COMPASS HEADING

Mastery Level Habits: Thirty Habits That Will Create Revenue Now

A new advanced practice management workshop reveals the skills, habits, and practices of those teams that have mastered the consulting business. Taken from the best of the best these skill can be adopted by you and incorporated immediately into your practice.

Our team coaching relation is going on for over six years now. And nevertheless, your Mastery level skills seminar was far from redundant to us. Quite the opposite in fact. It was of tremendous value for each team and branch member. We each drew great profit from it, feeling greatly motivated to reassess our individual and team priorities… using simple common sense. Luc Blanchard, Branch Manager - BMO-Nesbitt Burns

The Workshop on Mastery is timeless. It was a very valuable boost to the branch’s motivation. You started with the characteristics the Masters of this business share and that made everyone remember, no matter where they are, they can improve. Then you gave us practical tools, everyday tools, that will help us get there. Even though you have personally coached me and my team and I have been to several workshops, I walked out with a pad full of notes! Thanks. And keep coming back. Dave Sanderson - Branch Manager - BMO-NB

This workshop clearly represents the next stage of evolution in relationship based practice management. Lloyd has been able to compartmentalize the key elements of successful Advisory practices and allow the participants to pick and choose what they need. Highly recommended for motivated Advisors at all levels of practice development. Mike Miller - Branch Manager - HSBC

If you are interested in having Lloyd do a workshop for your team or branch please email office@lloydwilliamsinc.com for more information.

If your biggest client called and asked you to meet with them every Tuesday morning at 9:00 AM for fifteen minutes. And they promised, if you did they would double their investment in your business every two years for as long as they lived. Would you hold the meeting?

Yes, everyone would. But this is not your biggest client. They control maybe 5-10% of your total revenue.

So who is your biggest client? You are. When you have a meeting with yourself you control 100% of your revenue. Yet how often are your scheduling meeting on your calendar with yourself.

Mastery Level Practices have more meetings with themselves than they do with all clients combined. Because every client meeting requires a meeting to prepare and they schedule additional meetings with themselves to accomplish the other tasks they need to do during the week.

The habit of scheduling time with yourself and keeping it sacred and not rescheduling, is a Mastery Level Habit that will keep you prepared and focused.

The more you manage others the more time you need to spend by yourself reviewing, planning, and organizing the efforts of others and yourself. Because your ideas are leveraged through the efforts of others, if you do not take the time to think them through clearly, they can result in wasted time and costly rabbit trails when delegated to others.

The Habit: Allocate time on your calendar everyday to prepare for the day. Both you and your team will experience the resulting focus.

Every business must deal with crisis situations. For some businesses that are debilitating, but for others they are an opportunity to shine. To often the inexperienced run into the crisis and flounder amidst all the problems and decisions. The Mastery Level Team attacks the crisis like a Fire Chief does a fire.

1. Stop - The first response is no response. Before attacking the fire, stop and stand back for a moment to observe what is happening. This is the most critical step and is often overlooked. Rushing into a blazing building will only get people killed. The Fire Chief must first see what they are dealing with, before moving.

2. Focus - Look at all the details of the crisis. Here the Fire Chief will look for entry and exit points. Hot spots and danger zones. Without this information lives may be lost. We do not deal with life and death situations but time and effort can be wasted, and wrong decisions at this stage can be costly.

3. Analyze - Assess the situation and determine the best manner of attack. The Fire Chief will analyze options, alternatives, and the best allocation of resources.

4. Perspective - See the crisis with new eyes. The information gathered from the steps above give the observer a new educated perspective. This leads to decisions about how to deal with the crisis.

5. Delegate - Leveraging your strengths. The Fire Chief does not run into the building. They issue orders to the team of skilled firemen to attack the fire in a systematic manner. You can leverage yourself through the actions of your team members. Many times the best person to do the job is not you. While the other person is working on one thing you can focus on another.

6. Act - Everyone now goes into action.

The first four steps only take a few moments to perform, though they are often overlooked. The value they add to your response is immeasurable. When the next crisis arrises, first stop.

The best businesses master all five streams of income:

1. Client Contributions - Your clients already work with you and as you exceed there expectations they continue to purchase more of your products and services to meet there needs.

2. Client Referrals - Over time your clients become advocates and introduce you to new clients.

3. Referrals from Centers of Influence - The outside professionals and resources you use also become advocates and introduce you to their clients.

4. Merger and Acquisition - The fastest way to build a business is to buy it from someone else.

5. Outside Income - This includes all other income. Examples: consulting income, royalties, or income from outside interests.

The first step is realizing that all five of these exist and can grow with attention and care. Begin by documenting the strength of each of these currently in your business. Then assess the opportunity that exist in each area. Finally allocate time to pursue and enhance these income streams. Create a strategy to implement over the next 90-days to improve the area with the greatest potential and each quarter add a new strategy for an additional area.

Multiple income streams smooth out the volatility of your business. This Mastery Level Skill improves your sustainability and allows you to concentrate your efforts where the biggest opportunities exist.

Your ability to handle stress inducing circumstances is directly proportional to your preparation. Those who master the art of business know the art of dissection. They follow a few simple steps to avoid repeating the same stress in the future.

1. Examine the root cause. We normally are dealing with the end result of a situation. Example: the tax crunch of April. What is the cause? The stress of incoming calls and rushing around is the effect. The cause is a transaction that occurred the previous year.

2. Identify a strategy that can change our response and be proactive. Back to our example. Instead of waiting for the crush of work during April we could collect the needed data when the transaction occurs and log it in the client file. Then at the first of the year we could proactively send the client the tax information.

3. Make a habit, procedure, or process so your response is different in the future. From our example: create a logging sheet and post as the transactions occur throughout the year, rather than compiling a years worth of transactions in a few weeks.

The right decision is made before the crisis. It is in the clear light of day that we make a decision and then we execute in the midst of the crisis.

Your business is your baby and like any parent you want and need feedback from the team about how the baby is doing. Too often the advisor delegates to team members and then worries about whether or not the actions have been executed. This lack of communication is a major cause of team dysfunction.

To increase team productivity meet with each team member weekly for 15-minutes with the following agenda:

1. Feedback - 5-minutes the team member gives feedback on previous delegations
2. Delegation - 5-minutes the boss delegates any new tasks or projects
3. Acceptance - 5-minutes both agree and reprioitize the team member’s tasks

This simple 15-minutes weekly meeting will eliminate the excessive workload many team members face and will also remove the anxiety of many managers concerning delegations.

15-minutes a week can transform your team.

Set aside a day to do Life Planning, not just business planning. Look at your entire life-to-date. By answering the following four quesitons you will have a better idea about what is most valuable to you going forward.

Four Questions to Ask and Answer

1. What have I accomplished in my life? List all the accomplishments in your life that make you proud. these are the raw material for your knowledge and experience and will be the foundation upon which you will meet and exceed your future dreams.
2. What have I not accomplished, but intended to? List now the dreams that were important in the past and have not yet been accomplished. Some of these will still be valid and desireable.
3. What are the challenges and problems I face today? Looking at your life now, what challenges do you face today? Because of your past experiences you are more capable in some areas of your life and less capable in others. I am wiser than I was when I was 20, but I can not physically do the same things I once could.
4. What are the opportunities that are available to me right now? List the opportunities, both personal and business, that are available to you.

You can now look at your Roadmap for Change and jump start your new year. For a blank Roadmap for Change form go to the Downloads page.

Check out the new link on the sidebar for book recommendations. I will be updating this page monthly with new books.

Below is an email from the Manager of Advisory Services of a corporate client, following the Attract Clients workshop we did last month.

Lloyd, I just got off the phone with one of our Financial Advisors. He had a meeting with a $50 million prospect Friday. He used, as he called it, “the Lloyd approach” at the meeting and let the prospect talk about himself for an hour and a half. At the end of the meeting, the prospect commented on how his FA at another firm never gave him the opportunity to speak about things the way he was allowed to do that day and felt like the other FA was not proactive in coming up with investment recommendations that were appropriate for him. At the end of the meeting, the client agreed to move his account. Thanks for the inspiration!!!

Congratulations to the advisor. The one topic clients want to talk about more than any other is themselves. Give them the opportunity.

This is an outstanding resource to create a unique client service experience. I recommend the book for every team. Each chapter includes practical worksheets, checklists, and tools to help you implement the concepts.

Take a moment and order a copy of:
Know Service
Connect with Clients. Shape Your Future. Differentiate You!
5 Steps to 5-Star Service for Financial Professionals

Run on Auto Pilot
The best businesses have the right people doing the right things in consistent manners that exceed clients’ expectations, and this leads to immediate introductions. They have no competition, so they need no proactive solicitation, and they reap the benefits of a practice that is running on auto pilot. They have systems that guarantee consistency and continuity. They have a team motivated by a compelling vision that benefits each team member. They have a focus on the client and take time to know the client completely before making recommendations. They build innovative solutions that create a script for the client’s future. Most importantly, they turn an intangible solution into a tangible experience. The best are more successful because they deliver what the rest deem as unimportant or unnecessary and have systematically focused on the details of the client relationship.

Provide a Unique Client Experience
The most successful teams recognize that branding is more than a solution; it is the experience of having the solution delivered. They know that when they deliver a solution, it is important to “wow” the client. Most businesses focus on the solution and forget the small things. Great practices make sure the intangible solution is made tangible for the client. They realize that referrals come because of the experience of having the solution delivered, not the solution itself.

Dissect the Good and the Bad
Great teams are lifetime learners. They examine and dissect every result to continue the good and eliminate the bad. Most businesses celebrate successes and are disappointed by failures. The best practices study their successes and their failures to learn what should be maintained, improved, continued, and eliminated

Establish a Cruise Speed
Extraordinary teams know their capacity for work. They respect team members’ energy levels and avoid burnout by establishing a cruise speed for the team. When necessary, they increase capacity during crisis, then quickly return to cruise speed. Most businesses run at 100 percent of capacity all the time and have no ability to deal with crisis. The team shuts down as everyone becomes exhausted and demotivated. The best practices value all members of the team and understand that the ability to deliver a consistent solution to clients depends upon the team’s energy and motivation.

Produce the Client’s Movie
Successful businesses help each client conceive of a compelling future, believe that future is possible, and build a roadmap to achieve that future. They understand the power of an image. Not only is a picture worth a thousand words, but one with you and your loved ones in it is priceless. The best practices assist clients in seeing their futures become reality by allowing clients to act in their own movies

Analyze for Clarity
The most innovative businesses help clients understand where they are and where they want to be in the future. Like a great architect, these businesses ask specific questions about how their clients live and use the resources they have. The questions help clients analyze their lives and clearly see the options before them. Most businesses avoid this analysis, thinking it is too time-consuming, and then live with the lack of trust and miscommunication that result. The best practices know that the more that clients understand their current situations and the better they are able to see their futures, the more comfortable they are with the solutions provided.

Ask Provocative Questions
Great teams know that a question asked correctly can lead to change. Most teams ask questions just for information and they get answers off the top of someone’s head: “Yes.” “No.” “We went here.” The best teams ask provocative questions that allow a client to think and analyze. In the process, a client’s thoughts change, paradigms shift, decisions occur, whole ways of seeing things shift and clients are able to move in the direction they want to go. The art of asking provocative questions is learned by practice. The best teams have mastered the art of the question.

Use Time Blocks
An outstanding business knows the value of being prepared and defining where to focus its time and effort. It also knows which meetings are most important. A typical business drops everything when the biggest client calls. But this client controls only 5, 10, maybe 20 percent of the business. A great business knows when it meets as a team, or when the business leader thinks alone about the business, it is in control of 100 percent of the business. Team members know that a meeting with themselves is the most important meeting of the week because without the team prepared and focused, everyone loses. The best make team meetings free of interruptions and distractions. They also understand the need for the team leader to have time alone to think, rest, and prepare. These times are blocked on the calendar and protected. The best teams use the calendar to guarantee distraction-free time to plan, think, and prepare. Blocking time allows teams to use the rest of the time to execute and deliver

Be Strategic, Not Tactical
Great teams know that until they and their clients have a strategic roadmap to follow, they are just sailboats drifting without a rudder, compass, or chart. Many practices focus on the solution of the moment. The best practices help clients see the necessity of looking beyond the current issue to the landscape on the horizon. They help identify gaps in the landscape and then assist the client in creating an action plan based on where the client is today and where the client wants to be in the future. The best teams have a long-term perspective and help their clients envision their lives strategically.

Know Your Client
The best businesses realize that knowing the facts of a client’s life does not constitute knowing the client. Almost every business asks a series of questions to profile clients. These questions reveal what a client does, who they are, where they live and work, when they vacation, etc. These are all facts. Great practices know the difference between facts and motivations. They ask why the clients engage in certain activities and how they made certain choices. The answers reveal the purpose, motivation, and reasons behind the actions. They understand that clients do not make decisions based upon facts, but upon emotions, feelings, motivations, and reasons behind the facts. The best practices go beyond the facts and really know why and how their clients make decisions.

Be Fully Engaged
Success in relationship-building depends upon trust. The best businesses understand the need for clients to tell their stories and be heard. Most practices are too distracted by errands, ongoing projects, production goals, team issues, personal conflicts, family issues, and other concerns. Yet clients build trust in proportion to the attention they get from the business. The practice must fully engage with the client. The team must be present physically, mentally, and emotionally. The best practices create a protective environment that allows the team to interact with the client without worry. The best practices meet with their clients undistracted and engage with them fully, draw out the client’s story, and build a trusting relationship in the process.

Put Clients First
The most successful businesses forget about the business at hand and concentrate on the client. Many businesses spend too much time trying to improve the business practice, focusing on where the revenue will come from next month or what new campaign to run. The best practices realize all their business goals are met and exceeded when clients are the focus and attention of the team. Great businesses stop viewing the client as a transaction or sale. They realize the importance of the boomerang principal, that what you give comes back in multiples. Many businesses focus on their own needs first and clients perceive this difference. Great businesses focus on the client first and seem to forget they are even in business. Their focus is to help solve client needs. They have learned that a client focus always comes back in more beneficial ways than expected.

Use Three-act Planning
The best practices understand the necessity of planning in three acts: the past, present, and future. Great businesses have cleaned up the past, have a system to reliably handle the present, and are freed to focus on the future. The future must include a clear, compelling vision that pulls the team forward. An action plan that breaks the future vision into meaningful projects is necessary. Great businesses know that neither activity can occur if a system does not exist to handle the present inflow of E-mails, calls, papers, conversations, letters, tasks, projects, and notes, which create more piles for the past and interrupt the achievement of the future. You need a simple process, like the one outlined in Getting Things Done by David Allen. It works with whatever technology you currently use: a paper planner, Outlook, Lotus Notes, Act, Maximizer, Palm, or a Blackberry. It gives a business flexibility and control by having a business-wide procedure for dealing with the present and processing tasks completely.

Stop Distractions
Great businesses know they must support the strengths of the partners by keeping them involved in money-making activities. They create systems to avoid or reduce distractions. Recent studies have shown that a distraction (phone call, E-mail, walk-in, etc.) requires 15 minutes of refocusing, on average, for a person to regain concentration. Eight distractions a day require almost two hours of recovery time. That means one quarter of the day is spent just regaining the level of concentration needed to re-engage. Imagine the impact of more than eight distractions. Though this recovery time varies by personality, a distraction regardless reduces concentration and productivity. Successful teams tunnel distractions through a single team member who has the skill necessary to manage. This position functions like an air traffic controller who ensures that all planes land in an orderly fashion and are directed to appropriate gates. Without this function, chaos and frustration reign. The best practices stop distractions and keep the team focused by making certain that client concerns are handled quickly by the appropriate team member.