Goal Setting…It’s What It’s ALL About…

As many of you know and as I mentioned in some posts a few weeks ago, it is once again time for yearly strategic planning.  Where and on what will you focus your energy for the next 12 months?

The first part of this process is goal setting…personal and professional.  Personal goals can include goals for your family, your health, your personal finances…anything that goes toward the quality of life you are trying to build on the personal side.

Your business goals include anything involved with your business…revenues, new clients, number of meetings per week, technology & service model improvements, etc.

In their book, The One Thing…You Need To Do by “D” Shannon and David Drucker (click here for the amazon.com link – http://www.amazon.com/One-Thing-You-Need-Do/dp/0976497409/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255388671&sr=1-2) Paul & Leslie Strebel (certified as “E-Myth Consultants”) discuss the 10 most important principles in goal setting.  Here they are:

1.  Your most important goals MUST be yours;

2.  Your goals must be meaningful;

3.  Your goals must be specific and measurable;

4.  Your goals must be flexible;

5.  Your goals must be challenging & exciting;

6.  Your goals must be in alignment with your values

7.  Your goals must be well-balanced;

8.  Your goals must be realistic;

9.  Your goals must include contribution;

10.  Your goals need to be supported.

I think these are excellent guidelines articulated in a well-thought out, meaningful manner.

Not having goals (which usually involve change or evolution) is simply doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  Know what word is that the definition for? Insanity.  Think about it!

As a reminder, I have several worksheets on my website (www.backofficeadvisor.com) for getting you started in strategic planning.  These are available for free download.

Good luck and take care, Ginny

Do You Know What Your Mission Is?

Today I want to talk about your mission statement.  What is it?  Why do you need one?  How do you go about getting one in place?

Your mission statement communicates the soul of your firm to many different audiences.  To your prospective clients, it drives home the fact that you are serious about adding value and positive outcomes to their lives.   To your staff, it reminds them everyday why they are doing what they do and how important their contribution is.  Most importantly, to you, it should serve as a guideline.  When new opportunities come your way, you should remind yourself of your missions statement and ask yourself if this opportunity is in line with where you want your firm to go.

How do you arrive at your mission statement?  Your  mission statement is something that comes from your heart and your head.  It’s a combination of intellectual and emotion.  It is the phrase that articulates why you got into to this business, why you want to be a fiduciary, why that is so important, why you want to be the best at what you do and what is it that you’re going to be the best at?

If you already have a mission statement, congratulations.  You are in the 1% of financial planning profession that has done so.  If not, start to think about it now.  Jott down notes, ask your staff, ask your family.  Then, take some quiet, reflective time and write it out.  Once you have it where you want it to be, frame it and put it in various locations throughout your office as a constant reminder to you and everyone why and how you do what you do so well.

If you’d like some examples, give me a call or send me an email (ginny@backofficeadvisor.com) – take care, Ginny

It’s usually about filling in the gaps…

When I’m asked what kind of work I do with advisors, I say “it’s usually about filling in the gaps”.  Here is what I mean by that.

Nine times out of 10, when an advisor calls me, they  have already built a pretty good firm.  They’re making money (usually not enough but they’re hanging in there) and they usually know exactly where they want to go but they’re not sure how to get there.  Sound familiar?

So, that’s when I come in.  I use a process that examines every aspect of your practice and I benchmark it against where you want to be or what is generally accepted practice management within the industry.  Then, together, we come up with a plan for “filling in the gaps”.  I am a little different from other coaches in that I am also a hands on implementor.  What does that mean?  I’ve done everything from interviewing potential employees, writing their position agreements and confidentiality agreements, writing drafts of newsletters, providing document templates, reviewing compliance manuals…well, I think you get the picture.  See, I believe it’s not enough just to  hand you a plan…you guys are busy and you need someone to actually help you implement it. 

In my opinion, filling in the gaps is what a good business coach does.  They are also the person always looking at the big picture so you can focus on the day-to-day activities of the firm because let’s face it, as a small business owner, this is where most of your energy is spent.  But there is a difference in spending your energy on planned activities that take you toward your goals and just putting out fires.

Bob Veres recently published a coaching report which is free to download on his website at www.bobveres.com.  In it, Bob says “As you can see, the planning profession is fortunate to have a rich and diverse group of people whose business mission is to help you, the planning practitioner, move forward, get over the success hump, and/or achieve your full business potential.”  That pretty much says it all…the folks in this report have a real drive to see you succeed.  That’s where we receive our satisfaction much in the same way you get satisfaction when a client reaches their financial goals.

I would highly recommend you look at hiring a coach to help you get to the next level or wherever you want to go.  After all, why not hire someone who has done this before and can bring ideas and enthusiasm to the table.

Please give me a call if you’d like to talk about how I might be able to assist you (225-751-8009).  Take care, Ginny

What Fall makes me think about…

Ah, September is here…the trees will begin to turn, the air will get crisp and the strategic plans will need to be written and/or updated.

Okay, I know the last one is not part of the traditional fall activities but it should be.  If you’ve read any of my posts before, you know how I feel about strategic planning.

It is the heartbeat of your company.  It is the guide you use to keep you on direction, moving forward, on task, on priority and using your time wisely.  If you have a strategic plan, congratulations but remember, it must be updated for 2010.  If you do not have one, what are you waiting for?  I have templates on my website at www.backofficeadvisor.com that can assist you in getting one in place.  Better yet, give me a call and we can talk about how you get started and how I might assist you.

Fall means alot of things and where your business is concerned, it should mean time to plan for the next year.

Give me a call, Ginny

Office Clutter…time to take it seriously

Okay, I will admit we all have different work styles.  I myself, prefer order.  A place for everything and everything in it’s place.  I like lists…lists of things to do, lists of things I want do…lists.  A way to keep order and compensate for my horrible short term memory.

Still, I occasionally go into client’s offices and what I see is nothing short of a natural disaster.  It looks like a funnel cloud ransacked the place.  Piles of papers, files, post it notes, magazines, books…you get the picture.  And enviably, they tell me, “but I work best in chaos” and to that, I say…what a crock!

Noboby works well in that kind of situation and let me tell you what I believe the biggest reason for this is (in my opinion)…it’s overwhelming, it’s depressing, it’s a big reason that so many people become “frozen” by their daily work and can’t make any progress.

Additionally, when you keep files and loads of paper in your office, you reduce the efficiencies in your office by slowing down retrieval and access by your staff or yourself to documents you need.  They are not where they should be and subsequently, this slows down the flow of work, sometimes to a crawl as you and/or your staff take precious time to search for what they need, many times that being one piece of paper.

Here is a link to a book on amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Office-Clutter-Cure-Don-Aslett/dp/1593373325/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1248962895&sr=8-1# that for $9.95 will walk you through decluttering your office space (and along the way address your excuses for not doing so and the rewards of completing this task).

It might not sound important but it is!  It can, in extreme cases, have a large impact on how much you and your staff get accomplished and feel about your workspace and in very extreme cases, cause a compliance nightmare or something to be dropped or poorly handled for a client.

Now get moving!

Call me if I can assist…Ginny

If you say you’re going to do it, then “DO IT”

Risk questionnaires, IPS’, Client contracts…all necessary in a well run RIA.  However, beware…all of these documents “can and will be used against you in a court of law”.

I recently attended the NAPFA pre-conference compliance day which was excellent.  One of the most important takeaways for me was “if you say you’re going to do it, then you MUST do it and DOCUMENT IT CAREFULLY!  It’s not enough to have a conversation with a client, it must be documented.  Best method?  In my opinion, it’s an email follow up.  Emails are archived and will show proof of your conversation.

Tom Giachetti & Bob Veres played out a wonderful and highly enlightening “mock trial” of an advisor who, despite his best efforts to do what is best for his clients, finds himself being sued by a client who claims various omissions by the advisor.  Of course, the advisor cannot document any of these conversations because after all, there is a trust there right?  Your clients would never turn on you because they trust you.

Advisors are sweethearts…everyone knows this. You truly have your client’s best interest at heart and because of this, you sometimes forego the actions that you know are necessary to protect you and your business because after all, you have this great relationship with your clients right?  What could go wrong?

Plenty…as the old adage goes…”you never really know someone until you divorce them”.  The same is true here…you  never know a client until a lawyer gets a hold of them.  In these tumultuous markets, the scene is set for trouble!

Document everything!  When you have meetings with clients, send them a recap of the decisions/discussions by email.  Set your CRM to get a receipt of delivery if it’s available.  Review your client contracts…are you fulfilling your duties.  Review client IPS’ and questionnaires.  If you asked a client “what is the largest lose in their portfolio they could be comfortable with” and they’re below that, meet with them ASAP.  If your client contract calls for certain services to be delivered and they’re not, either get a new contract signed or get the services delivered.

I know your heart is in the right place but unfortunately, I doubt if I’ll be on the jury.

Take care and call or email me with any questions or comments.

A Great Way to Keep Your Batteries Charged!

I’m sitting here in the Reagan-Washington National airport on my way home from the NAPFA 2009 National Conference.

These guys continually out do themselves and this year was no exception.  The pre-conference session on Wednesday was an incredibly helpful (if not extremely eye opening) look at what is on the horizon,compliance wise, for RIA’s.  Some of it will be only minor if noticeable blips, others will be more substantial.  Over the coming week or two, I will do my best to sort it out for you and send it to you via my blog and my emails.  If I don’t have your email address and you’d like to receive my email communications, please send it to me.

The following days and nights were full of great sessions on a wide variety of topics, lots of time to spend with great exhibitors and evenings of socialization with a variety of sub groups of NAPFA.

I know that many of you are viewing these conferences as a luxury expense but I would argue that during these tough times, they are more important than ever.  They allow you to bounce ideas off of your peers, informally benchmark yourself through conversations and recharge your batteries…remind yourself why you have chose this noble profession and that now more than ever, your skills are needed and are in high demand.  NAPFA’s next few conferences are running lean and mean, under $100 for members and under $200 for non-members.  What a great deal!

Many of the speakers suggested you use this period of time to get you processes in place, train on software, systemize as much as you can and in general, get your office in order for the coming days.  Additionally, focus your energies on your current clients, answering their questions, working with them and in general, keeping them happy and content (if not with the markets, with your service level).

If I can assist in any way, please do not hesitate to give me a call.  Thanks!

Mid-year review

Despite the fact that I cannot figure how it is already Memorial Day, it is.  With mid-year quickly approaching, now is a good time to gather your team (or make some time for yourself if you’re solo) and review your strategic plan.  If you don’t have a formal strategic plan (seriously?), then at least sit down and review where you wanted to go this year and how close you are to reaching that point.

If you have made good progress in your goals, congratulations!  You are managing to keep yourself on track and away from most of the day to day distractions.  You have either outsourced well, hired a competent COO or you’re a great time manager.  Great job!

If however, you have not made much progress, now is the time to look at why you have not.

• What is distracting you from your goals?
• Do you have the right staff or outsource partners?
• Are your clients confident in your abilities and not calling all the time?
• Are you a bad time manager?  Do you work from a model day?
• Are you overwhelmed, under served by staff or outsource partners or just generally drowning?

If any of the above described you, I beg you, get a good business coach to help you sort it out and stay focused and on task.  Hire a competent COO to run your business or switch outsource partners if need be. 

I know it sounds painful but in the long run, you will be so glad you did.  Just ask the folks who are “trucking along…”. 

Let me have your thoughts and input on what is dragging you down.

Thanks@

Get it in writing…

I frequently work with clients who tell me they’re having difficulty with their staff.  No one knows who’s supposed to do what, there is frequent redundancy in work, their are clashes among staff over who is supposed to do what.  Does any of this sound familiar?

If it does, my next question would be, do you have Position Statements for each of your staff including you?  If not, this is more than likely the cause of the discourse.

Again, you’ve heard me say this…most of us did not get into business for ourselves to manage folks.  However, if you’re going to have staff, either you’re going to have to do it or you  must hire someone to do it (those of you who know me know I always advocate the latter…a good COO can solve many of these problems).  However, one step you can take without hiring someone is to make sure everyone in your organization has a Position Statement…a document that lays out very carefully what they are specifically responsible for within your organization.  You write it (or hire someone like me to assist you), knock it around with the staff member until its accurate (there are more than likely things they are doing you don’t even realize and others you assume they are doing and they are not) and then you both sign it.  This document then becomes the basis for reviews, bonuses, etc.

The other thing it does is it clarifies very carefully what everyone is doing.  There is no more bickering over it, no more redundancy and it helps your organization run more efficiently and smoothly.  It also empowers the staff members to make decisions in their area of responsibility and become experts in those areas.

You can also include a comp plan in this document if you’d like.  However, either way, you should share the pages of the document that outline responsibilities with every member of the staff (post them on an intranet, put them in the employee manual but make sure everyone knows what everyone else is doing). 

Let me know if I can assist you in this endeavor. Take care, Ginny

Build it and they will come…

I know, I know…that phrase is used over and over again but it fits perfectly with what I want to talk about.

My clients, for the most part, are experiencing good growth during this period.  Their phones are ringing, they are getting referrals and they are enjoying what they do.  Okay, now does that sound like bragging…not meant to be.  Just a statement of fact. 

Now, I’m not really that surprised because they are focused and committed or they wouldn’t have called me and they certainly wouldn’t pay me.  We work together to identify the holes and what is causing pain and then fill those holes and eradicate the pain.

But, I still wondered, what was happening that caused the door to swing open during this turbulent time and I think I finally figured out (and one of my clients articulated it beautifully).  My clients are ready to receive new clients.  They  have hired the best folks, they have put processes in place, they have a strategic plan and they are positioned to be a resource to their community, their clients, their referrals sources, their friends and their family.

It’s really that simple.  I believe when you are struggling with being so involved in the day to day operations of your firm, you are simply not ready to receive and you are basically self sabotaging yourself.

Not that hard of a concept and yet so many have not figured it out.

Get your shop and your personal life in order…build it and they WILL come!

Take care, Ginny