Meeting regularly with members of other professions can be an effective strategy to help you succeed, says Sara Gilbert, founder of Strategist in Montreal.
A professional advisory board is a cross-section of professionals who gather and exchange ideas on ways to improve each other’s business. It is an opportunity to apply the expertise of those in other industries to help you grow your financial advisory practice.
Gilbert explains four key elements that will help you get the most value from a professional advisory board:
1. Include a variety of professionals
Your advisory group should include various professionals from your community whom you feel can contribute ideas and constructive feedback. Examples of those professionals include tax specialists, marketing professionals, event planners and even psychologists.
Each of these professionals will provide a unique insight into your practice. The tax specialist can help further your understanding of trends and tax strategies. On the other end of the spectrum, a psychologist can contribute background on how people’s feelings about money affect their behaviour.
Be sure to include other financial advisors, Gilbert says, and don’t regard every advisor as your competition: “There are enough clients out there to feed everyone.”
2. Focus on business development
Look at the big picture when you’re meeting with advisory board members. Don’t get bogged down by details of products or interest rates, as these topics will not necessarily interest everyone in the group.
Focus on subjects such as building client loyalty, understanding client needs, and trends within everyone’s industries.
3. Plan to meet on a quarterly basis
Scheduling four meetings a year acknowledges that group members are busy yet sets a frequency that keeps the group motivated to participate. Maintaining that momentum and keeping members motivated is one of the challenges of an advisory group, Gilbert says.
If you do form such a group, take it upon yourself to set the tone and keep the group running. Implement a structure so members take it seriously. Have someone take notes at meetings so that everyone’s ideas are documented. Also, make sure the focus alters between professionals, so that all members benefit from meeting throughout the year.
For instance, the winter meeting might consist of you talking about your financial advisory practice and asking for others’ thoughts on relationship building and marketing. The spring meeting might focus on the marketing professional’s concerns on how to make her services appealing and affordable to small-business owners.
4. Be open to suggestion
Each member should be willing to talk about his or her challenges and open to hearing constructive feedback on how these challenges could be handled. Understand your ideas won’t always be met with compliments and that other professionals might suggest better ways of accomplishing your goals. That, Gilbert says, is a good thing.