Welcome to the spring series of “EVOLVE the RIA Growth Blog.” Over the next couple of weeks, we will feature posts that share spring themes including – growth, evolution, new beginnings, and fresh perspectives. Subscribe today for new updates.
In the previous post, we said strategic efficiency is about knowing what you want to accomplish in your life and your business. Now that you have an idea of your firm’s level of strategic efficiency, you can start to think about ways of improving it.
The general process for achieving strategic efficiency can be broken down as:
- Have clearly defined personal goals.
- Link your personal goals to your business goals.
- Structure your firm and your daily time management to reflect your business goals.
Alignment between these three steps is the key to being productive as discussed in the webinar, Doing More with Less. If you skip any steps, you won’t be able to get to the level of growth you hope to accomplish. Be aware that starting at step one with defining your personal goals is important. It doesn’t matter how efficient your daily processes are if you’re going in the wrong direction. Alignment is key!
So, let’s say your goal is to “grow your business.” What is your plan for achieving that growth? Where will growth come from?
To execute on this goal, you should first identify sources of growth. In other words, what percentage of growth do you expect from existing clients, what percentage from referrals, what percentage from prospecting, and what percentage from centers of influence referrals?
If you expect 90% of your growth to come from client referrals, your budget and time spend each day should reflect that expectation. By breaking down the sources of growth and understanding the degree of influence of each, you can gain a sense of the priority of each source.
The step by step process for implementing this goal into your day is as follows:
- For each source of new business, identify strategies you will implement.
- Turn those strategies into tactics (e.g. process for thanking clients who give referrals).
- Drill your tactics down into specific activities that will be assigned across the team.
Applying these steps will help you sidestep the biggest flaw in most business plans – misalignment between goals and daily time management. By carefully planning your daily time spend, you can better ensure that you’re dedicating the necessary resources to achieving your goals.
To learn more about strategic efficiency, view the webinar Doing More with Less.
About the author:
Andrea Collatz is Communications Manager at Trust Company of America. She blogs on topics including practice management, marketing, social media, and digital strategies for advisors.
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