ActiFi Case Study - JNBA

See how ActiFi helped JNBA become one of America's top financial advisory practices:

Problem
In 2007, Richard Brown, CEO of JNBA Financial Advisors made a decision—he wanted to grow his 30-year old firm. But he had no time to devote to new business, and the firm had limited ability to absorb new clients.

• Each advisor did things their own way—not right or wrong—but there was no consistency in client acquisition, investment management, or the client service model.

• As the firm strived to maintain an exceptional client service level, employee frustration increased as there were bottlenecks and inefficiencies related to internal processes.

• As employee frustration grew, Richard was spending more of his time solving internal issues and less time with prospects and clients and thinking about the firm’s future; Richard wasn't enjoying himself.

• Growth was stagnant and reactive; there was no time to actively pursue new clients.

Richard knew he needed fresh ideas and a business partner to help him get to the next level. So he called ActiFi.

What was Done
ActiFi worked closely with Richard and his team and ultimately helped craft a long-term plan and aided JNBA in implementing strategies and tactics. Specifically ActiFi…

• Helped align the JNBA team on a long-term vision on what the firm could look like.

• Crafted a plan for achieving the vision and helped the firm implement S.M.A.R.T. goal tracking, providing transparency and accountability for each person’s role in achieving objectives.

• Documented the key processes related to the business, and with the JNBA team, optimized tasks and created a streamlined system that eliminated bottlenecks.

• Embedded workflow and tasks into JNBA's CRM program, creating enormous efficiencies, providing task consistency, increasing overall client-service quality, and ensuring accountability.

Results
JNBA created a "systematized business" that has led to impressive growth:

• With the new insight Richard has regarding his business, he is able to step out of day-to-day operational tasks and instead, focus on how to implement new ideas and serve clients in new ways. In addition, he spends substantially less time managing the business and more time with his top clients.

• The firm created a Wealth Management Team for acquiring and serving ultra-high-net worth clients.

• JNBA implemented an aggressive marketing program to acquire new clients and because the firm has a systematized on-boarding process, adding and servicing new clients is consistent and easy.

• JNBA now has advisor accountability for increasing client wallet share and asking clients for referrals.

• JNBA re-wrote job descriptions and compensation plans and embedded key growth and service tasks into its CRM system, providing a visual dashboard for all to see how the team is performing against goals.

• Net-new asset have substantially increased. The firm’s book value has grown dramatically as it’s no longer a business of advisors, rather, it’s a systemized business based on a "JNBA-way" of serving clients.

•  JNBA was recently named the #1 financial services firm in the Twin Cities by Baron's and The Winner's Circle, and the firm now ranks in the top 100 nationally.