All of my business owner friends are becoming better business people. That's why it's called a correction. During times of excess we get sloppy. We didn't even realize it was a time of excess. We just thought we were finally getting all that we deserved. It's supposed to be this easy, right? Simply put, average people were getting above-average results because of the economic tail wind, not necessarily their true abilities. When the tailwind ends the results migrate back to their rightful owners. Much like lottery winners almost always wind up broke again. Where does the money go? Back into the hands of people who earn it.
For example, a billionaire lives in our neighborhood. (Actually, his home in our community is his warmer-weather second home where he spends just a couple of months each year.) I met him once at a party – 4 years ago. He's very nice, seems approachable, and I always thought it would be a good idea to get together with him to learn more about his perspective about success. Perhaps I would get a few nuggets to be a better businessman. But I was too busy. Times were too good. Last week, while he was out for a walk in the neighborhood, I pulled my car over and asked if he would be amenable to a meeting. He said, "sure!" He's on my calendar for tomorrow. How much better might my business decisions have been if I had done this on one of the dozens of opportunities I squandered during the past four years? Too busy to meet with a billionaire!
The question is what can you do now? How do you get strong when times are difficult and carry that strength into the next boom so the subsequent bust has less effect on you and your business?
First of all, be hard on yourself about your mistakes. Hard enough to do something about them, but not so hard that you become immobilized. It is what it is. Move on. Yes, I was a bonehead for not stopping the billionaire to schedule a meeting on one of his many walks in our neighborhood during the past four years. It's history. I made my peace with my stupidity and now I've done something about it. Lesson learned. Case closed. Next.
Be committed to seize the current opportunity. As I've written in previous columns, this is a great time to be a financial advisor. Everyone is conscious about their money, but few have a plan of action that's being implemented. It's up to you to step in and fill the void of leadership.
Grab your calendar by the proverbial tail and make time for new client acquisition. I recommend 15 hours per week for experienced advisors and more for rookies, maybe much more. Your biggest challenge may be the tug you feel to spend all of your time "nurturing" your existing clients. Of course you should do some of this, but don't burn all of your time with your existing clients.
I was visiting one of our industry's major broker / dealers this week and during lunch their CEO told me the story about his early career as an advisor. He was torn between his commitments in life. He had a young family, his career needed plenty of attention to be successful, and he had hobbies he was passionate about. His wife helped him solve his dilemma by telling him this, "Your family will take up as much time as you will give us. No matter how much you give we will want more. So, you will have to decide for yourself how to divide your time among your priorities." Sage advice.
The point I took away from that story is that you will have to decide for yourself how much time you give to your existing clients and how much time you invest in new client acquisition. It's possible that no matter how much time you give to your existing clients it will not seem like enough. This is simply too good of time to go out and get new clients to not invest a consistently large amount of time every week to acquire new clients. I would hate for you to reflect on this period of time in a few months and regret having not seized the day to add new Ideal Clients.
Heed the wake-up call of this business correction. Cut the fat. Improve operational efficiencies. Refine your systems and processes. Build momentum to carry into the next boom. Keep your antenna up for opportunities.
It’s a great time to be a Financial Advisor!
