Solid white Apple’s stores were the rage, and now Microsoft has the same stores.  Movie theaters used to be dirty and have small seats, until luxury theaters came, and now you can have sushi and wine with your movie while relaxing in a big leather recliner in most major cities …. Imitation!  A cup of coffee used to cost a dollar and come in a bad white styrofoam cup, and then came Starbucks, and now you can’t find the dollar coffee even if you wanted it. Imitation again!

Same is true OF OUR industry.  Witness managed money and the legendary Shearson Consulting Group that fostered the entire SMA industry and fee based consulting.  It worked and so everyone followed.

So, if we want to be the best, let’s look at what the most successful are doing and where they are headed.  As Wayne Gretzky pointed out the key is to go where the puck is going to be not where it is.

As a consultant to wire house and independent advisors I get to see the best at work every day.  They all have some similar traits but let’s start by defining the best as High Performing Teams (term used by custodians in doing their annual surveys which focus on the independent space).  Here are the statistics from that study:

Average Revenue 2015: $8,258,000

5yr CAGR: 15%

Average revenue per employee on team: $500,000

Average number of HH’s serviced per employee: 42

The most successful teams exhibit similar characteristics:

1. They are specialists not generalists

There is something that makes them different when they are talking to a prospect.  In some cases that is being a specialist in a certain type of business such as working with C Level executives while in others it is working with a specific type of client such as Doctors.  The key is they have a target market and once they get in front of that market they look different (read better) than the competition because they understand that prospect better.

2. They have a dedicated marketing plan written out and measured for success regularly.

This is not just an idea…. we will pick up accounts by referrals for example… this is what we as a team will do each day towards being able to ask a client for a referral, how many times a year each client will be asked along with when and how.  The plan won’t rely on one vertical but will be focusing on multiple marketing efforts in which each equally defined, branded and speak to how they will manage that success (in flow of new accounts).

3. They can describe their investment philosophy in under a minute and have dedicated personnel to help implement.

Their description might be as simple as we seek market like returns with less volatility thru strategic, non-correlated asset allocation but they won’t say “well, that’s based on your goals.”  Most of the most successful teams have dedicated personnel running very specific portfolios that were created (models) that all their clients invest in that can easily be measured daily.

4. Most all have employed a Structure where employees manage client relationships with or for the advisors to create leverage.

All advisors hit walls where there just isn’t any more time in the day to handle more clients.  The most successful have figured out how to leverage that with younger advisors who manage the day to day affairs of the client leaving the senior adviser free to focus on bigger issues and pursue new clients.

5. Nearly all these successful teams understand what drives their profitability.

They know that being the solutions provider and problem solver for clients, making them feel Peace with their finances, and driving the marketing machine are what drives profits.  Likewise, they know that systems and back office management, reports and software, while all vital to the practice, do not and either are outsourcing more and more functions or at a minimum hiring people so competent that they spend no time on those areas.

Are you a High Performing Team?