Prospecting, client meetings and closing deals consume so much of a financial advisor’s time that setting long-term goals and working on the business often get postponed. But MDRT members who have overcome business-planning procrastination have found that study groups, one-on-one business coaches and peer groups can all create focus and provide the accountability they need so they don’t neglect working on the big picture.

Mindset adjustment

Advisors can get caught up in believing that their practice will suffer if they dial down on client-facing activity, as it’s those interactions that drive revenue. However, profitability and efficiency also depend on the systems within the business working well, and that goes beyond the advisor’s role.

“We work in a career that has such a magnetic pull to it and an impact on clients that is so rewarding relationally and financially. To turn away from that to work on your company can actually feel like you’re flailing because there are too many places to start and too many ideas,” said John J. Demboski, CFP. “Also, success can become a trap. It’s easy to believe you no longer need to improve.”

When the 20-year MDRT member was invited into a study group, it opened his eyes to the areas in his business ripe for strategizing and helped him take on tasks like assembling human resources manuals, conducting employee reviews, structuring a company to minimize taxes, accessing technology needs and scrutinizing AI tools.

“Working on your business requires a third-person point of view,” Demboski said, adding that he needed that “external force” to change his mindset about business planning. “Most financial professionals are largely illiterate to the terminology and the concepts pertaining to business management. The result is that advisors looking to work strategically on their business have a very difficult time figuring out where to take that first step.”

In addition, the stimulation that advisors realize from client relationships is more emotionally rewarding than working to improve the business, particularly since seeing the return on investment from activities like revamping hiring practices or documenting client onboarding is not as immediate. That’s why seeking a method that is equally rewarding is key to getting motivated to make business changes. 

“Make strategy planning emotionally rewarding by choosing a method that suits your personality,” Demboski said. “If you prefer one-on-one coaching over group dialogue, go that route. Dive into one business improvement at a time. The most important thing is to start with a strategy you enjoy, so you’re motivated to follow through.”

Accountability matters

Whether it’s through a coach, a peer group or a study group, connecting business planning with an outside party makes advisors more purposeful about working toward change.

“It puts your feet to the fire,” said Sarah Helen Hogan, ACII, a nine-year MDRT member. “If you’re the business owner, hopefully you’re quite good at holding other people accountable, but who will hold you accountable?” she said.

Hogan is working with a planning coach on a structured three-year program with meetings every three months, focusing on topics like marketing and client segmentation. Owning a business can be a lonely pursuit, and “it’s not always appropriate to discuss business planning with your team,” she explained.

“Even with people at the senior level of the business, you often don’t want to worry the team over it,” Hogan said. “So, it’s a case of having that support as well as somebody external who you can bounce ideas off and discuss what’s really going on in your business.”

Aaron Kane, B Bus, AFA, an 11-year MDRT member, said accountability is a priority in his peer group, and “we always say it’s a safe place.” Members of the group often call each other out on approaches they consider lacking, and the advice is never considered personal.

“We say ideas are always open to getting pulled apart,” he said. “Someone in the group will report on their activity for the week, and I’m like, ‘Mate, this is your goal for the year? That seems a bit poor.’ So, we’re always about pushing each other in a safe place and in
a nice way.”

Peer groups, study groups and coaches are also about establishing structure, said Joel Phillip Campbell, a 20-year MDRT member.

“It works well for someone who needs that structure and feels good about going in,” Campbell explained. “It allows them to work on the business instead of just dealing with clients.”

The good and the bad

Establishing a plan for business strategy and improvements can sometimes feel like three steps forward and two steps back, but trial and error are just part of the challenge. Seasoned MDRT members have a unified message: Don’t give up. Hogan adds that in most cases, advisors don’t have to start from scratch.

“I always think there’s no point reinventing the wheel; if there’s something that you want to focus on, there’s always someone out there who’s already done it, so just go out and find them,” she said.

The leadership training program her team has engaged in has worked, but it takes a continued effort to stay on track. “I think they need constant reminders and the coaching from us internally to make sure they’re utilizing those skills,” she said.

Success is not a one-size-fits-all equation and finding the right fit is key. Mindy S. Helfrich, CDFA, CLTC, a 10-year MDRT member, said she prefers small study groups.

“I’m very relational, and I can talk to anybody and make friends. I like to connect,” she said.

For Helfrich, small groups provide greater value because of the relationships she’s able to cultivate. She has also intermittently received help from coaches.

“You have to take breaks from coaching, though, because you have to actually implement your objectives,” she said. “Every time I do coaching, it changes my practice so drastically that I eventually need a break from the coaching program so that I can work on the objectives that I laid out with that coach.”

Not every experience with an external force is going to make sense. Campbell learned this lesson at a previous job when coaches were brought in to motivate the staff of roughly 12 advisors.

“They came in with an agenda to set revenue targets for clients,” he said. “It was all about: If your clients aren’t paying this much, then you need to be dealing with different clients.”

But the firm’s niche market was schoolteachers planning for their retirement, and there usually was a ceiling for what they could be charged. The practice moved on to another coaching team that concentrated more on leadership. The experience inspired Campbell to work harder in the planning stage to understand the goals of the business and the advisor and locate coaches who can align both.

“We educate the coach on our business and get a lot more detail now to find out what the coach is going to do for us,” he said.

Kane also used a coach, and that effort to push him to stop undercharging clients worked. It was a crucial move for Kane, who works in Australia and faced regulatory reforms that changed advisor compensation from a commission model to fees. Under the new guidelines, advisors were required to get every client to agree upfront to a flat fee on an annual basis. “One of the first things the coach did when he came to the business was tell me I was undercharging,” he said.

Kane was coached on how to approach each client to discuss substantial increases in his compensation. “That did mean turning a lot of clients away, maybe 100 or so actually switching off — still working with us as a product holder but not like a paid client who’s engaged and receiving advice,” he said.

The result: Kane’s firm cut its client base in half to 150 clients and quadrupled its revenue. That 18-month process also helped him reach a new understanding on how to deal with clients. It also freed up more time for working on the business and his personal life.

“I was able to build up the team and have more time for my family,” he said.