AF 14indicators

14 Signs
You're
Killing Your
Business
14 Signs You’re Killing Your Business
Copyright © 2007 by Horsesmouth, LLC. All rights reserved.
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ISBN
Contents
Introduction: 14 Signs You’re Killing Your Business..................................................4
Symptom 1: You’re confused about “sales.” ................................................................5
Symptom 2: You lack discipline.....................................................................................6
Symptom 3: You’re neglecting your spouse and family..............................................7
Symptom 4: You’re too intrigued by greener pastures...............................................9
Symptom 5: You’re hanging out with the wrong people............................................11
Symptom 6: You think: “I can’t afford an assistant.”..................................................12
Symptom 7: You’ve got malfunctioning systems........................................................14
Symptom 8: You think all clients are created equal...................................................16
Symptom 9: You have no accountability team............................................................18
Symptom 10: Partnering without a prenuptial agreement........................................20
Symptom 11: You have no operations manual...........................................................22
Symptom 12: You poorly communicate expectations...............................................24
Symptom 13: You can’t delegate authority..................................................................26
Symptom 14: You have no succession plan................................................................28
Final Thoughts ....................................................................................................30
Copyright © 2007 Horsesmouth, LLC. All rights reserved. It is forbidden to copy or transmit this report in any manner.
Unauthorized use, reproduction or distribution of the material contained in this report is a violation of federal law and
punishable by civil and criminal penalty. For permission and more information, contact reports@horsesmouth.com.
3
14 Signs You’re Killing Your Business
By Al Depman
Introduction
ost advisor failures happen slowly, over years. Often, it’s just one or two
M easily overlooked errors that deliver the knockout punch. Here are 14
symptoms to watch for and what to do to correct them.
The financial service profession suffers from a chronic high turnover rate
among advisors, agents, and planners. It is considered a success if one in four
rookie advisors survives into his or her fourth year. Practicide, or the destruction
of one’s own business, is rampant in those early years!
However, even after you’ve passed the four-year gauntlet and “made it,” there
are multiple threats to the health of your business.
The death of one’s practice can certainly be accidental. However, most

instances of practicide result from the accumulation of predictable symptoms,
most of which can be detected early and addressed before they become chronic.
Most of these symptoms occur naturally in the growth of a healthy practice. It’s
allowing them to go out of control that results in morbidity.
What follows in this Horsesmouth Special Report are the top 14 symptoms of
impending practicide I’ve treated in my 15 years of assessing practices and con-
sulting with a wide spectrum of advisors.
4
Symptom 1: You’re confused about “sales.”
Whatever the advisor’s altruistic these related articles:
intentions when he entered the finan-
cial services profession, the bottom Call Reluctance: Are You Too Nice to
line rules the new advisor’s world. Close the Deal? In forming relation-
Success is about the amount of assets ships with prospects, do you lack
he has gathered, or the number of assertiveness? Do you constantly seek
products he has placed. approval? Do you lack the ability to
close a sale? These symptoms point to a
On a recent exit interview, I asked an costly form of call reluctance that may
advisor to explain his fundamental rea- well be the Achilles’ heel of the financial
son for leaving. “I wanted to really help services industry. (Search ID: 79163.)
people financially,” he replied, “but I
couldn’t [reconcile] the company’s sales How Sales Shame Kills Your
goals with the pace my prospects were Prospecting—And How to Stop It
moving along in the decision process.” You may assume it’s only natural to
think angry or contemptuous thoughts
This advisor was on the road to when someone tries to “sell” you. This
becoming a nonprofit counselor, a pro- is a trap. Don’t do it. It’s essential to
fession that is better pursued in the your own prospecting success that you
nonprofit sector. view sales people from a neutral posi-
tion. Here’s the how and why. (Search
Selling is what advisors do, even if ID: 77531.)
it’s purely fee-based. We are selling our
knowledge, services, products, and 5 Hidden Weaknesses That Keep
advice. It’s difficult to translate those Advisors From Picking Up the
intangibles into dollars, but it must be Phone To be successful, advisors
done. A deep-seated case of sales must be energized and focused, have
shame will lead to chronic underpay- meaningful goals, and know how to
ment-and needless to say, that’s not achieve them. If you can’t seem to pick
good for your practice. up the phone to build your business,
see whether one of these five issues is
RESOURCES the quiet culprit. (Search ID: 78503.)
To find out more, visit Horsesmouth

and use the search IDs below to view
5
Symptom 2: You lack discipline.
Early practicide is often the result these related articles:
of the advisor’s inability to settle on
proven systems. There are many varia- Are You Afraid of Discipline?
tions on this theme. Take referrals, for Discipline may seem like drudgery, but
example. it’s the only path to success. Here’s a
simple plan to put more discipline in
There are a number of proven refer- your life and experience the freedom
ral-gathering techniques on the market that a true life plan can give you.
today. Advisors often adopt one, have (Search ID: 79260.)
success with it, and then stop using it.
As one advisor, Mike, explains it, “It Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap:
worked so well, I had so many names Turning Thoughts Into Action
to get to that I stopped asking for Reaching your full potential in life is a
referrals for a while so I could catch constant, ongoing challenge. In order
up. I never started up again.” Mike to succeed, you must keep acting on
never made it to his third year. the knowledge and insight you’ve
acquired. Failing to do that is the sin
The desire to reinvent the wheel of accepting mediocrity. (Search ID:
(instead of sticking with what works) 79698.)
is strong for some advisors—and usu-
ally fatal. Cassie, a second-year advi- Full Speed Ahead: 4 Ways to Stay
sor, constantly tinkered with her Motivated Staying motivated during
phone scripts. She says she was never a production slump can be difficult.
satisfied that her words “truly reflect- But with a little planning and some
ed her personal interest in the “stick-to-it-iveness,” it may be easier
prospect I was calling.” She eventually than you think. (Search ID: 79597.)
lost her battle with phone reluctance
and left the business in her 15th
month.
RESOURCES

6
Symptom 3: You’re neglecting your
spouse and family.
You might think that by working advisors and the attention was great.
long hours you’re getting ahead, but Then one day my wife woke me up, lit-
relationships that go unattended will erally and figuratively, after her shift
sabotage your business. Getting into was over and she came home. ‘You’re
the advisory business is not a solo act. not the man I married,’ she said. ‘I’m
Your spouse, significant other, and/or leaving. I’m happy you found some-
children are critical to the survival and thing you really love.’
growth of the practice. He or she
needs to understand that you will face “Man, I played that scene over and
long hours, intensive study, and emo- over in my head. In my panic to stay
tional ups and downs while you build married, I immediately lost focus on
a practice. All eyes need to be wide the business and it all fell apart. A year
open to these issues so they can be later, I was divorced and had used up
handled on an ongoing basis. all my good will in the office and had
Establishing a successful practice will to quit. Now I’m at a bank doing mort-
call for sacrifices by everyone gage loans.”
involved.
Kurt had gotten married while man-

aging a Perkins restaurant to Jan, one RESOURCES
of the waitresses. A year later, he
switched careers and entered financial To find out more, visit Horsesmouth
services, while Jan remained in the and use the search IDs below to view
restaurant world. Kurt loved selling these related articles:
and had such a strong sense of service
to his clientele that he stayed on duty 10 Ways Advisors Balance Home
24/7 for them. and Work You have clients to see,
prospects to call, meetings to attend.
In his first two years, he traveled How are you going to make it home in
anywhere and anytime for a new time for dinner with your family? Use
client. “Man, it was intoxicating,” he these 10 practical tips to start thriving
recalls. “I broke office records for new on the home front—without cutting
7
into your productivity at the office.
(Search ID: 71645.)
Time—The Most Important Asset

You Manage Increased productivity
is the shortcut to improved profitabili-
ty. Try these seven strategies for run-
ning a more time-efficient business,
while beefing up your book at the
same time. (Search ID: 63350.)
Profiles in Coaching #5: Juggling

Personal and Professional Goals
Negotiating the dueling demands of
family and business took its toll on
this advisor. But by transforming her
business plan, she has made marked
strides toward increased productivity
and a more balanced lifestyle. (Search
ID: 64324.)
8
Symptom 4: You’re too intrigued by
greener pastures.
It’s natural for an advisor to look a property and casualty firm. Steven,
around the financial services world now having no loyalty to his first com-
and wonder if there’s a better deal pany, his second company, or Tom,
with another company or broker/deal- began looking for a third company.
er. If one’s business environment is
particularly negative, it may well be a He had a two-year fling with a third
matter of survival to switch organiza- employer, used up their support
tions. But too much jumping around money, and found a general agent who
can negatively impact your business. was willing to house him. Starting over
for a fourth time proved too much of
Steven is a good example. He began an effort-the few clients who had
his career with his first firm 10 years stuck with him through the changes
ago. He achieved a moderate level of were defecting, and his circle of con-
success, accumulating about 200 clients tacts was shrinking. Steven gave up
in three years with a variety of invest- the ghost after two and a half years
ment and insurance products. Then his with the GA and has just joined a real
sales manager, Tom, left that company estate firm and is getting his real
for a relatively new player in financial estate license.
services that was eager for growth in
Steven’s suburban area. Steven fol- The advisor who continually seeks
lowed Tom and stumbled into the the “greener grass” is one who is not
wooly world of non-compete clauses. fully committed to his practice. Every
organization has its warts. The smart
Despite the initial high of new prod- advisors learn to deal with these short-
ucts and services, Tom and Steven got comings and, by being successful,
an abrupt awakening. Sales quotas work to change the perceived faults
needed to be met, promised lead lists from within.
turned out to be relatively cold, and
they couldn’t leverage their client base RESOURCES
for two years. They struggled through
two years there before Tom resigned To find out more, visit Horsesmouth
and went off with a new partner to run and use the search IDs below to view
9
these related articles:
An Advisor’s Creed To all advisors

out there who have ever felt misunder-
stood, ignored, disrespected, second-
guessed, or treated like a number in a
distribution system, let me say this: I
know you. (Search ID: 79811.)
38 Reasons to Be Happy You’re a

Financial Advisor Feeling discour-
aged? Here are 38 good reasons to stay
focused and positive. (Search ID:
73637.)
How Much Are You Really Worth to

Clients? What you do on a daily basis
is the most important determinant of
your clients’ investment success—and
here are the numbers to prove it.
(Search ID: 73265.)
10
Symptom 5: You’re hanging out with
the wrong people.
In Steven and Tom’s example cited RESOURCES
above, Tom would qualify as a “wrong
person.” His readiness to jump to the To find out more, visit Horsesmouth
new firm and pull Steven with him and use the search IDs below to view
essentially set the stage for Steven’s these related articles:
practicide. He encouraged Steven to
cut short building a solid client base Managing Emotions in the Office:
when the move provided no clear com- What Attitudes Drive
petitive advantage. Performance? Wharton experts
delve into the interplay of emotions on
With friends like this, who needs your team and discover that one
enemies? Other types of “wrong peo- coworker’s lousy weekend can get
ple” for an advisor include: everybody down in the dumps.
(Search ID: 79777.)
n
Joint workers who take a cut but
don’t teach you anything Staying Positive With Pessimistic
Clients Lots of clients panic in
n
Negative co-workers who trap you volatile markets—and let’s face it,
into conversations about what’s they’re probably going to take out
wrong with the office or the compa- their frustration on you. Use these
ny and kill valuable production time simple steps to stay upbeat and ration-
al in the throes of client complaints.
n Prospects and clients who demand (Search ID: 71163.)
far more of your time and energy
than they are worth 7 Ways to Stay Positive in a
Negative World Has the news been
n Centers of influence who do not beating you down? Follow this regi-
reciprocate in providing leads men to neutralize the negative and bol-
ster your enthusiasm. You’ll find the
n
Marketing assistants who hide results pay off in all aspects of your
behind administrative work life. (Search ID: 74963.)
n An unsupportive spouse.
11
Symptom 6: You think: “I can’t afford
an assistant.”
If I had a quarter for every time I’ve cost him at least $15,000 in hourly
heard this excuse, my Roth IRA would wages and benefits before seeing a prof-
be fully funded each year. On the other it. What if the person doesn’t work out?
hand, if I had a quarter for every time
I’ve heard the knee-jerk double-negative He feels a lingering lack of com-
response, “You can’t afford not to,” my mitment to his financial services
son’s college account would be fully career that’s fostered by the advi-
funded too. sors around him and by his wife.
She has questions about all the time he’s
I’ve been after Pete for a year to make putting in for what she perceives as a
the move and hire an assistant. He’s in minimal payoff.
his third year and, with $65,000 in new
business, is doing pretty well, though He’s housed in a firm where some
not as well as in his previous career support is available and that blunts
($100,000 in pharmaceutical sales). the need for a dedicated assistant.
We’ve developed an assistant’s job By delaying hiring an assistant, Pete

description that includes both market- may well be committing slow, painful
ing and administrative duties. We’ve business hari-kari.
identified training resources. We’ve dis-
cussed hiring sources. We’ve found RESOURCES
funding sources. We’ve done a return-
on-investment analysis indicating that To find out more, visit Horsesmouth
after the assistant is on board and up to and use the search IDs below to view
speed (in six months), revenues would these related articles:
double in the ensuing 12 months.
Why You Need to Hire Support
Still, Pete won’t pull the trigger. Why? Staff In Order to Grow When you
A combination of three factors: know the value of your own time, you
can see how your income potential
He’s afraid of the investment. The will swell when you hire support staff
ramp-up period of six months would for non-revenue-generating tasks.
12
Done right, new revenue will easily
eclipse the added costs. What’s stop-
ping you? (Search ID: 76830.)
18 Tasks FAs Delegate to Their

Assistants Too much on your plate?
Curb your inner control freak and
learn to delegate. Here’s a list of tasks
successful FAs entrust to their assis-
tants. (Search ID: 72704.)
How to Hire the Right Assistant

Your “to-do” list is starting to look
lengthier than War and Peace—but
hiring an assistant threatens to tack on
another chapter’s worth of tasks.
Here’s how advisors successfully tack-
le the hiring challenge. (Search ID:
74520.)
13
Symptom 7: You’ve got malfunctioning
systems.
Solid systems are the secret to suc- Each one of these systems needs to
cess in a mature practice. Systems are be consciously determined and func-
also the bane of many an advisors’ tioning properly for a practice to reach
existence. its full potential. Advisors commonly
let things go wrong by allowing the
The fact is that even if an advisor is time management system to malfunc-
unaware of them, he has systems. They tion and bubble out of control.
may be barely recognizable systems, but
they exist, if only in his subconscious. Susan had survived seven years as
It’s consciously working out systems an advisor but had hit a plateau at
that makes them lead to success. The $90,000. She has an assistant and was
longer systems go unaddressed, the considered successful in her firm,
more likely they are to remain dysfunc- which housed five other advisors, all
tional, leading to practicide. newer in the business than Susan. She
was feeling very frustrated in her
There are seven key business sys- inability to get to the next level, and
tems in the financial services profes- had verbally quit twice in the past
sion. They are: year. Practicide in the making!
1. Client acquisition When we did an assessment of

Susan’s time management system, we
2. Client management discovered that she was failing on
three core levels:
3. Case development
n Maintaining control of her own
4. Time management time
5. Communication n
Number of hours spent face-to-
face with clients, prospects, cen-
6. Education ters of influence, and other busi-
ness builders
7. Financial management
14
n
Her perceived inability to take action steps for Susan to implement
more than five days off in a row over the next three months. Have we
without her practice falling hope- stemmed the practicide? With careful
lessly behind. monitoring and accountability ses-
sions, it’s looking good.
It turns out that Susan was allowing
her clients, her manager, fellow advi- RESOURCES
sors, and even her assistant to priori-
tize her time for her. Susan’s firm man- To find out more, visit Horsesmouth
ager would encourage the younger and use the search IDs below to view
advisors to consult with Susan; they these related articles:
often lined up outside her door to dis-
cuss cases that were elementary. 10 Musts for Maintaining Your
Practice From day to day, certain
Susan did have her clients segment- small tasks might not seem particular-
ed, but she still wanted to talk with ly pressing—but in the long-run,
most of them when they called in, and neglecting them can dramatically
her assistant gladly forwarded the undermine the success of your busi-
calls. Appointments were held at the ness. Are you letting your routine
client/prospect’s convenience and maintenance slide? (Search ID:
location. 71811.)
She spent only 10.5 actual hours per Using Systems to Boost Your
week building her business. In prime- Business—7 FA Examples Success
performing practices, this number is in the financial advice business is built
25 to 30 hours a week. on good practice management sys-
tems. Check these examples against
Susan’s assistant is doing primarily your business and see if there’s room
administrative, passive tasks. She has for improvement. (Search ID: 74839.)
no proactive marketing duties, nor any
desire to pursue them. The solution How to Run an Efficient Office
we created was to devise a “model Tired of plowing through piles of
week and month” to identify what paperwork? Here’s how one advisor
Susan would like to achieve in terms streamlined his operations and freed
of time usage. Then we brought the up time to focus on what he likes best-
models to her manager and her assis- clients and the market. (Search ID:
tant and had meaningful discussions 74448.)
about how to implement them.
These conversations resulted in 20
15
Symptom 8: You think all clients are
created equal.
Early in an advisor’s career, every Britt’s philosophy was that every
new client is an “A” client. No matter client, no matter how small, deserved
how small the sale, these were people all of his attention. So far, Britt had
who bought something and you prom- been able to automate most of this. Yet
ised them superior service. And for a he was feeling that a good percentage
couple of years, this promise was easy of his clients did not appreciate what
to keep. he was doing. They seemed to take his
contacts for granted.
When I encountered Britt, he had
210 clients in his database. This was It was at this low point that the
the result of five years of fee- and opportunity arose for Britt to take
commission-based planning. He and over a book of 150 clients from an
his part-time assistant were treating advisor who had left the firm (alas,
each of the 210 clients equally. They all another practicide victim). Now he
received: had to face a tough decision: How
would he be able to integrate these
n
a birthday card clients into his service cycle?
n a holiday card He hadn’t worked with them, prom-

ised them anything, or even met them.
n three quarterly calls This threw a curve into his all-clients-
are-equal mindset. Would this infusion
n an annual review of 150 clients be a boon to his practice
or would it drive him out of the busi-
n three newsletters a year ness?
n
same-day service response We set about analyzing his clients
with an eye toward three levels of
n
invitations to events sponsored by service to be offered based on three
his broker/dealer. criteria:
16
1. Do they represent a significant RESOURCES
revenue stream to the practice?
2. Do they provide referrals? and use the search IDs below to view
3. Can additional assets be obtained
from them? Identify Your Best Clients Business
coach Steve Sanduski shows you how
A client who has all three character- to segment your book so you can iden-
istics would be considered “A” level- tify your best clients—and find more
people vital to the growth of the prac- just like them. (Search ID: 68983.)
tice. Clients with two out of three
characteristics would be “B+” level, Letting Clients Know You Treat
and those with one of the three were Them Differently Letting clients
“B” level. Everyone else was designat- know exactly what you do for them at
ed a “C.” various asset levels helps you become
more efficient and consistent in your
Britt then went through the 150 pos- relationships with them. It can also
sible new clients with the departing motivate clients to bring you more
advisor and performed the same exer- assets. (Search ID: 76579.)
cise. He discovered that there were
enough “A” and “B+” or “B” clients to Case Study: How an FA Doubled
make the takeover worthwhile. Revenues by Systematizing Client
Service After letting client contact
Now Britt’s combined client base is slide for years, this veteran made the
360. He’s identified 75 “A’s”, 130 “B+’s” commitment to more consistent com-
or “B’s”, and 155 “C’s”. He will be sur- munication—and in the process saw a
veying each group separately to see huge surge in his take-home pay.
what services they would like to see (Search ID: 79220.)
vs. what he’s been providing.
Britt found it difficult to place some

long-time but small clients into the “C”
segment, but he realized he had to
focus on developing the clients with
growth potential if the practice was to
move forward.
17
Symptom 9: You have no accountability
team.
Keith’s practice is essentially over- Additionally, we empowered his assis-
weight and bloated. Sloppy systems tant to track key activity and business
are in place. Clients haven’t been seg- statistics on a weekly basis. Finally,
mented. Referrals sit in a manila folder Keith enrolled in a coaching service to
in a drawer. There’s too much paper- provide telephone support in imple-
work and too many service calls. His menting the action steps.
family life is suffering, and his busi-
ness has been wildly inconsistent. With a group of people holding his
feet to the fire, the chances of Keith’s
We assessed Keith’s practice, and it practice losing weight and toning up
resulted in 15 action steps that needed have improved significantly.
immediate attention. Just as a diet
helps a person lose weight and exer- RESOURCES
cise is designed to increase muscle
tone, Keith’s action steps were To find out more, visit Horsesmouth
designed to simultaneously slim and and use the search IDs below to view
strengthen his practice. these related articles:
Leaving the accountability to your- How to Benefit From a Client

self more often than not leads to fail- Advisory Board Seeking regular
ure. There must be accountability input from influential clients can trans-
resources to bring to bear. Keith had form the way you do business. Here
none, a warning that practicide is are four examples that illustrate the
imminent. value of forming a client advisory
board—and some tips for getting
We identified three people to serve yours started. (Search ID: 76797.)
as his “board of directors.” Their
assignment was to meet quarterly with 10 Ways a Business Coach Can
Keith and quiz him on how he’s doing Help You You need to get to the next
with the action steps. The trio consist- level, but where do you go to get
ed of two top clients and his brother, objective advice on every aspect of
all successful in their own businesses. your business, a concrete action plan,
18
and the right amount of accountability
without exposing all of your weak-
nesses to your company, your peers—
and your boss? (Search ID: 78116.)
How Are You Doing? The 12

Characteristics of a Prime
Practitioner How is your business
really doing? Use these 12 points to
give your business an overall midyear
assessment. (Search ID: 79220.)
19
Symptom 10: Partnering without a
prenuptial agreement.
Four years ago, Sir Paul McCartney Fast-forward 18 months. After an
thought it was “unromantic” to pre- initial burst of joint activity and suc-
pare a prenuptial agreement before cesses, both Vic’s and Marty’s business
marrying Heather Mills. Now that they began to trail off. Vic was down 30%
are breaking up, I’m sure he’s having from the previous year and Marty
second thoughts about it. down 40%. This financial stress was
creating tension among Vic, Marty, and
In much the same way, advisors Britta, and it manifested in a notice-
often enter into partnerships haphaz- able lack of communication. Not want-
ardly. They focus on the potential rich- ing two good advisors to quit, the
es and don’t think through the possi- firm’s managing director arranged for
bilities for discord. a practice assessment.
Vic and Marty nearly committed joint After an analysis, we discovered the
practicide a couple of years back. They root issue: neither Vic nor Marty really
were both 10-year veterans in the finan- liked to prospect, so their pool of can-
cial services profession and had done a didates had slowly diminished over
number of joint cases together and time. The scarcity of prospects was at
found that they complemented each the core of the tension in the office.
other during the interviews. Vic enjoyed
the estate-planning and charitable giv- In a successful practice, there must
ing aspects of the business, while Marty be four core competencies, two rela-
was an investment specialist. tional and two analytical.
With this dual approach, they fig- n Relational: Building and maintain-
ured that they could do a thorough job ing relationships
of wealth management for the aging
baby-boomer population. So they part- n
Relational: Inspiring a prospect to
nered up with a handshake, agreeing take action
to democratically split everything
50/50 going forward. This included n Analytical: Creating solutions to
sharing an assistant, Britta. clients’ problems
20
n
Analytical: Doing due diligence for the proverbial ink on the deal is dry.
your client in order to make sure Here’s what you need to know before
his portfolio supports his goals. you jump into an arrangement that
may not work out in the long run.
If an analytic advisor partners up (Search ID: 78182.)
with a relational advisor, this could be
a good match. If, however, two analyt-
ics partner up (such as Vic and Marty),
it could be a recipe for practicide.
Their solutions may be elegant, but no
one is creating new relationships with
people who need solutions.
RESOURCES

Is a Partnership Right for Your

Practice? Pairing up can mean relin-
quishing control—and improving your
leverage, expertise, and efficiency. See
how these three partnerships got their
start. (Search ID: 68972.)
Teaming Up With Partners: 3

Questions to Ask First Overworked
advisors often form partnerships hop-
ing for a quick fix—but slapdash
unions rarely last. Here’s how to gauge
whether you and your potential part-
ner are ready to commit for the long
term. (Search ID: 72042.)
Avoiding Partnership Divorce: 4

Key Issues Many a partnership in
this industry starts to crumble before
21
Symptom 11: You have no operations
manual.
One characteristic of a successful had made him so successful were lost
practice is the development of an when Molly died.
operations manual. This manual can
take many forms: paper, videotape, Since there was no operations man-
audio, digital, or even virtual. The goal ual of any sort, Ben relied on home-
is to have one’s best practices identi- office trainers to teach his new assis-
fied and recorded so that they can be tants. He went through several. This
easily transferable. was frustrating because Molly had her
own system of maintaining the data-
Ben and Molly were the envy of the base, and her own service cycle. Most
firm. Ben was a consistent President’s of the clients’ personal information
Club qualifier (23 of his 25 years). was in her head, and she had devel-
Molly had been his assistant for all 23 oped personal relationships with key
of those years. She knew as much as underwriters and service technicians
he did about their 1,100 clients and that expedited transactions.
acted as Ben’s fully licensed alter ego.
As Ben was fond of saying, “I pretty The loss of Molly led to a slow,
much set up the relationship and Molly painful practicide. Ben’s practice never
does all the rest.” fully recovered after her death; in fact,
it continued to decline. Ben eventually
They made for a legendary duo, and sold his book of business back to the
they were completing another success- firm to be distributed to selected advi-
ful year when Molly was tragically sors. He received a fair deal for his
killed in an automobile accident. book, but with transferable systems,
he may have been able to save his
Ben was devastated. The outpouring business.
of support for his lasting grief lasted
well into the next year. But eventually, RESOURCES
Ben began to refocus on his business.
He was dealt a second blow from the To find out more, visit Horsesmouth
practice perspective when he realized and use the search IDs below to view
that all the back-office systems that these related articles:
22
5 Steps to Optimizing Your
Business When you work on activi-
ties that deliver the highest margin for
your effort, you create your own prac-
tice management “efficient frontier.”
That means you’re creating sustainable
value in your business and achieving
your full potential. Here’s how to do it.
(Search ID: 79353.)
How Are You Doing? The 12

Characteristics of a Prime
Practitioner How is your business
really doing? Use these 12 points to
give your business an overall midyear
assessment. (Search ID: 79220.)
23
Symptom 12: You poorly communicate
expectations.
One of the more insidious forms of ing a workshop. His concept of a mar-
practicide involves subversion from keting assistant was a bit vague.
within. A dissatisfied assistant or part- However, he knew the result he want-
ner can subconsciously (or conscious- ed: more high-quality prospects, result-
ly) use passive-aggressive behavior to ing in a 25% growth of new business
mortally wound an advisor. revenue.
The root cause for such a destruc- Tony hired Jo. During the interview,
tive pattern is usually poor communi- Tony repeatedly emphasized the mar-
cation of the advisor’s expectations of keting aspect of the marketing assis-
the assistant or partner. tant role, outlining how she would be
in charge of gathering new prospects.
My most memorable example of this Jo, for her part, was open and friendly
is an intervention I had with Tony and and said she could make acquaintanc-
his assistants Gayle and Jo. Tony was es easily. Optimistically, they agreed to
a 20-year advisor who consistently $10 an hour for the first six months.
produced in the top 5% of his compa- After that, they’d look at benefits,
ny. He had a fiery personality and licensing, and bonuses.
could be quite arrogant in dealing with
his staff. His long-suffering administra- Gayle was introduced to Jo after the
tive assistant, Gayle, had been with agreement. Gayle recalls, “Tony said to
Tony for the past 10 years. She per- me, ‘Meet Jo, she’s our new marketing
formed service and sales support assistant. She’s starting Monday and I
paperwork competently but hadn’t had want you to show her the ropes.’ No
a raise in two years and felt quite other explanation—so I just did the
underappreciated. She was making $13 best I could.”
an hour with a yearly Christmas bonus
of $500. Jo’s first two weeks were spent, she
says, “learning a lot of paperwork,
Realizing that his practice was stag- how to submit new business, do com-
nant and his status as a top-5% produc- puter entry for financial plans, and
er was threatened, Tony decided to how to handle service calls. Tony was
take on a marketing assistant at the in every day but was tied up with calls
suggestion of some other advisors dur- and other concerns. So Gayle’s idea of
24
‘the ropes’ was to transfer to me a lot Gayle hated making calls, Jo ended up
of her admin stuff.” making most of them.
At the beginning of the third week, Because both Gayle and Jo were
Tony called Jo into his office. “At the frustrated, their work suffered. Gayle
time,” explains Tony, “I assumed Jo started calling in sick more often, and
had gotten used to the office and Jo became consumed with service
was ready to start prospecting. So I requests and forgot to return calls.
handed her the chamber of com- Tony’s calendar got thinner and thin-
merce list, where I had checked off ner and he became more and more
all the people I thought would be volatile. After he fell 40% behind the
good prospects, and another list of previous year, he exploded.
high-net-worth individuals in the
metro area.” Jo and Gayle both resigned. Tony
found another broker/dealer and was
So Jo began calling with a script. going to start anew, surviving long
She set aside an hour in the morning enough to eventually regain some of his
and an hour in the afternoon for phon- clients that remained loyal to him.
ing. It was slow going. She methodical- Perhaps fortunately, the new broker/
ly called from the lists but had little dealer believed in pooled assistants, so
luck, setting five tentative appoint- Tony wouldn’t have to hire his own.
ments. “I really didn’t know what to
say after they blew me off,” Jo said. “I RESOURCES
didn’t have any really compelling rea-
son to offer them why they should sit To find out more, visit Horsesmouth
down with Tony.” and use the search IDs below to view
Meanwhile, Gayle was slowly trans-
ferring her administrative burden to 6 Steps to a Super Relationship
Jo. Jo began to take all the service With Your Sales Assistant Your
calls and process the resulting paper- sales assistant is an integral part of
work. She made mistakes, to be sure, your business. Here’s how you can
but for the first time in years Gayle make the most of your relationship.
was able to stay caught up. (Search ID: 75310.)
By the end of the second month, it 11 Essential Resources for Sales

was obvious that the office was run- Assistants What separates the best
ning extremely efficiently, but the SAs from the rest? Knowledge, accord-
sales pipeline was running low. Tony ing to experts at a recent industry con-
had both Jo and Gayle start to make ference for sales assistants. Here’s
calls, with the goal to set up five how top assistants master the tools of
appointments per week. Because their trade. (Search ID: 73236.)
25
Symptom 13: You can’t delegate authority.
This issue is a variation of Symptom and case development work.
6, You Think: “I Can’t Afford an
Assistant.” The good news is that in But Patrick had his own way of
this case, the advisor has taken the doing things. For instance, he didn’t
step of hiring an assistant. The prac- want to give up running illustrations
tice-killing news is that the advisor for long-term care. He actually enjoyed
won’t give that assistant anything sub- data input and looking for nuances in
stantial to do. the planning process. He kept up his
workaholic ways and didn’t let Jorge
Patrick, an 11-year veteran advisor, get very involved.
hadn’t taken a vacation since he start-
ed. His workdays extended from 8 Two months after hiring Jorge,
a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Patrick, then 45, suffered a heart
Thursday, until 6 on Friday, and all attack that put him out of action for
morning Saturday. He supplemented three weeks. This could have been a
this 60-hour workweek with studying practicidal catastrophe, but Jorge
for his CFP. His workaholism was tak- jumped in and immediately stepped up
ing a toll on his health. in the prospecting, marketing, and
case development areas. While taking
At the insistence of his manager, his cue from Patrick’s bedside phone
Patrick found a young advisor, Jorge, calls, Jorge ensured the practice not
who had failed to make it through his only didn’t suffer but actually grew
second year but who was interested in during Patrick’s convalescence.
taking on an assistant’s role. Fully
licensed and knowledgeable about the Once back in the saddle, Patrick and
office systems, Jorge seemed to be an Jorge redefined their roles and expec-
ideal choice. tations. They became a formidable
team and began setting office sales
Once aboard, Jorge began doing the records while Patrick worked a less
routine service work for the “C-level” intense schedule, learning to delegate
clients, answering the phone, and many formerly untouchable activities
updating the database. Patrick contin- to Jorge.
ued his breakneck pace, while Jorge
observed, took notes, and began offer-
ing to do more complex transaction
26
RESOURCES

18 Tasks FAs Delegate to Their

Assistants Too much on your plate?
Curb your inner control freak and
learn to delegate. Here’s a list of tasks
successful FAs entrust to their assis-
tants. (Search ID: 72704.)
Why Your Assistant Should Totally

Run Your Client Service Operation
Make your assistant your client service
manager and ensure that you remain
at the top of clients’ minds by giving
them 14 to 28 “touches” a year. The
end result will be greater awareness,
more assets and referrals to manage,
and higher income for you and your
assistant. Plus, it’s a win all around.
Here’s how to do it. (Search ID:
77181.)
27
Symptom 14: You have no succession plan.
One of the saddest types of practi- complete that it was an evolved, singu-
cide is building a practice and having lar lifestyle they were living.
it die with you.
After considering this for a bit, I
The “survivors club” was a group of spoke up: “Tell me this. If your best
10 men who had a minimum of 30 clients are the same as your best
years with a large insurance agency. friends and they trust you completely
Two agents topped 50 years. They with their financial matters, what hap-
were proud of their longevity and gath- pens when you die or become dis-
ered once a year for three days at a abled?”
resort on Lake Michigan to swap sto-
ries, take walks, play some golf, and There was an uncomfortable silence
hold gin rummy and cribbage tourna- as these men looked at each other,
ments. then out the window onto the quiet
lake.
Oh yes, they cooked up quite a feast
and had a full bar as well. There were “I mean,” I went on, “your best
also three two-hour education ses- friends/best clients will be placed into
sions, hosted by a wholesaler or man- the orphan pool and assigned to some
agement team member. One year, in first-year rep who will call them com-
my role as database trainer, I was pletely unaware of your history with
invited to address the group on the them.”
topic of “maximizing your database.”
Most of these guys hadn’t fully “Looking to make an easy sale,”
embraced technology, but they had chimed in one of the guys. Nervous
their systems and those systems laughter.
worked just fine, thank you.
“So none of you has a transition
As I sat with the group, the discus- plan?”
sion turned to segmenting the client
base, and from there, how it was that Again, silence.
at this point in their careers, they
couldn’t tell their best friends from From there, we discussed how they
their top clients. The blending of per- might bring on a successor to continue
sonal, social, and business lives was so to run the practice as the “survivors”
28
wound down their involvement. For its cession for clients may increase their
part, the insurance company was non- comfort level and address unspoken
committal about transition programs. concerns. (Search ID: 76804.)
On the one hand, it would try to sup-
port a succession plan, but it had no Case Study: How an FA Survived a
definitive models for guidance. And on Partner’s Death When Pat Severo’s
the other hand, increasing the orphan partner died, it looked as though years
pool would provide additional support of work would go up in flames. Here’s
for new hires. how Severo staved off disaster and
saved his practice while honoring the
In the ensuing years, three of the 10 memory of his veteran partner.
agents I had questioned developed a (Search ID: 73140.)
successor person to carry on their
practices. The other seven never did,
regretfully resulting in seven cases of
practicide.
RESOURCES

14 Ways to Leave the Business

Whether you plan to slip out the back,
hop on the bus, or drop off the key,
there are lots of options for retiring.
Check out whether these exit strate-
gies from financial advisors across the
country sound good to you. And use
the feedback box to share your plan
with us. (Search ID: 79239.)
What Happens to Your Clients

When You’re Gone If you become
incapacitated or die, would your
clients know where to turn for a new
advisor who would continue the
investment path you’ve laid out for
them? Creating a written plan of suc-
29
Final Thoughts
We have explored 14 signs of risk for committing practicide. The majority of
practices will flirt with some or all of these issues. Those that address them
head-on will survive and prosper; those that ignore them will not.
My intent here is to create awareness so that early intervention can save advi-
sors some suffering and productivity loss. Assess your practice objectively to
uncover any weaknesses and opportunities. Then take action to address these
areas—the mere act could save you from practicide.
Al Depman joined PracticeTools.net in 2005 as a business practice consult-

ant and coach. He is the creator of “The Practice Management Assessment”
tool, has authored numerous articles in professional publications, and special-
izes in helping others engineer their business practices to the next level. He
can be reached at 507-216-4641 or at info@practicetools.net.
30
Helping financial advisors succeed.
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management, and business planning.
In addition, the Horsesmouth service includes special online tools, including a

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14 Signs

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Symptom 1: You’re confused about “sales.” ................................................................5

Symptom 2: You lack discipline.....................................................................................6

Symptom 3: You’re neglecting your spouse and family..............................................7

Symptom 4: You’re too intrigued by greener pastures...............................................9

Symptom 5: You’re hanging out with the wrong people............................................11

Symptom 6: You think: “I can’t afford an assistant.”..................................................12

Symptom 7: You’ve got malfunctioning systems........................................................14

Symptom 8: You think all clients are created equal...................................................16

Symptom 9: You have no accountability team............................................................18

Symptom 10: Partnering without a prenuptial agreement........................................20

Symptom 11: You have no operations manual...........................................................22

Symptom 12: You poorly communicate expectations...............................................24

Symptom 13: You can’t delegate authority..................................................................26

Symptom 14: You have no succession plan................................................................28

Final Thoughts ....................................................................................................30

The death of one’s practice can certainly be accidental. However, most

To find out more, visit Horsesmouth

To find out more, visit Horsesmouth

Kurt had gotten married while man-

Time—The Most Important Asset

Profiles in Coaching #5: Juggling

An Advisor’s Creed To all advisors

38 Reasons to Be Happy You’re a

How Much Are You Really Worth to

We’ve developed an assistant’s job By delaying hiring an assistant, Pete

18 Tasks FAs Delegate to Their

How to Hire the Right Assistant

1. Client acquisition When we did an assessment of

These conversations resulted in 20

n a holiday card He hadn’t worked with them, prom-

Britt found it difficult to place some

Leaving the accountability to your- How to Benefit From a Client

How Are You Doing? The 12

To find out more, visit Horsesmouth

Is a Partnership Right for Your

Teaming Up With Partners: 3

Avoiding Partnership Divorce: 4

How Are You Doing? The 12

By the end of the second month, it 11 Essential Resources for Sales

To find out more, visit Horsesmouth

18 Tasks FAs Delegate to Their

Why Your Assistant Should Totally

To find out more, visit Horsesmouth

14 Ways to Leave the Business

What Happens to Your Clients

Al Depman joined PracticeTools.net in 2005 as a business practice consult-

In addition, the Horsesmouth service includes special online tools, including a

Voice: 888-33-MOUTH (888-336-6884)

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