Welcome to the December Issue of ActiFi's People, Process, and Technology newsletter. Each issue features stories, news items, and ideas to help financial advisors improve their business. Please share this E-Newsletter with colleagues and friends.
Table of Contents
ActiFi in the News
ActiFi Case Study - Hallett and Associates
News You Can Use
ActiFi Blog - Old and New World of Data Aggregation
Web Resource of the Month
ActiFi in the News II
ActiFi in the News
This past year has seen a record number of advisors going independent, and there's no reason to think that the trend will slow down in 2010. In the September issue of Registered Rep, ActiFi's Jeff Haines discusses that one of the first things an advisor needs to figure out is which business model to choose. The good news is there are many options. Read the full article...
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ActiFi Case Study - Hallett and Associates
It took Jim Hallett 10 years to build Hallett and Associates to a $100 million AUM firm. But just as Jim should have been celebrating his success, he realized he had some major issues:
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Staff needed to better manage time and capacity in a manner that allowed for optimal client service.
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Profits per client were flat or even decreasing. The firm needed to figure out how to grow internally through efficiencies and through the procurement of ideal clients.
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The business model was entirely based on Jim for its success. Jim worked long hours, had a hard time taking any time off, and worse, the firm couldn't scale because growth was based solely on Jim's ability and talent.
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There was no long-term exit strategy because if Jim left, the firm's value massively decreased.
Jim was too bogged down in daily operations than to think about solving these issues alone. So he called ActiFi.
ActiFi sent a team to Hallett's office to conduct a full Practice Assessment – where was the firm today, and what did it need to change to accomplish its goals and meet its potential. ActiFi…
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Prepared specific recommendations, action items, and timelines to implement the recommendations. The Assessment laid out the core business functions and the people, processes, and technologies needed to execute each function in a way that gave complete clarity to roles and responsibilities.
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Analyzed Capacity to align the right people to the right set of tasks within each process.
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Conducted a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) assessment to determine how Hallett could better make use of CRM to automate tasks, create efficiencies, and simplify the client service process.
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Documented and analyzed the processes the firm executed from the moment of being introduced to a prospect, to establishing the relationship, to the ongoing client service model. Mapping the workflow allowed the team to create a consistent service level now referred to as the "The Hallett Way."
- Created a visual illustration of "A Year in the Life" of a Hallett and Associates client. Shared with prospects and clients, "A Year in the Life" shows all of the work that goes on behind the scenes to service an account, and the value clients receive when working with Hallett.
Results
Hallett and Associates is well on its way to creating a "systematized business" based on consistent processes that are implemented by everybody, every time.
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"Miscellaneous time" decreased by more than 20%. Jim uses this extra time to meet with more prospects which resulted in an additional 20 clients over the last 12 months.
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Even during the economic downturn Jim realized a client retention rate of 98% because he had more time to proactively contact existing clients.
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Jim now focuses his time on activities that directly enable business growth – no more "putting out fires."
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An illustration of "The Hallett Way" is framed and hung on the conference room wall. Now every client has clear expectations on what to expect and Hallett can effectively communicate the firm's advisory process and value proposition.
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"The Hallett Way" allows the firm to scale because processes are no longer just in Jim's head. A prospective buyer will pay a premium because they're not "buying Jim," rather, they're buying a system.
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News You Can Use
Project Management: 8 Steps to On-Time, On-Budget Delivery
Every year, businesses of all sizes embark on new projects. Unfortunately, most projects are doomed to fail outright, or at launch, because the original success criteria were not properly set. Survey after survey shows that American businesses have not been able to figure out how to consistently get products and services delivered on time, on budget, and with the highest quality. The same is true for financial advisors. Learn the eight steps necessary to get your project done right in this CIO.com article...
Consumers Growing Confident
The Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household Index released by the Royal Bank of Canada this month reveals that despite declining in the fall, consumer confidence jumped in the past month to twice what it was one year ago. This confidence was driven by optimistic expectations for the near-term economic future. Read the highlights of the RBX Index study...
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ActiFi Blog - Old and New World View of Data Aggregation
Tom Rozman discusses the old world and new world view of data aggregation. Data is the fundamental driver for business intelligence, especially in the financial advisory world. Building a complete data set that comprises all of a client's investable assets and liabilities allows for better holistic financial planning as well as for the ability to dynamically generate a financial net worth statement. Read more...
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Web Resource of the Month
Two things people are concerned about during the holidays: what gifts to give and how to burn all the fat they gain from eating all the wonderful food. This article from ABCNews provides a guide to selecting gifts that can boost your workouts.
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ActiFi in the News II
ActiFi's Sam Richter discusses how to find already developed prospect lists using Google and other online means. Learn how you too can easily find prospects in ways you never thought possible in this Bank Investment Consultant article.
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