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Capacity is the number one challenge for #financialadvisors and wealth management. There are only 168 hours in a week, and that is the one thing that is not changing. How can you build more capacity in 2024? Here are some strategies that I have helped financial advisors implement to save them time, and you can too.
Workflows
The easiest way a financial advisor or financial advisory team can increase capacity and improve efficiency is by building team processes. Less than 50% of advisors have adapted workflows, yet it is the quickest way to build capacity. Workflow technology starts with your CRM system. From there it grows into a plan which then turns into a checklist or a process. Finally, it grows into a workflow, which tracks and confirms completed tasks. The book "The Six Sigma way" McGraw-Hill Education; 1 edition (May 18 2000) is all about building successful processes. Cost reduction...productivity improvement...customer retention...these are the promises of the Six Sigma quality management system. The Six Sigma Way reveals how GE, Motorola, and numerous other companies are successfully using Six Sigma to fine-tune products and processes, improve performance, and increase profits. Ask your firm, coach, or mentor about implementing workflows. One team we recently worked with found an 11% increase in time by adapting workflows while reducing errors and frustration, leading to more revenue-generating time and activities.
There are 9 areas to systemize your practice. For example onboarding, ideal client service, and client communications. Each area needs to have a process, and organized in your online filing system for you and your team. Remember years ago we were taught how to find a book in the library. They have a system to find a book. Does your team have a system for finding the processes to do certain tasks, or are they struggling with each task as there are no written processes? Elite financial advisors build checklists for complex repetitive tasks and have templates to use over and over again.
Segmentation
Summertime is the perfect time to segment or re-segment your client base. To build capacity you have to make room for more, not just squeeze more in. Which clients could you segment to another advisor to make room for growth? Your team should know your list of ideal clients and non-ideal clients. The most successful teams grow annually by as much as 17% simply by segmenting annually. If you want my segmentation guide for financial advisors email me at grant@ghicks.com subject segmentation.
Growth
Financial advisors who struggle with growth, turn marketing on and off on a regular basis. They market when they feel they need new ideal clients, and stop marketing when they get overwhelmed. Sound familiar? We all do it and it is human behavior that gets in the way of growth, not marketing. Finding consistent ways and timing is critical to your marketing plan and communication plan. We all use the excuse to spend time with non-ideal clients than going and finding ideal clients because it is easier. The hard part of this business is finding true ideal clients. Elite financial advisors know it takes time to acquire ideal clients, so their marketing is not designed to get clients this month it is built to take clients through their prospect journey and acquire them in the upcoming year. You need ideal clients next quarter and next year, so why would you stop marketing? If you need help with your prospect's journey, reach out to us.
Use more technology -Online meetings and client webinars
One advisor I worked with saved 75 to 100 hours of travel time by offering clients an online meeting. They also communicated on mass to clients through webinars, so clients feel up to date on a timely basis, by connecting online and joining a webinar, hearing a consistent message. You can call 50 clients and have 50 conversations taking 50 hours or do one webinar that takes one hour Your choice?
Who is in charge of technology research in your practice? We hear of great technology solutions from other successful financial advisors, but it takes time to research and implement. Have someone on your team do the research to figure out if it will work for you or not before you spend time on it. Of course, check with your firm or compliance office to see if it will work as well. Who is doing technology research for you? In this 26 page fully updated checklist for 2024, you will discover how elite Financial Advisors leverage technology to get ahead of the curve and become "Future Ready Financial Advisors". https://technology-checklist.getresponsepages.com/
Online calendar
Have you ever played phone or email tag with a client or prospect to find a mutual meeting time, only to get a follow-up email that they want to change it because the time doesn’t work? Then you start the process over again and it takes months to see ideal clients and prospects because they are busy people. Sound familiar. I work with some of the busiest and successful advisors and I can book appointments with them and their teams using an online calendar scheduler. It is a simple but effective tool for you and your staff to book appointments. Check out timetrade ( I Use ) or Calendly or others. Check with your CRM system as all CRM systems should have this feature built-in. This will save you and your staff hours per month on emails and the phone.
Paraplanning
Do you think your accountant puts the data into their software system and prepares your personal and corporate returns? Or do they have an assistant that is trained in the software to prepare everything for the accountant, so they can review and confirm it for their clients? You should be delegating as much as possible on your goals-based planning software to your admin or team members. This will free up 10 hours per new client and if you acquire 10 new clients this year there are another 100 hours saved. Paraplanning refers to the administrative duties of a financial planner carried out by junior members of a financial planning group. The function of a paraplanner was created to allow financial planners to focus on working closely with clients and identifying their investment needs. Paraplanning includes analyzing clients' needs and researching and recommending suitable advice aligned to those needs. ( according to invesopedia.com )
What is your time worth?
If your time is worth $500 per hour then saving 100 hours this year is worth $50,000. This article then can provide great value to your practice, only if you implement it. The challenge is investing time to implement software and train staff. You can also hire this out as well. That is one of the things we do in our Capacity program, help you implement. Implementing software not only saves you time, but staff costs as well. Remember software does better at repetitive tasks and processes than humans. Remember to check with your firm, branch manager or compliance officer before proceeding, as your firm may already software set up for their advisors.
Take more time off and unzoom
We know that the most successful financial advisors take 6-8 plus weeks off per year. The more time off you take the more productive you will be. Think of how much you get done before and after your holidays? Think of how long tasks take when you are tired or non-productive. Now how long does it take knowing you are taking time off to recharge. Being completely unplugged and unzoomed is critical in today's world to build capacity.
Related: Elite Advisors Know Less Is More When Scaling Your Practice