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You won't find this idea in a book course or workshop. You won't find this idea at a seminar.
Not even at a course or the Internet. In fact, you won't get this information from top performers, but you will find the best idea ever in your own practice with your own clients. It will change the way you think. It will change your business strategies. It will make you take a close look at what you are doing right and what you need to improve on.
This BEST PRACTICE idea will help you grow, develop, and build your practice to heights you thought weren't possible. It will make you understand your business better, even more than hiring a consultant. This one idea may change your business in 2019 and beyond.
If I was asked to give only one idea to build a dynamic financial and investment planning practice, this would be the idea.
Board of directors feedback meeting
Create a board of directors with your top clients and centers of influence. Ask them for feedback and ideas on every aspect of your business from advice to marketing, client appreciation, and client communication. Feedback will keep your ideal clients, and clone them. Imagine if you had 10 new ideal clients in the next 3 months?
Invite from six to ten of your top clients in one meeting for an hour and get valuable feedback on your image, identity, business, and marketing. Then hold a second meeting for your top centers of influence or referral sources. Hold these meetings three to four times a year and buy your "board of directors" lunch for giving you valuable feedback on all areas of your business. It will cost you less than $500 and a few hours of your time.
Add more value every year to your best clients
Each year add more value to your best clients and change the board to new clients and new centers of influence to build relationships. Gain insight as well as referrals from influential individuals. Don’t add more clients, deliver more value to your best clients. Just like coaching and mentoring, it is feedback from the people that use your services to tell you how you're doing. They may give you ideas that you and your coach, manager, or mentor may not see and understand. You can't get that from a book or a course.
Feedback is the key to success.
For example, If I have never experienced being one of your clients for a period of time, how can I give you long term valuable feedback on what you are doing, how you communicate with people, and how your business is perceived? It is this valuable feedback from your top clients and centers of influence that is going to give you the edge over your competitors.
Clone your best clients
A secondary objective is a way to develop referrals and clone your best clients by discussing the fact that you are looking for more clients like them to build your business. Make it clear though that this is not a referral session, but a genuine feedback session for your business. Your best clients will know who your ideal client profile is. They will see that you are working hard on delivering more value to them than any other advisor, when it comes up in conversation, making you more referable. You can also teach your best clients how to refer you, as most of them talk about you, but don’t know how to refer you.
Meeting more ideal prospects
Some advisors have used this as a marketing planning meeting by bringing in their top referring clients and discussing their business plans and discussing meeting more clients at events planned. The clients will tell them the clubs they're associated with, hobbies and activities, and where they might meet them in a casual setting to introduce their advisor to friends and associates in different groups, associations, or settings. You will learn about several types of groups and associations.
Who are your ideal clients?
For example, if you are looking to attract successful entrepreneurs, have successful entrepreneurs focus group or board of directors luncheon. If you have more than one market, then cluster together different types of groups and or have several referral and or focus group meetings. Make sure you discuss the ideal client that you are looking for. Have an agenda set up for the meeting and be prepared to discuss and disclose your business ideas that you are planning to do.
Improve your client communications
Depending on the group, you may also hand out client communication plans for the coming year. Then ask lots of questions, take lots of notes and build it the way your top clients and referral sources can clearly benefit from and help you grow. After all, it's all about them. Don't waste any time. Put this on your to-do list this month!
Related: How Financial Advisor Can Show Prospects What They Are Not Getting