Having a stable and successful company is the goal of every entrepreneur. Our experience confirms that the necessary prerequisites include, in particular, a consistently defined business strategy, described and implemented processes and a set risk management system. In the article, you will learn 10 specific tips that have helped the growth of selected partners of Broker Trust, with which I have been cooperating for a long time.
Describe what your business should look like
The more detailed our future image of our company is described, the more we will want to experience this state and we will be able to pass it on to anyone else and get excited about it, for example, by our co-workers in the company, our business partners, our clients, etc. At a time when the financial advisory market is very saturated, a well-defined vision can be the decisive reason for attracting new and retaining existing top salespeople and sales managers.
Formulate a strategy
The strategic goals of the company are based on the vision, develop and concretize it. Properly formulated strategic goals are not focused on only one indicator (e.g. only on commission turnover), it is advisable to use several indicators from different groups such as finances, co-workers and their development, clients or processes.
What exactly can such a reflection bring, says one of the contractual partners of Broker Trust, Václav Ovečka, director of Financial Administrators: “As a company, we have set ourselves a goal that we want to achieve in 2020. In cooperation with Broker Trust and Martin Čuba, we have also found specific ways to reach it. And what have we already managed to do since this spring? In the second half of 2016, we increased production by 40% compared to the same period in 2015. Among other things, thanks to the perfect systemic care for the client tribe and a unique service that brings clients specific savings and benefits. This allows us to provide passive income for advisors and premium care for clients.”
Description of business processes
If we want to have a commercially successful company, we must be able to recognize and describe business processes. Have a defined sequence of repetitive activities that contribute to the achievement of business goals. We start from the assumption that we can only manage and control what we have described. If I hire new co-workers who do not know what to do and why, what and how an assistant or manager can help them, for example, they will not be oriented and will soon become demotivated. If I have well-described processes, I can define who will be involved in the business, how many colleagues and what kind of colleagues I will need. I can describe positions in the company (e.g. consultant, manager, assistant, marketing specialist) well, determine their main responsibilities, define the frequency and form of communication between individual positions, and recommend specific development activities. If my goal is to have the whole country covered by the service, I can’t do without the above. Only in this way can I duplicate best practices in individual regions, be predictable and consistent in front of clients and co-workers.
Segment. Different clients have different needs
Our clients are different, have different needs, use different products and services. It is important to determine the target segments, i.e. groups of clients that we will target in our sales and marketing communication. Describe typical groups of clients well, define where I can meet clients from these groups, how to establish contact with them and maintain communication. I will communicate with a mother for whom the health and future of their children is the most important, and communication with a manager who is thinking about valuing free funds and maintaining a high standard of living will be different. It is effective to adapt the form of communication and the selection of recommended products to individual groups. Since each group has different expectations, we will encounter different questions and different arguments will apply.
Diversify
In order for our company to be stable in the coming years, it is necessary to diversify the portfolio of products sold and perhaps our clients as well. Prepare your advisors for this and thus help them to have a more stable income. Diversification of the business portfolio is one of the ways to achieve stability in the future income of advisors and the company.
Build a plan for communication with clients
Broker Trust’s contractual partners can use the system to actively manage the trunk of existing clients. Active management of the tribe is just as important for the company’s turnover as acquiring new clients. We often encounter a case where advisors contact new clients and at the same time communicate unsystematically with existing ones. On the one hand, the company acquires new clients expensively, and on the other hand, it loses them. Companies should define a procedure for contacting new clients and a plan for communication with existing ones. To maintain a stable income of advisors, it is important to precisely define the system of working with the core of existing clients. Who will be responsible for “discovering and preparing” business opportunities in the client tribe, how will these opportunities be handled, what form will be taken of communication with these clients and what will be its goal, how will we measure retention and up-selling? This also needs to be clearly set and described in order not only to prevent premature termination of contracts, but also to increase the total number of clients in the trunk and the number of products per client also grows. This will also increase the stability of our client portfolio and will not jeopardize the income of advisors.
Analyze why clients are leaving
It is also necessary to analyze whether we know why our clients are terminating their contracts, why they are leaving us. Do we understand the needs of our clients, do we know their short-term and long-term goals? How many of them are terminating their contract just to meet the current small financial need? Can we help them in another way and keep the existing product? As one of the Czech banks currently states, more than half of the clients who would otherwise leave can be “saved” by explanations and the right arguments.
How to Recruit New Advisors and Managers
The manager’s personality is key to the expansion and sustainability of each team. A survey conducted at the beginning of 2016 showed that 56% of co-workers change their jobs due to the incompetence of their superior manager. Also, when we ask company employees at various workshops what was their motive for coming to the company, they most often mention the personality of the manager they went to and who got them for the company.
Nowadays, when legislation is changing and the market is becoming more and more demanding, it is more than ever necessary to think about what kind of co-workers I am actually looking for, who I would like to hire in the company, what my new colleague should be like? There are many options where you can find new advisors. Let’s just mention those that use modern technology. The most frequently used resource today is professional social LinkedIn, which contains more than 1 million personal profiles in the Czech Republic. Also interesting are short recruitment videos from the company’s environment well promoted on the Internet, disseminated e.g. on social networks with an invitation to join the company’s team. This allows me to differentiate myself well from the competition, communicate my visions, values and corporate culture.
Have a system for adapting new people
Although companies spend considerable resources on building a stable sales team, they are not always satisfied with the result. Why do new traders not have the production that the company expects? One of the possible causes may be the incorporation of new traders in the system. The competency model of a salesperson should include such skills that are based directly on specific situations of everyday practice. The competence of the co-worker who recruits a new colleague to the company and accompanies him through the first weeks is usually decisive for the motivation and success of the new colleague. We start with a vision and an explanation of where the company is heading. We continue with goals and specific activities that will await the salesperson in the near future. The new colleague must feel that it is realistic to achieve good business results and thus adequate income. In practice, a one-page adaptation plan with specific activities and skills that the salesperson acquires in the first weeks after joining has proven to be effective. These are, for example: o a system for the acquisition of new clients, a system for managing the existing client tribe, a plan for education and personal development, etc.
As Václav Ovečka from the Financial Administrators adds: “We are glad that we are successful in recruiting new advisors and managers. To support the work of our salespeople, the position of marketing specialist, sales and company development manager has even been newly created, and directly within the structure also the position of regional directors who completely manage the region. We have the republic divided into 15 regions, we have described individual positions and we have established a system of internal education in the form of our own Business and Management Academy.”
Implement risk reduction measures
Nowadays, when new legislative standards come into force, there are a number of risks around us that we must respond to and be able to manage or manage. prevent them. More than ever, it is necessary to manage your own and your entire company’s cash flow. Plan your personal and business expenses in relation to changed income streams, so that you are not surprised by a change in these revenues in the future. The quality of sales, more consistent care for clients and knowledge of their needs and goals can prevent negative situations and termination of contracts. It is necessary to communicate with advisors about this more than ever, to explain the situation consistently and to take such measures so that we continue to succeed. It is necessary to think about diversifying the trading portfolio and taking care of the development of your advisors. Only if our advisors do well, the whole company will do well.
Martin Čuba, owner of ETON Business Consulting and coach cooperating with Broker Trust