Conduct an effective business review

Young offers these five tips to conduct an effective review of your business:

1. Focus on the day-to-day
Look at short-term instead of long-term goals in your business review, Young says. Doing so makes the review — and the process of reaching those targets — easier.

Often, advisors will decide that they want to grow their book by a certain amount for the year, Young says. But they don’t have a plan to achieve that growth.

Instead of focusing on one big target for the year, Young says, create smaller goals of the tasks that you must accomplish — on a daily or weekly basis. For example, how many meetings do you have to schedule each week? How many leads do you have to call every day?

This weekly and daily planning, she says, also will make it easier for you to catch up if you should fall behind schedule.

2. Use a tracking system
A review of your business, says Young, will not have any meaning unless you have a detailed system in place to track your progress.

It’s not enough to write down that you had two meetings today, she says, because one session might have been a waste of time while the other was with a multi-million dollar prospect. That’s why it’s important that you use a client-relationship management (CRM) system in which you can enter detailed notes.

3. Use the “buddy” system
In the same way that people say you should never swim alone, Young, says, “Never do your business planning alone.”

Instead, work with a business coach or a “sales buddy” (another advisor who has a different book of clients). Your buddy can help keep you honest about your commitments and your progress toward your goals.

Making yourself accountable to someone else at the end of every week, she says, increases the chances of sticking to your plans and meeting your goals for the year.

4. Ask for client feedback
Get input from clients about your business as part of your business review.

“You should never do a review of your business without soliciting some kind of client feedback to see how they think things are going,” Young says.

Client feedback can help prevent you from making decisions that might alienate your clients.

5. Find the right perspective
Looking at only the big picture or focusing on just one detail can give you a distorted view of your business. Instead, look for a “Goldilocks” perspective — one that’s neither too broad nor too narrow.

For example, Young says, if you focus on one important client whose situation is not relevant to other clients, you’re being too “granular” in your review. On the other hand, if you rationalize that you didn’t get any new leads over the summer because everyone is on vacation, you’re being too general.

Instead, when conducting a business review, Young says, look for results that apply to several clients and are specific enough that you can recognize a trend.

For example, you might discover that referrals from a certain client tend to lead quickly to new clients who fit your business.