Expert Advice to Grow Your Business

There are so many conferences vying for my time, so there has to be a lot on the agenda that interests me. --Morris Armstrong

Making the most of a conference takes advance prep work. First, decide whether the conference is worth attending. Are there more than one or two sessions or speakers you think you’ll learn something from? If not, don’t go. “There are so many conferences vying for my time, so there has to be a lot on the agenda that interests me,” says Morris Armstrong, principal of Armstrong Financial Strategies in Danbury, Connecticut. “I’m a NAPFA member but I haven’t been to a NAPFA conference for 3 years. You cannot just be a blind devotee of the organization.”

-Morris Armstrong, principal of Armstrong Financial Strategies, in How to Make the Most of Your Next Conference

Clients with bigger accounts tend to have better payoff for time spent in the fee-only financial planning business. --Christopher Pascale

Christopher Pascale and his business partner have automated processes for just about everything, from adding a new client to annual reviews. That makes for more efficient operation with just the two of them and an administrative assistant. Over the past year, they have been working to weed out clients with smaller accounts, aiming to restrict the client base to people with a minimum net worth of $250,000. He says it's a value proposition: Clients with bigger accounts tend to have better payoff for time spent in the fee-only financial planning business.

-Christopher Pascale, co-founder of Lobo & Pascale Wealth Management LLC (until recently known by the name Heritage Financial Services), in Day-in-the-Life: Christopher Pascale

Create a checklist for each client file, to track documents provided. --Nancy Lininger

Full Disclosure to Clients Is Important. Put disclosures on paper, in plain English. A specific disclosure (e.g., mutual fund charges or privacy) shouldn't be more than one page. Create a checklist for each client file, to track documents provided.

-Nancy Lininger is founder of The Consortium, a compliance, practice management and marketing consulting firm for RIAs and broker-dealers, in The Art of Compliance

Social media allows an individual who has the expertise and creativity to achieve recognition on a global scale. --Steve Rubel

There are benefits to attracting new clients by creating a platform using social media. "It allows an individual who has the expertise and creativity to achieve recognition on a global scale," says Steve Rubel, a senior vice president with New York public relations firm Edelman and creator of the blog MicroPersuasion.com, which covers new forms of communication. "That was once the domain of people who could afford a lot of marketing or public relations services. That still helps, but if you have the time and dedication, you can make a remarkable name for yourself." Putting your message out through various venues also has a cumulative effect on clients' ability to find you, says Rubel. Links back to your site can raise your search engine placement considerably.

-Steve Rubel, a senior vice president with New York public relations firm Edelman, in CyberSocializing: How Planners Are Making the Most of Social Media

I spend so much time hand-holding my clients, handling their emotional distress and helping them solve personal issues, I feel I can claim the title [of financial social worker] honorably. --Karen Altfest

For Karen Altfest, the key to attracting and retaining clients depends more on personal relationships than investment returns. In her book, Keeping Clients for Life, Altfest defines her style as that of a financial social worker. "I spend so much time hand-holding my clients, handling their emotional distress and helping them solve personal issues, I feel I can claim that title honorably." --Karen Altfest

-Karen Altfest, CFP, PhD, of L.J. Altfest Co. in New York City, in Practice Profile: The Listener

A team should be able to address 80% of what they see every day. We don't need three guys doing the same stuff, three hunters all tripping over each other in the same market. --Paul G. Blease

What's the right way to think about a team? I use the concept of an army squad, which is the smallest tactical unit of military personnel. It's a self-contained unit organized around a common endeavor. That's a team. That doesn't mean you can't call on some strategic alliances. A small team of specialists may bring in a sophisticated trust specialist. But a team should be able to address 80% of what they see every day. That's the model. We don't need three guys doing the same stuff, three hunters all tripping over each other in the same market.

-Paul G. Blease, senior vice president, director of team initiative, Smith Barney, in Five Questions with Paul G. Blease

Find out from your coworkers and bosses how you measure up and what you can do to improve. --Ryan Duey, CFP

You may think you've been doing a great job, when in fact, you've been dropping the ball with your coworkers and bosses. Find out from them how you measure up and what you can do to improve. An advisor entering the field today has more access to information, technology and wisdom than did his or her predecessors. Appreciate the advantages this reality brings. And good luck!

-Ryan Duey, CFP, is a planner and investment analyst for Rowling, Dold & Associates, in Tips for New Planners

[You can] get referrals and references by asking the manager to identify the coach used by the most successful advisor in the office. --Carrie Degenhardt-Burke

Picking the right coach is the key to improving your game. There are many career coaches available for hire within the financial industry, some of whom are better than others. A friend of mine who is a branch manager of a wirehouse in New York suggests getting referrals and references by asking the manager to identify the coach used by the most successful advisor in the office. He also suggests that you look for coaches who have been successful FAs themselves. This way they are totally familiar with the daily problems and activities that can both negatively and positively impact your bottom line.

-Carrie Degenhardt-Burke runs Degenhardt Consulting in Jersey City, N.J., in Even the Best Can Be Coached

[Casino cruises] are a great way to meet prospects. We end up booking appointments right off the ship. --Kasie Jacobs

Kasie Jacobs, a financial consultant with Investors Capital in Beverly, Mass., doesn’t mind if her prospective clients gamble. In fact, Jacobs encourages it—but only because she meets many of them during the casino cruises she organizes. “Doing fun things creates a buzz around you,” Jacobs explains. Aim for a trip that’s both fun and informative. Don’t make it an obvious sales pitch. During the cruise, the clients attend a short investing seminar, then have free reign to gamble, dance and dine with their advisor hosts. “I always tell them, ‘If you win anything, you have to invest it,’” says Jacobs. “It’s a great way to meet prospects. We end up booking appointments right off the ship.”

-Kasie Jacobs, a financial consultant with Investors Capital in Beverly, Mass., in OddBall Networking: 6 Unique Ways to Raise Your Profile

Superstars have a unique combination of talent and discipline that allows them to steadfastly—even stubbornly—embrace what they want. --Joni Youngwirth

If there is a skill that distinguishes those at the top of their game, it is a well-honed ability to focus. Superstars have a unique combination of talent and discipline that allows them to steadfastly—even stubbornly—embrace what they want...Attend a training course, get a coach, read a book—do what you can to discover new ideas that support goal attainment weekly.

-Joni Youngwirth, managing principal of practice management at Commonwealth Financial Network, in 7 Ways to Focus Like a Winner

Ask yourself this fundamental question: Do I know how happy my clients are with me, and am I fully leveraging them to help me grow my practice? --John J. Bowen Jr.

It's much easier to garner business from existing clients than it is to attract new clients to your door-assuming your clients are happy with you. Yet only 16.4% of surveyed advisors regularly ask their clients for referrals, while just 10.9% of respondents regularly ask for additional assets to manage. This could be because advisors aren't quite sure how happy their clients are with them. Consider that a mere 2.7% of advisors conduct annual client satisfaction surveys, and just 6.8% say they have a formal way to assess client satisfaction. Ask yourself this fundamental question: Do I know how happy my clients are with me, and am I fully leveraging them to help me grow my practice?

-John J. Bowen Jr., in Benchmark Yourself Against Other Advisors

A smaller stable of clients allows wealth managers to spend more time focused on the client relationship-resulting in better service and, in turn, greater client retention and word-of-mouth marketing. --John J. Bowen, Jr.

One indication that wealth managers employ a more effective business model is their ability to generate greater income and assets while serving fewer clients. For example, wealth managers serve just 101.1 clients on average. The typical investment generalist serves 269.3 clients. This is a key point. Many advisors can't believe that reducing their client base will lead to more income and assets. But the evidence reveals that wealth managers win not in spite of having fewer clients, but because their client lists are smaller. Why? A smaller stable of clients allows wealth managers to spend more time focused on the client relationship-resulting in better service and, in turn, greater client retention and word-of-mouth marketing.

-John J. Bowen Jr., in Getting an Edge with Wealth Management

Consistent good service is far better than inconsistent excellent service. --Deena Katz

Consistent good service is far better than inconsistent excellent service. Consider the story of the carpenter who was renovating a kitchen for a new client. He worked for about three weeks on the kitchen and finished the job on an afternoon when the owner wasn't home. As he left, he deposited two dozen red roses on her kitchen counter, along with his invoice for the completion of the work. Arriving home, the woman was overwhelmed by the gesture and told all her friends what a wonderful job the carpenter had done.

-Deena Katz is an associate professor in the personal financial planning division at Texas Tech University, in Consistency Is Key

Before you agree to the next steps, say to your clients: "So let me sum-up what you want to accomplish." --Katherine Vessenes

The Sum-up Close:
Before you agree to the next steps, say to your clients: “So let me sum-up what you want to accomplish. If we can (work backwards through the flip charts):

1. Meet your expectations by contacting you by phone twice a month
2. Be accessible to you
3. Help you create a plan and stay on track
4. Create an investment plan
5. Give you some investment ideas
6. Help you put together a plan that will help you put your children through college

Then take a deep breath and ask: “Is this what you are looking for in us as your financial advisors?” What you are really doing is confirming the sale of the relationship. No one says no at this stage, because you are feeding back a list of exactly what they told you they wanted. At this stage you say: “Great, then our next steps are to create a financial plan for you. It takes about two weeks, and we should be ready to deliver it to you on May 13th. How does that date work for you?” Of course you write down the next steps on the chart that says “next steps.”

-Katherine Vessenes, in An Effective and Low-Cost Sales Tool for Advisors

If they're living and breathing and they ask me to speak, I'll do it. --Jan Dahlin Geiger

"I'm a huge networker," says Jan Dahlin Geiger. Preferring quality involvement rather than quantity commitments, she's active in just three groups: the Financial Planning Association, the National Association of Women Business Owners and the Professional Women's Information Network. Other nights, she might appear as a financial expert on television, give a speech or attend an event to promote her book, which was published in May. "If they're living and breathing and they ask me to speak, I'll do it," she says. She's talked recently to groups as diverse as parent-teacher associations, Kiwanis, young CPA networking groups and the Georgia Society of Women Engineers.

-Jan Dahlin Geiger, CFP and author of Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies, in Day-in-the-Life: Jan Dahlin Geiger