Don is a Pennsylvania native and a graduate of Penn State with a BA and MA in Economics. The firm’s primary office is in State College, just down the road from Penn State University. For much of Don’s career, what made him a good advisor and his firm successful was his ability to provide leadership in addition to being an income producer in the firm.

Don was also responsible for delegating work to other advisors and staff and evaluating everyone’s performance. Marketing was done almost entirely by referrals. While Don is very bright and has a capable team, the business operated without a clear vision and strategy was developed as needed. However, there were a number of success factors that allowed Don and the firm to perform at a high level without a vision and clearly articulated strategy.

The people in the firm have great skills. They were able to apply their knowledge and skills to attract and retain clients. The partners recognized the importance of qualified and committed staff. The firm’s biggest expense is staff compensation. Their assistants are devoted and loyal. Everyone in the firm is committed to creating client capital. As a result, they have loyal clients who do not hesitate to provide referrals. Relationship management is a real strength of DAP.

In spite of their success, Don recognized that the firm faced a number of challenges. The firm had no written strategy. They needed a well thought out Business Plan to take their business to the next level. There was also a need to implement a number of robust marketing activities to maintain growth and lessen the singular dependence on referrals.

When we started to work together, Don was 57 and looking to slow down in the next few years. Other partners had to take a leadership role and his son, Chris, a partner in the firm must consider DAP as his business.

From a personal perspective, Don wanted more quality time and more leisure time. For the last three years, Don has been involved in The Covenant Group’s Practice Development Program. In that time, Don has clarified his vision and developed a strategy for DAP. The Structure of the firm has been re-defined with new accountabilities and authorities. They have implemented new systems including a client management system and there is more emphasis on staff training and accountability.

The firm established a new mentoring system to foster the development of younger partners and associates and to facilitate career planning. In January, 2009, Don also transferred his equity interest in the firm to his son, Chris, three years earlier than the original plan. In addition, Don’s son Chris, another younger partner Ted Oyler and a newer associate, Bob Thompson, are involved in Covenant’s Practice Development Program. They are also working ON the business.

In addition, Don and his team have implemented several marketing strategies to supplement referrals such as the use of a baseball suite for introductions, Periodic Reviews with clients and a quarterly newsletter sent to clients, etc.

One of Don’s great strengths is that he is a lifelong learner. He is always looking to learn and grow. Don realized that his firm was successful because they were hard-working artists with good skills. The difference now is that they have combined art and science to assure the firm’s sustainability and successful transition to the next generation.

Norm Trainor is the founder of The Covenant Group, a company specializing in practice development for advisors. For further information, visit his Web site at www.covenantgroup.com.

Norm Trainor is the Founder and CEO of The Covenant Group, a company that specializes in educating and coaching financial advisors and entrepreneurs and providing them with business tools to enhance their performance. He can be reached at norm@covenantgroup.com or 1-877-903-3878 X333.

David Richmond is the head of a financial advisory firm in Jackson, Michigan. His vision is to build a multi-million dollar financial advisory firm. For Dave, the thing that gets his juices flowing is building a business or entity that makes peoples’ dreams become reality. This is true not only for the clients of Richmond Brothers, but also for each of the people who work in the firm. Dave expresses the challenge of growing the business in this way;

“We are asking the question: Can we become world class in Jackson, Michigan? The challenge is to ensure that as we grow, our culture and the people we hire have the same philosophy and the quality of client service is not diluted. We need to step outside the normal box to realize the impossible is attainable. We constantly address the issue: Is our Vision going to test out over time? Clients want the same quality of service and ongoing relationship from every member of our team. As an example, a client told me that each time he has been in our office, he has met a different person and the experience has been outstanding every time. To build a sustainable business, your people have to convey what you are about as well as you do. The client left me a voicemail message: “Every time I walk out of your office, I say to myself, I should call David and tell him that your people are living your vision. I called to leave the message that your dream is a reality.”

“You have to deliver phenomenal service because it is the only thing you can control. However, when you combine great service and outstanding performance, you will do really well. We made some difficult calls during the financial crisis that really paid off. As a result, the number of introductions, recommendations and referrals from clients has exploded. They differentiate our advice from others and it is paying off really well. It is a commitment to excellence and never lowering your standards. The client experience is consistent no matter who they deal with.”

Richmond Brothers is a wisdom-based organization. This involves a commitment to continually learning and growing. They survey every client who does business with them. Dave describes it this way: “We want to ensure that they have a great experience. To do that, you have to have A+ people on your team. It is the interaction your people have with clients that make a difference. It is also a great way to do business because it is fun and expresses where our passion lies. Our mantra is simple, have we made a difference in the life of another today?”

Dave’s job is to allocate human resources and capital to execute the firm’s Vision and Mission. It is to put their people in the best position to succeed.

“We hire people who are excellent at doing what we don’t do well. We not only empower people; we enable them. We give them the resources to execute decisions that make a difference. On the relationship side, everyone in the office has the capability to give something to clients. If something happens in a client’s life, they can send flowers to them that day. The power of sending flowers that arrive in two hours is so great. Each person on staff has the power to do it. We track random acts of kindness. Our people are expected to find ways to make a difference in peoples’ lives. In each staff meeting, we ask: How did you make a difference in someone’s life?”

It is humbling to listen to Dave. One of the characteristics of great leaders is generosity of spirit. Dave is warm and generous by nature. That is also true of Matt Curfman, his business partner, and each member of the Richmond Brothers’ team. Earlier this year, my father died. I learned of his death while facilitating a workshop that Dave and Matt attended. The next day, a large bouquet of flowers was delivered to my home from Richmond Brothers. The fragrance from those flowers filled the house. These acts of kindness raise the human spirit and bring out the best in us.

Dave’s personal Mission Statement is laminated in his shower. It is what he is living for. Dave believes that it is important to see it every day. It helps him to clear the fog off the mirror. The Mission Statement is as follows:

My mission is to make a positive difference in the world especially in the lives of children, starting with my own and extending to all of God’s children, in particular those without opportunity and those in need. I will accomplish this by establishing a legacy. This living legacy of habits and behaviors will teach three principles.

To educate so that when given the opportunity one is prepared to succeed. To teach individuals to recognize and develop their own gifts and talents so they may go into the world and make a difference in their own way. You don’t have to become someone special, by being, you already are special.

I want to teach and instill character; to help kids know the difference between right and wrong, and have the courage to act upon that knowledge.

I would like to contribute my time, my talent and my treasure to human-kind; I would like to teach people the joy of giving of oneself and one’s resources. Not because they had to, or should, but because they want to for the joy of giving itself and the internal knowledge of the joy they bring to another.

Don’t be like water flowing down the mountain taking the path of least resistance, take the hard road, it’s less traveled.

Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb that is where the fruit is.

When times get tough and the road you are traveling seems all uphill, rest if you must, but don’t you quit, because success is failure turned inside out, it may be near when it seems afar.”

Dave Richmond is realizing his vision of building a sustainable business every day and having fun doing it.

Norm Trainor is the founder of The Covenant Group, a company specializing in practice development for advisors. For further information, visit his Web site at www.covenantgroup.com.

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For more information on the program use the contact form and a Representative will contact you with more information.

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For more information on the program please use the Contact Form and a Representative will contact you with more information.

For more information about the program please use the Contact Form and a representative will contact you with more information

Let me give you an example. Matt is a successful 56-year-old advisor with 600 clients. His clients are
typically retirees and pre-retirees. Matt works about 50 hours a week. His biggest frustration is that he
does not spend enough time working with the right clients. Matt’s highest value work is face to face
with the right prospect or client in a situation that leads to a sale. Yet, he averages about 10 hours a
week of selling time. Only 20% of his work is of the highest value; 80% of his time is spent on lower
value activities. If he can reverse these percentages, his business will grow by 50 to 200% within a
year to two years.

This is what we did. In the first year we worked together, Matt grew his business by 64% and the
second year by 91%. Cumulatively, the business grew by over 300%. But the real benefit to Matt is
that he is now doing work that he is really good at and truly enjoys. He is working fewer hours and
having more fun. The solution to Matt’s problem was quite simple. All he had to do was re-think and
then, re-engineer his Practice Workflow.

Businesses are built on replicable processes. A process is a pattern or methodology that is
distinguishable, repeatable and transferable. Before we started working together, Matt did not have a
well thought out Practice Workflow. Top advisors distinguish themselves by asking the right questions.
It is also true of a coach. One of the first questions I asked Matt was: “How do you use your Client
Relationship Management (CRM) system?” Matt responded by saying: I use it to keep in touch with
clients by phone or email.” As we talked, it became clear that Matt viewed his CRM as an electronic
rolodex; this is fairly typical of mature financial advisors. They utilize only a fraction of technologies’
potential to improve workflows. “Have you segmented your clientele in your CRM?” “We’ve been
planning to, just haven’t had time” answered Matt. “How do you manage your most important
relationships, for example, your Top 20?” Matt indicated that his management of client and
prospective client relationships was reactive and undisciplined.

Analyzing Practice Workflow helps you to define the activities within your business. By clearly
identifying sets of activities (processes), you can start to create consistency within your business.
Understanding and applying Practice Workflow creates effectiveness at multiple levels: advisor,
associate advisors and staff. This strategic view of your practice enables you to maximize the
usefulness of capabilities such as your CRM.

Working with Matt and his staff, we identified the Practice Workflow as a five step process: 1. Internal
Marketing; 2. External Marketing; 3. Sales; 4. Client Service Delivery; and 5. Client Relationship
Management. These processes are inter-related. When your Practice Workflow functions at a high
level, the activities are seamless. Internal Marketing becomes a means of creating client intimacy and
leads to future sales, introductions, recommendations and referrals.

The re-engineering of Matt’s practice began with a re-working of his Ideal Client Profile [The Right
Client], Client Segmentation and the implementation of his 8 robust Marketing Activities [4 Internal
Marketing and 4 External Marketing]. Matt’s CRM facilitated the proactive management of client and
prospect activity and the delegation of Marketing and Client Service activities to his staff. Matt was
freed up to focus on what he does best – attract and engage new clients and expand existing client
relationships.

Over the last 30 years there  have been three paradigms that  have dominated in financial  services: sales, marketing and  business. A paradigm does two  things: 1. It establishes the  boundaries within which we  operate; and 2. It defines the rules  for success. Understanding each  of these paradigms is integral to  your success.

In the ‘70s and early ‘80s we  operated within the sales  paradigm. To be successful then,  you had to master the art of  selling.  In the late ‘80s and most of the  ‘90s, financial services was  dominated by a marketing  paradigm. To be successful then,  you had to master the art of  marketing.  Today, we’re operating within  the business paradigm. And to be  successful today, you have to  master the art of business.

As each paradigm changes, it  puts the prior paradigms in a new  context. Let’s see how  understanding and being able to  adapt to and work within the  changing paradigms can help  financial advisors become  successful by looking at each  paradigm in more detail.

Sales Paradigm Thirty years ago, our industry was  in the sales paradigm. Basing their  business success on sales  strategies, advisors faced issues  such as figuring out how to sell  complex products like life  insurance or equities and fixed  income investments.

Success as a financial advisor  meant becoming an expert at  tracking activity ratios and using  common tools such as the Granum  System or one-card system, and  Counsellor Selling. Successful  insurance advisors in the ‘70s  were great prospectors who  excelled at face-to-face selling  and closing. Investment advisors  built their clientele through social  prospecting and effective  telephone solicitation.

Marketing Paradigm In the late ‘80s the paradigm  changed from sales to marketing.  The barriers that separated all the  financial services players—the  trust companies, banks, securities  firms and insurance companies—  blurred. The key challenge  advisors faced was no longer,  “How do I sell?” but, “What do I  sell and where do I make my next  sale?”

In the marketing paradigm the  focus moved from being able to  sell a product, to being able to  market a service, for example, the  “planning” service, whether that  was financial planning, retirement  planning, estate planning, or  investment planning.

Achieving success in this  paradigm meant developing  marketing plans and  implementing six to eight robust  marketing activities that created  separation in the marketplace  and established your brand.

It was the marketing  paradigm that led some of the  leading insurance companies to  redefine themselves as wealth  management companies, not  risk management companies.  Banks became dominant in the  trust and securities sectors. For  financial advisors, the key to  success wasn’t a “close”, but a  long-term relationship. And the  archetypal system for this  paradigm was relationship  selling. This program taught  advisors how to build a  “relationship for life” and cross-  sell a myriad of products.

Business Paradigm In the late ‘90s the marketing  paradigm gave way to a new  order: the business paradigm. In  the business paradigm, the key  challenge isn’t establishing  brand, it’s about building a  sustainable practice with  growing revenues and  increasing profitability. The  business paradigm focuses on  utilizing systems capability to  maximize profit.

Each Paradigm puts the Prior  Paradigm[s] in a New Context. It’s important to understand that  when a new paradigm evolves,  it puts the older paradigm in a  new context. Today, a financial  advisor could be the best face-  to-face salesperson and still be  making only a fraction of  his/her potential. Similarly, an  advisor could be an expert  marketer, and not have a  profitable business.

For example, the marketing  paradigm changed the sales  meeting from one where the  advisor focused on selling a  product (making a transaction) to  one where the advisor focused on  making a sale in a way that makes  the next sale easier, either by  building repeat business or by  benefiting from introductions,  recommendations and referrals.  The business paradigm changed  the focus of marketing from  making the sale easier to  establishing brand in the  marketplace that helps build the  business’s profitability.  This has implications for the  level of capability required in the  advisor. Specialists in  organization design use “stratum”  to indicate the level of complexity  of work in a role and,  correspondingly, the level of  capability of an individual to  handle complexity.

Someone capable at Stratum I can follow a method and can work on tasks intended to take no more than three months to complete. Stratum I roles typically include receptionists, bank tellers, machinists, etc.

Someone capable at Stratum II can make a judgment based on several factors judged together and can work on projects up to a year in length. A solid, entry- level insurance salesperson capable at Stratum II will consider a client’s investments, income, expenses, liabilities and life goals to determine the best policy for them and may take six months to turn them from a name on a list into a client.

It takes at least Stratum III capability, with a time frame up to two years out, to succeed in the marketing paradigm. This approach to financial services requires the advisor to work actively on where their business will be a year or more into the future. It also requires them to do “serial processing” which is planning one’s work in at least three steps so that an action taken (A) will lead to a result (B) which will then lead to the goal. As an example, the advisor may make a sale to several prospects in a chosen segment (A) so that they can act as referrals (B) to make a future sale easier (C).

To effectively build a business or practice that is sellable requires at least Stratum IV capability where one can work on tasks up to five years in length using “parallel processing” in which one integrates a number of series. Here’s how the Stratum IV advisor might talk about business building.
“I want our agency positioned as the financial services agency in the area for professionals. I’ve got Chris, Sandy and Leslie each following step-by step plans to target the physicians’, lawyers’ and dentists’ markets. I am working with them so their efforts build off of each others’. At the same time, I am building up the support staff so it will be prepared for the first wave of new business in a year-and-a-half and the next wave in about 3-years. I’m also developing, testing, refining and implementing a prototype system to analyze where our business comes from and the costs associated with each source to help refine my business strategy.”

In order to build a sellable business you have to co-ordinate marketing, selling, client service, administration, financial and business management, planning etc. This requires parallel processing.

Today, the competencies required to be a successful financial advisor are more complex and wide-ranging. Financial advisors require not only marketing and sales competencies, but also business management, financial management and resource management capabilities. One of the reasons why so many advisors are frustrated and not achieving their potential is that they are playing the game by the old rules. They are still operating as if a sales or marketing paradigm defined what is required to be successful.

Today, the boundaries have changed and the rules for success are different. Our Practice Development System equips financial advisors to “win” in a business paradigm.

Herb is the coauthor, with Norm Trainor, of Best Practices: Training and Development, Carswell Thomson’s international bible on Training and Development, a speaker and trainer specializing in management and organizational effectiveness.

For further information on Norm and Herb and The Covenant Group, visit www.covenantgroup.com.

The way most people answer the “So, what do you do” question is so mundane that they become part of the undifferentiated masses. You become invisible. When I ask people what they do, I hear answers like; “I’m an accountant” or “I’m an insurance agent” or “I’m a real-estate agent”. It’s the same every time. When you introduce yourself like that, chances are the person you are talking to never understands the unique value that you bring to the world. You never pique their curiosity. They rarely ask additional questions. You remain invisible.

Here’s a better way. Instead of telling people the “what” of what you do, start with the “result” of what you do. For example, the accountant could say… “I help people reduce taxes”. If anyone said that to me, I guarantee I would reply, “Wow… how do you do that?” And the accountant now has permission to tell me his customer attraction story.

Your goal is to say what you do in a way that makes the person you’re talking to say…. “Wow, how do you do that?” For example, the insurance agent could say, “I protect people’s dreams”. The Real Estate agent could say, “I help people avoid the three biggest mistakes home buyers make”. You know you’ve done this step right if they say, “Wow…how do you do that?”

I’m a professional speaker and sales consultant… but that’s not how I answer the question. When people ask what I do I say, “I help businesses attract more customers”. I’ve never met a business person that wouldn’t like a few more customers. And as soon as some one asks, “how do you that” I say, “well, I was recently hired by a large insurance company….” And I go on to tell my customer attraction story.

Note: Your answer has to be something you’re completely comfortable with. You have to own it. Get creative. Have fun with it. You will probably have to try a few on before one really fits.

So how about you… how do you answer the “what do you do question? The next time some one asks, I challenge you to come back what short little comment that makes them asks, “how do you do that?

It’s easy, it’s fun…. And it will engage prospective customers every time.