Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
Dear Readers,
For this week’s column, in the wake of the holiday celebrating our country’s independence, I’ll share some independent thinking for advisors to implement, whether it be with their teams, in their practice or with their clients. I’ll keep it brief in the hopes you will find one or two things that resonate.
Standing out in a crowded market is imperative, and that can only happen when you are doing things others are not doing.
External Client Focused:
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Have a focus. To market and grow most effectively, a team or firm must know who they are talking to, what they are talking about, and what makes them different from others. An ideal client can’t just be “retirees” — the focus has to be specific enough to be meaningful. I was fortunate enough to speak at the Dentists Advisors’ client conference to their dentist clients a week ago, and it reminded me how important it is to be clear in who you serve and what you offer them.
I won’t breach their confidentiality, but the advisors who attended this conference have created a program that takes into account many different things that are meaningful and important to dentists. Having a niche focus helps with your branding and even roles and responsibilities on the team. From there, knowing what your offering is, and what it is designed around (your niche client) is key. Don’t just talk about what you do and how, talk about why it matters.
2. Tell stories. In all of the years I have been doing this work, I have been continually surprised at how many learning opportunities we offer from which advisors (and others) walk away realizing the high impact of storytelling. Stories can be simple — the best ones should be under a minute in duration.
I find advisors often underestimate the power of what they do. It’s just everyday normal for them, so they don’t realize the life-changing impact they have. Stories help to remind; they help to re-tell and re-sell with clients; and they give clients and team members a way to talk about what the firm does in everyday and compelling language. Share stories widely, and keep telling them.
Internal Practice Focused:
3. There is an “I” in team, for “individual.” A group of people can do fine, independently working on their assignments toward whatever goals they have been given. It’s a fallacy that teams should ignore the individuality of each person within the team for the sake of unity. We are all self-oriented when it comes to things like pay and recognition. If I am on a team and believe I am not getting recognized or paid for what I do, I won’t feel like part of the team — and I will resent my colleagues. If there are not clear processes and roles defined there will be redundancy and people will get frustrated.
Similarly, if the leader doesn’t take the time to get to know the motivations and concerns of each team member, there will be problems. I had a client recently talk to me about the difference between a group of people working together and a team. A team, on the other hand, is heading in the same direction toward the same goals; each member knows their role and how it interacts with other roles; there are milestones and sharing of wins and losses; and the team enjoys one another enough to pull in the same direction when needed. Decide what you want to have with your team members and plan accordingly.
4. Be deliberate about culture. We often talk about culture by default or culture by design. If you are the leader, or leaders, be sure you are thinking about what kind of environment you want to create to motivate your team members.
As a leader or manager, you can’t motivate another person, but you can create an environment within which they are motivated to succeed on their own — or demotivated by what is happening around them. Be thoughtful, be careful and check in with your team. It’s important to listen. If they won’t share, it isn’t they don’t see things; they might just not be comfortable sharing with you.
5. If you are the leader, continue to grow and change. When I teach my grad classes on leadership, I like to point out to the students that there is no pinnacle for leadership. Unlike a lot of technical skills that you can master, or roles that you can achieve, leadership is a ongoing process. I often talk about how one of the main tenets is continuous learning. Keep pushing yourself. Get a coach, do a 360, ask for feedback, and engage your team in as many ways possible.
Find the opportunities for your team to be independent and stand out in honor of 250 years of independence.
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. The firm has won the Wealthbriefing WealthTech award for Best Training Solution for 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. Beverly is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching Executive MBA students Leadership and Managing Teams. She 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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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.