Questions advisors should ask themselves

A whitepaper by Edward Jones – U.S based advisory firm recommends a four step business planning process to achieve 2 times more efficiency in financial planning process and 1.5 times improvement in business.

The white paper asks advisers to answers these questions to achieve sustainable growth.

Assess

1. Where do you stand now? Assess your market situation, your team and your clients.

A great starting point is to create a value proposition.

1. Why should a prospective client do business with you? What do you offer, and what makes you different from everyone else?
2. What is your potential market share?
3. Who are your clients, what do they need and how can you best serve them?
4. What type of potential client has the greatest need for your services? What type of client would you most And what type of client do you enjoy serving?
5. How can you grow and attract new assets?

Plan

1. Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? Define your mission
2. Create your vision – a clear, measurable picture of where you want to be in three to five years. What will success look like to you? Who are your ideal clients? How will success affect your personal life, and how will you know when you have achieved success?
3. Based on your mission and vision, outline broad goals. These should be specific, targeted results or measures, such as new clients/households, new assets and net new assets, deepened client relationships, or service excellence measures.
4. Break goals down into bite-size chunks. What strategies and daily activities will help you achieve your goals?

Execute

1. Use the goals outlined in your plan and break down into achievable chunks.
2. Identify your priorities and tackle them one by one
3. Implement your strategies and daily activities.
4. Document the progress you’ve made, address any obstacles, and hold yourself and your team accountable.

Measure

1. Check your progress regularly, tracking, monitoring and adjusting as needed.
2. As the cycle repeats, reassess each year. Did you achieve last year’s objectives? Why or why not? Have clients’ needs, market conditions or business regulations changed causing a need to rethink your plans? Are there tasks you could give up so you can focus on other work that will bring you closer to your vision?

Source: Edwards Jones, a US based advisory firm.