As many times as you have urged your clients to set goals for themselves, as frequently as you have goaded them to make a bucket list and a plan for pursuing the items on it, how often have you actually practiced what you preached?
Whether or not you buy into New Year's resolution-making, as a financial or insurance professional, you know the value of articulating and setting goals. So, with the New Year looming, the question must be asked:
What's on your personal & professional 2016 bucket list?
We posed that question to folks in the advisory community, and from the practical to the pie-in-the-sky, they shared with us the goals, passions and milestones they're intent on pursuing next year and beyond. So, what's on your list?
On the next pages, your fellow advisors offer a glimpse at theirs:
Practice development & strategy
Add to my team one or two likeminded advisors with an existing book of business:
"I have reached about as far as I can alone in growing my top and bottom line. A new advisor will not only bring new assets and cost-compression, but also can serve as a great sounding board and a resource for discussing client needs."
- Rich A. Schuette, CFP from Avalan Wealth Management, Santa Barbara, California.
Identify a firm to acquire:
"The [possibility of making an] acquisition is exciting because it creates a triple win! I believe we have the best firm available (while still leaving room for improvement) and when such an acquisition is done correctly:
• Clients win with better service than a solo could provide.
• The seller of the practice wins because they can move on to the next phase of their life confident that their clients are being served extremely well.
• We win because we can more fully utilize the system we've built and enjoy the revenues that come with that utilization."
- Jim Beverley, CLU, ChFC, CFP from Partners Wealth Management, Naperville, Illinois.
Develop and implement an optimistic, proactive marketing plan:
"The goal is not to rely on the kindnesses of our clients to provide referrals, but to take command of the situation in order to open up new markets and territories. We do work with a business coach and really, this does mean accountability. Otherwise, it's easy to slough off, as we're doing fine now but underachieving."
- Howard Erman, CFP, EA from Erman Retirement Advisory, Seal Beach, California.
Find a successor to sustain my practice:
"I am working closely with my broker-dealer to find a succession partner to take over my business when I step down. They have to be of the same basic mindset as I, in that they agree that professional money management is best for most clients. They have to be younger than I. They have to have their own book of business, though it can be smaller than mine."
- Jon L. Ten Haagen, CFP from Ten Haagen Wealth Management, Northport, New York.
Provide myself plenty of time to develop a succession plan for my practice:
"My succession plan is working very well because we've taken four years to implement it. We started talking about succession and preparing clients mentally for it by having one of our successors in each client meeting for the past few years to develop their relationship. Also, I am not really gone!
I still work part-time for my successors and my former partner. I'm seldom at the office, but I still make a point to answer client emails promptly from home. I still meet with clients of my/their choosing, and I still write the firm newsletter and email blasts, so clients still feel connected to me."
- June Schroeder, CFP, RN from Liberty Financial Group, Elm Grove, Wisconsin.
Professional habits
"Live and work by the TIME acronym:
T
For technology: Embrace a piece of technology that I am not currently using in order to better manage practice or clients.
I
For improvement: Identify three reasons why I wouldn't do business with myself and then take action to change that.
M
For motivation: Motivate three or more centers of influence to make me their first choice when it comes to referrals.
E
For engagement: Find one new way (outside what I'm already doing) to connect with the community for reasons other than business development."
- Jillian C. Nel CFP, CDFA from Legacy Asset Management, Houston, Texas.
"1) Make presentations at two colleges or universities to help recruit women to the financial/insurance advisory industry.
2) Mentor two young female advisors to help them build their practice and visibility within their firm and within the industry."
- Heather Ettinger from Fairport Asset Management, Cleveland, Ohio.
Take photos of everything in the office:
"I mean everything, so you see the detail of items. My offices were gutted by fire in May 2015 and we are still rebuilding the business. We should be back in the original (totally rebuilt) office space by February or March of 2016. I am taking so much time trying to remember everything that was in my office before the fire. Without the photos, (which are also good proof of ownership) you have to remember, and that's tough."
- Jon L. Ten Haagen.
