Five Questions: How to Be a Top Wealth Management Firm

A rabbit hole of questions ensued before I shared what the possibilities could look like.

I hear vague requests like this from time to time. It’s a strong aspirational goal, but how do you bring the vision to life? How will you measure it? Before firms can find out the best way forward, there’s a series of questions that need answers.

1. What does a “top” wealth management firm mean to you?

Becoming “the top” is a matter of perspective. Top in what? AUM growth? Firm revenues? A great culture or place to work? Client satisfaction? Low staff and client turnover? Who are you comparing yourself to? Ask 1,000 firms what “top” means and you’ll get 1,000 different responses.

The answer is best driven by your ability to execute your firm’s mission, vision and value proposition in a manner that meets the expectations and goals you’ve set for yourself. Big-name-wealth-management-firm down the street may have a different mission, vision and value proposition than you. Comparing yourself to them may be an apples-to-oranges dynamic.

If you’re feeling like you’ve lost touch with your mission, go back to the basics and get realigned. You’re only in competition with yourself, so develop what “top” means to your firm first.

2. Be honest. How are you running your financial advisory business?

The word is haphazard. Disorganized. Dangerously crossing non-compliance in many areas of your day-to-day operations. You missed a few clients’ required minimum distributions (RMDs) last year, but still haven’t done anything “process wise” to clean that up.

Having worked with over 60+ independent firms, no matter your size, things like this will affect client service, which is a quantitative and qualitative measure of how well your firm is performing. It’s a few RMDs today; what will it be tomorrow? These micro events add up to major headaches.

One way to elevate your status is a focus on client-service delivery and the coveted client experience. You can figure out your best plan of action through a business audit. An audit helps you pinpoint what to prioritize in enhancing your service delivery and client experience.

3. What changes should you make in your advisory operations?

Operational dysfunction becomes normalized when we’re unsure how to fix it. It’s commonplace that firms continue to operate with half-baked processes and inept workflows. Why? Sometimes it’s easier to just skate by.

Until it’s not.

To be regarded as a top firm – as set by your mission, vision and values – throw out mediocrity. If I’m in your backyard, and the day-to-day chaos is stifling, this is why you haven’t reached the level of success you’re seeking.

4. What’s one area of operational change that will have a major impact?

A common question I hear from wealth management firms is, “How can we make our operations run better?” How to build a well-oiled machine? In my prior corporate experience at a $3 billion AUM RIA with 1,000+ client households, one of the major contributors that helped the day-to-day run smoother was building (and adopting fully) a centralized client relationship management (CRM) software platform.

There are many choices for advisory firms: Wealthbox, Redtail, Salesforce and others. A CRM should be the hub of your operations, contributing to better organization of client data, projects, calendar and task management. It’s the one tool that will help you better organize your day-to-day processes and position you to make good on your client-service promises. All this ties back to your mission, vision and values. Those items shape you into a top-performing wealth management firm.

5. I’m clear on my priorities. Now what do I do?

Once you’ve sat down and discussed these questions with your leadership team, devise an action plan. Reaching the top is an achievable goal when you’ve done the honest assessment work to see what you’ll need to do differently. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but answers to the questions presented will help you identify the right strategy to get to your end goal. Keep in mind what top means for your wealth management firm, so you can pursue it, keep clients happy and make your impact a lasting one.

A “Cameo” appearance!

I’m a consultant who helps leaders execute their growth strategy, improve business processes, streamline operations and systematize the day-to-day without feeling overwhelmed, so you can be prepared for next-level growth. If you’re interested, please contact me.

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Cameo Roberson is a consultant who manages a premier business coaching & fractional COO agency for financial advisors and wealth management firms. Prior to launching her own firm, she spent more than 15 years in the client service and operational trenches of fee-only and fee-based advisory firms.

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