Many financial institutions have created a menu of practice improvement programs for their advisors. While most programs have been focused on growth, cyber security and succession planning in recent years, leading financial institutions are starting to expand into areas such as optimizing the client experience, becoming more efficient and maximizing the benefits of technology. More important: they are creating accountability processes for advisors to achieve the best results from these programs.
| Examples of Practice Improvement Programs | ||
| Career Development | Business Planning | Succession Planning |
| Teaming | Leadership | Financial Benchmarking/Modeling |
| Marketing Programs | Organizational Design | Technology Utilization |
| Operations Review and Analysis | Financial Planning Usage | Growth Programs |
| Time Management | Client Engagement | Employee Management |
Increase Usage of Existing Programs
Financial institutions have developed a menu of practice improvement programs over the years. These programs have varying levels of success and participation. One of the most efficient ways to Accelerate Advisor Success is to increase usage of your existing programs.
A challenge that financial institutions often face is measuring the value and impact that these programs create. While it may be difficult to tie specific financial metrics to each program, every financial institution can start by creating a before and after picture of the value the advisor believes they received from the program. This can be accomplished by simply assessing advisors before and after the program. In the end, the objective of many of these programs is to create value for advisors. By having the advisors self-evaluate, the financial institution will have hard data to measure the value the advisor received.
Finally, using the advisor segmentation techniques in the previous email, financial institutions can target groups of advisors for programs that will provide the most benefit. By understanding specific advisor needs, the institution can match advisor demand with specific solutions.
Example: An advisor identifies the need to deliver a more comprehensive, financial planning solution to their clients but is concerned with having enough capacity to do the work. The financial institution would assign a coach to help them hire a paraplanner or tap into a centralized planning group.
Reinvigorating and measuring the impact of your existing programs is an effective way to drive advisor success without incurring significant additional expense.