For those of you who are regular readers of our blog, who like our ideas but have not actually done much with them, then I want to take a little time to challenge you.
This article is a wake-up call, and I hope that I inspire you to participate in the future of Advice rather than being a casualty of it.
One of the biggest contributors to being successful as a professional is to know when to act; knowing when to follow up with a client, when to schedule a meeting or when to employ a new team member are all examples of how acting at the right time drives your success.
I am going to break with our regular format today and speak a little from the heart because I want you to understand that you are at a turning point in your future and that NOW is the time to act if you want to go into that future as a leader instead of being left behind.
I know what it’s like being a busy Adviser and professional. People come at you all day long with propositions and pitches to help give your business the next ‘big thing’. So I’m not going to pitch to you, I’m just going to tell you what I believe to the very core of my being. The coming years are going to bring the biggest changes to Advice-based business that have EVER occurred. Social Business is a fundamental shift in the way that business and clients engage, interact and exchange value. But more than that, it completely changes the economics of Advice. From my experience in working with firms who are already taking action, I would like to give you a few examples of what is possible in your own business. Before you read further, all of these changes can be accomplished irrespective of resources i.e. they are achievable by Sole Practitioners. So what exactly can you do?
- Create a virtual community around your clients that generates ‘raving fan‘ status on Social Media.
- Turn your website into a ‘Know, Like & Trust‘ focused tool that leads prospective clients to take action.
- Create targeted video content that you can email to your clients and have them share with their entire network. Our best result for this is 26 referrals in 1 month from ONE client.
- Build a process that allows clients to refer to you via Social Media (even though it doesn’t feel like a referral).
- Create digital funnels that ‘self-select’ your ideal clients i.e. only the ones you want to engage with.
- Create large email lists of prospective clients and then build automated email sequences that create trust, remove fear, define your value and have prospective clients take action to engage you.
- Create automated email sequences using video that deliver the core elements of your Advice Process i.e. you will never repeat yourself again, so that you can only spend your time delivering the real impact to every individual client.
- Systematise large components of your ongoing client service with Video so that the service feels connected and personal but is scalable i.e. doesn’t require your time beyond setup. For most advisers, this can reduce the number of physical interactions required with a client by 75%. More to the point, the client feels more engaged and there is no loss of ‘personal feel’.
These are just tiny examples of the innovation that we are creating for Advice businesses. In terms of your bottom line, here are the real results these changes can deliver to you and your business over a two year period:
- Doubling the capacity (or halving time commitment) of client facing Advisers to serve clients. In other words, you can service twice as many clientseasily.
- Increasing new business growth exponentially (by however much you want to). In surveying our first year students, the average increase in new client revenue per Adviser in the first year was $57,000, and extrapolated results at second year will be more than double that. I personally have achieved more than $500k in new client revenue from ‘Social’ in one year.
- Decreasing the ‘cost to serve’ for the average advice firm by greater than 30%. This is simply just a case of providing value and Advice in a far ‘smarter’ way, and using the amazing tools that are right there, ready to be applied.
I know some of those results may sound a little farfetched, but I can assure you that they are possible (just chat to some of our clients).
However, the point is that achieving these results takes action, and actually requires you to look up from what you and EVERYONE else is doing to see the changes and opportunities right before your eyes.
Yes I want you to wake up. There are so many people out there who are in need of good Advice and you have the chance to do something about it. As this new service paradigm gains momentum, the first movers will already be unassailable and those who are late will be so noncompetitive that it will be too late. Now I understand that some of you reading this will shelve this as a ‘good idea’ and put aside what I am telling you for a more convenient time. However, the truth is that time will never come. For those of you who would like help in taking a leap out of the rut that has seen professional services stuck in the ‘same old same old’, we think this may be your last opportunity to set yourself as a leader in Advice.
Interestingly I originally wrote this article one year ago before AdviserEdge 2013 and at the time many people responded with positive comments and questions but only a relative handful out of thousands took action. Nothing has changed in terms of my predictions except that they are indeed coming true.
There is a new leadership group within the Advice professions; they are growing exponentially, innovating constantly and their biggest dilemma at the moment is how to scale to keep pace with their growth. For those professionals who have not heeded the call, it’s not too late to create a huge competitive advantage. However, the next 12 months will see a turning of that opportunity because in future years it will be less about leadership and more about struggling to stay relevant.
I hope to see you in The Future of Advice,
Baz