions, tone of voice and your body language. I’ll ask you, is fear holding you back? Is your outlook negative? Are you projecting this onto your clients, staff and professional alliances? Has stress impacted your health? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, it is time to eliminate fear and draw on optimism. Let’s take these challenging economic times and look at it from another perspective – What can you do differently? What will impact my business profitability and satisfaction? With less business activity, this is the perfect time to reflect “on” your business and not on the day-to-day activities of your business.

Here are a few ideas to promote action and breakout of a plateau or the grips of fear:

I. Analyze your business

• Analyze your core weekly processes such as client meeting preparation and delivery. Can you identify efficiency improvement and promotion of your team and business?
• Assess your staff. Do you have enough support? Is your staff utilizing their skills? Are they current on computer skills? Are their tasks valuable to your client base?
• Utilize business activity reports provided by your firm. How is your recurring revenue? Do you charge financial planning fees? How is your product mix?

• Do your clients have new needs based on economic changes or stages of life changes?
• Do you need to expand your centers of influence to assist in meeting these client needs?

• Identify your competition and their marketing activities.
• What is your marketing message?
• Are you utilizing multiple forms of communication to clients and prospects?

• Would you thrive in a securities model or private banking model?

I encourage you to use these ideas and this time to break out of a plateau, improve your client service, or change your business model. Reflecting on history, successful businesses have started or expanded in tough economic times. For example, designer Giorgio Armani recently opened a Megastore on 5th Avenue in Manhattan using this time to reflect on his business and to take the leap of faith.

So if Going Independent is your goal, here are a few points for success:

1. Prepare, prepare, and prepare
2. Work with an agent and/or consultant
3. Hire an assistant

Let’s explore these points in greater detail.
For an effective transition, allow 3-6 months of planning. Topics to focus on include compliance, communication with clients, infrastructure and understanding your competition. Using a specialist is another key to success. As a financial advisor, you often recommend to clients to see an estate planning attorney to develop an estate plan. The estate planning attorney has gained expertise in an area of the law and also acts as an outsider looking in at a plan. The specialist also brings focus and aids in execution of a plan. Now follow your own advice and use an agent to gain better understanding of the local, regional and national competitors across independent, banking and insurance models and tap into their industry intelligence and negotiation skills. The agent will provide momentum and drive you to operating at peak performance. Engaging in a coaching relationship is also particularly beneficial during times of transition to make effective decisions, keep you motivated and lessen the feeling of change and/or loss for your existing clients during a transition.

Third, an industry study conducted by Cerulli & Associates indicates that hiring an assistant generates as increase in revenue of upwards of 20%. Hiring an assistant even on a part-time basis will allow you to reorganize your weekly activities and focus on revenue generating activities. Sales support will project and image of success, stability and allow you to attract larger pools of assets. Additionally, developing client comfort in working with your sales support staff contributes to client retention, referral generation and value of your business in succession planning. Of the three points for success listed above, the 3rd item, hiring an assistant will result in a high ROI if proper selection is taken. That is enough to make you take the leap to hire. Hire incorrectly though and you lose up to 1 ½ times the salary paid to the hire and an average of 6 months to 1 year time which is the time required for a new employee to perform at peak productivity. Based on the current employment environment, there a multitude of qualified candidates willing to be flexible in working arrangements. Identifying key skills and aptitudes will put you on a path to successful hiring.

Use the following steps to recognize traits required in an optimal candidate.

1. List all your current activities and functions that need to be completed.
2. Highlight revenue generating and non-revenue generating activities and activities that do not utilize your skills or exude your passion.
3. List skills and interests required to complete the task i.e. proficient in PowerPoint software application to prepare client presentations or enjoy interacting with clients at client appreciation events.
4. Craft a help wanted ad and promote in print and in on-line listings.

Mapping out your hiring needs as indicated above will provide you with a clear picture of the skill set needed. Some resources to help you visualize your organization chart and project needs include www.smartdraw.com and www.mindjet.com. Identifying what and/or who can add value to your team can be a challenge for advisors. Look to client values for insight into staffing that would benefit your firm. In client surveys, clients often display a value for knowledge, communication, meetings and education. Adding staff members or contract employees to enhance your efforts in these key areas would be valuable to your firm. Consider adding to the firm’s knowledge base with a financial planner, a CPA or someone with 401k expertise. For communication, you could hire someone with strong writing skills to create letters, newsletters, presentations and e-mail communication. For marketing, consider someone with a graphic arts background or a recent public relations graduate to create your brochure, update your website or write press releases. To assist you in conducting client events and seminars, a meeting planner, retired teacher or mom who wants flexible hours may possesses strong networking, coordination and presentation skills.

Locating talent willing to work on a contract basis, part-time or full time basis is at your fingertips in this economy. Talent can be obtained locally by promotions at your local school, place of worship, networking groups and by asking your current clients for referrals. The on-line site, www.craigslist.com offers posting your job to a larger audience for minimal fee. Proper skills are ½ of the success equation in hiring successfully. Particularly for the small business owner, hiring for fit in the office environment and compatibility with communication and leadership stylescomprises the other half of the successful hiring equation. Incorporating behavioral assessments into your hiring process under the guidance of a trained consultant will increase the odds to hiring a candidate that will succeed and help you and your business succeed! Use these changing times to research, plan, and act. Success comes to those who push fear aside and take small efforts everyday!

Written by Beth Ruggiero who tapped into change to form Climb High Consulting, LLC for financial advisors.

To learn more, contact Beth at beth@climbhighconsulting.com