Dealing with a Smaller Bonus Pool

Do I? Do I! There are so many different options to have an engaging event. A few things I ask you to consider first that would have been helpful for me to know:

1. Do you have an ideal client profile? This would mean your clients have similarities – such as mostly business owners, generational wealth, divorcees and so on. Understanding your target audience can often help with constructing an event that is meaningful to them.

2. What else have you done and have you assessed what clients liked the most? Do you have a post-event follow-up process, so you ascertain what to keep and what to change for the future?

3. Have you surveyed clients about what they would like to see in an event? Now that they can get out and see others, they may have some specific topic or interest you could parlay into an event. At a minimum you would get input about what they are thinking about right now.

Here are some good ideas I’ve seen work well:

1. Everyone is done with the pandemic (even if COVID isn’t done with us). Having people talk about medical trends around flu season, how to protect yourself, and what sort of steps to take to keep healthy can be interesting. I had an advisor client who once sponsored a nurse to be at the event to give out flu shots and it was one of their most well attended events. Okay, yes, it isn’t the most “uplifting” holiday topic, but it is a beneficial one.

2. The intersection of financial and physical wellness. To take a different angle on suggestion #1, make it more positive. Many people make new year’s resolutions and often eating healthy, getting exercise and de-stressing are top of the list. Bring in a holistic healer, or stress management expert and combine this with financial stresses and how to manage your thoughts and feelings about your money.

3. Create a networking event. Choose clients who offer skills, products or services through their businesses or in their personal lives. You could have craftspeople, experts in certain areas or sellers of product and set up the event so others can see what your clients are doing and can perhaps learn more about their businesses.

4. Have a not-for-profit focused event. It’s the time of the year where everyone is trying to raise money for their cause. Ask clients what causes they most care about and have a couple of outside speakers come to talk about the mission and the efforts. This can be a learning experience and can help to profile things your clients care about.

5. Hire someone fun like a comedian (make sure they are appropriate for your audience), a stage hypnotist or a performer. Help clients get back to child-like roots where they went to an event just to have some laughs and some fun.

None of these may be appropriate given your audience, which is why I started with my questions. Hopefully something here will spark new and innovative ideas for your team. You can always just do the nice dinner, or have clients come with a new gift for Toys for Tots or the local food pantry. Be creative but know your audience and do what’s best for the people you serve.

Dear Bev,

As the holidays approach, I know my team is expecting the same very large bonuses we have given out over the last five years. But our growth has stagnated this year. With all the market ups and downs, we are not as profitable as we have been historically. We’re not doing poorly, but relative to other years, we are not popping champagne.

I don’t want to lose great team members who are dedicated and have been with us for years but I can’t pay out of a pocket that doesn’t have cash in it.

How do I handle this?

T.R.

Dear T.R.,

Many of the inquiries I get lead me to ask about a dozen follow-up questions and yours is no different:

1. Do your team members know the numbers? Do you keep them abreast of what happens over any given year so they can see for themselves the different bottom line this year?

2. Could you do a qualitative bonus not tied to revenue and profitability? I hear what you are saying by the empty pockets. But you also say you are doing pretty well (or at least “not poorly”). Is it possible to carve out a small pool of money to give out more selectively based on contribution or someone stepping up significantly?

3. Do employees count on this money as part of their annual income such that they are going to be in a difficult position to pay their expenses and meet end-of-the-year personal commitments?

I’d be inclined to share the information soon with your team about where you have been, where you are and why, and let them know this year might be different in terms of what they have received in the past. Then, if you have specific team members who are vulnerable to leaving or who deserve something, you could pull them aside and let them know you will be doing something for them. You have to be very careful; people talk. Depending on the size of your team, you might create a rift by doing this so take that advice selectively based on your culture and your team members whom you know.

Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry, in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).

She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.

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