Building a Financial Advisory Team: Four Areas of Focus
Whether or not you’re able to run a successful advisory firm is based on a number of factors, but perhaps the most important one is your people. Leaders in the financial advisory industry often start as individual advisors themselves. Acting as a lone-wolf comes with its own set of challenges, but as you progress along your career path and start to build up your own team, you’re faced with a whole new set of challenges. Yes, you need to make sure you are providing outstanding service to your clients, communicating efficiently, marketing your services, and scaling your firm, but on top of all of the day-to-day operational tasks, you have a team to inspire and manage. And the truth of the matter is, building skills across your entire team is just as vital to the business as building AUM.
Ask yourself – are you managing your team growth successfully? Here are the four key areas to focus on to propel your financial advisory firm to the highest pedestals of confidence, trust, and success. After all, a client-centric firm starts with the people that serve.
1. Teach Them the Business
Before a strong tree can grow tall, it must spread strong roots. The same goes for building a successful firm. First and foremost, you need to form a foundation by teaching your financial advisory team members the business. This includes all of the basics about how your firm serves clients, makes a profit, and keeps day-to-day operations up and running. Ensure that they are well-versed in company initiatives, targets, goals, and strategies and how that connects to the long-term vision of the firm. After all, they are the future.
2. Teach Them Management
Next, it’s important to teach them how the firm is managed. How do leaders need to operate in order to keep the company functioning? From entry-level interns to the firm’s top dogs, it’s beneficial to teach all employees the company culture and overall mindset in order to promote accountability, continual improvement, and feed the passion of the organization. Ensure that each and every team member understands the bigger picture and promote the concept of “thinking like an owner.”
3. Provide Proper Trainings
Don’t expect knowledge to just happen. An imperative piece to the puzzle is ensuring that you are setting team members up for success by providing proper training. Are there specific skills required to excel in a particular role? Don’t assume that your team members are 100% versed in everything required of them at the time they are hired. Be explicit, transparent, and ahead of the game by providing technical and functional trainings to team members that will ultimately drive efficiency efforts.
4. Focus On Personal Development
Finally, it’s vital to aid in the personal development of your employees. Yes, you want your employees to thrive professionally to move your business forward and ensure that your firm flourishes, but in order for any employee to succeed at work, they need to feel like they are consistently growing and learning as individuals, too. Address their concerns and listen to their personal goals. Connect those to their professional development. Help them discover their strengths. Empower them by making sure they know how their specific role fits into the bigger picture.
Final Thoughts
As your business grows, so must your team, and the value of having a solid group of professional individuals who are just as enthusiastic and passionate about the business as you cannot be overlooked. Ensuring that you have strong team is about so much more than just the annual company picnic or round of holiday bonus checks. Yes, it’s crucial that your employees feel valued and appreciated, but it’s also important for leaders to understand the potential their teams have to drive impact and capture value among team members.
Your people move your firm forward. After all, they know your clients better than anyone. Setting them up for success sets your whole firm up for success. Enhance their leadership capabilities, foster their professional development and emotional intelligence, and ensure the next generation is ready to take the reins.
Need help getting started? Beyond AUM helps clients grow stronger teams by providing everything from individual coaching and team development to helping with recruiting and hiring. Reach out to our team today!