Part 1
If you clicked on this article/video, my guess is that you are either frustrated or desperate or both. Of course I could be wrong. You might just be looking for greater efficiencies, in which case I apologize. Many advisors I speak to are both frustrated and desperate. They are spending every penny they take in and sometimes more. They don’t have a predictable system for generating new Ideal Clients and they have far too many non-ideal clients.
Taking on a non-ideal client is like intentionally sticking a piece of gum on the bottom of your shoe before a marathon. Because you are desperate not to lose the immediate income right now race, you keep sticking more and more pieces of gum on the bottom of your shoes, preventing you from winning the Ideal Client marathon. Then you get frustrated when you assess your Ideal Client marathon progress and discover you are not running very fast! How many pieces of gum are on the bottom of your shoes right now? You need to count them, because when you do, you’ll quickly discover what’s impeding your progress.
Let me be clear, the marathon you are running, and the only one worth winning is the Ideal Client, Recurring Revenue Marathon.
Every non-ideal client you take on slows you down and sucks your time with compliance issues, emails, phone calls and meetings. They also suck staff time, creating frustration and delays for your Ideal Clients. The only reason you take on non-ideal clients is because you are hooked like an addict… on short term revenue and you can’t wait for your next fix.
Recurring revenue is the Holy Grail. Why? Because it is recurring! I know that sounds obvious, but what it means is that you don’t have to go through an entire sales cycle to get it. The sales cycle is long and exhausting.
I know you have a ready story about the super-short super profitable sale you just made or new client that just fell into your lap. But you need to divide that income by all of time, effort and expense you invested in all of the sales and marketing activities that DIDN’T pay off. Getting a new client takes a lot of time and serving that client properly takes even more time. If the revenue does not recur, you are on the treadmill to hell.
So how do you break this cycle and make the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time? It really is not hard. It is not complex. But you have to follow the formula I give you and I know from experience that most of you will fail in step one. It is sad but true. I have talked with literally thousands of advisors over the past 30 years and most of them get completely lost on step one. Are you listening, because I’m going to give you the formula right now.
Rush Forward, Into Your Future Vision of Your Ideal Business With a Single Compelling Comprehensive Business Methodology and Model
Step 1. Stop dithering about what might be possible and what you might someday do and what others are doing… Commit, right now, and I do mean right now… not in some general future… to a single program or process for reaching your goal. Stop believing all the miracle marketing program bullcrap and start WORKING on your business every day in a methodical way. Chose a single method or mentor and follow their process to the letter. Don’t question and don’t innovate. Both are just procrastination and delay in disguise and you do not have the luxury of time. If you had the luxury of time you would already be off the crack of non-ideal clients…but instead, you are itching for another fix right now, right?
So listen to me, stop THINKING everything to death and start ACTING. Pick a method and/or a mentor and follow their process to the letter. If you pick the wrong mentor or method and follow it, you will be light years ahead of where you will be if you keep dithering. Just pick a method and start implementing!
Two caveats…
Make sure the mentor or method you choose focuses on how to acquire and retain Ideal Clients not just any clients…
And second, make sure that the method or mentor you choose uses a business model build exclusively or primarily around recurring revenue.
If your practice is built on those two tenants, regardless of the specific methods…then success will be swift and you will make the most money in the shortest amount of time.
Part 2
OK, so you’ve committed to action and you’ve committed to a business model focused on Ideal Clients and recurring revenue. What’s next?
Your Vision: Make It A Reality In Less Than A Year
You must commit to fully implementing your plan in 12 months or less. Those advisors who have the breakthroughs that change their careers and their lives are those who really focus on short-term rapid change in their practices. There is a powerful reason why this works. One, you build momentum internally. Your projects get finished faster and your staff stays motivated by the progress. Two, all that change will be notices and appreciated by your clients because it will be both rapid and visible. When they see you delivering significantly greater value and adding to that value consistently, they will get excited about what a great deal they are getting and they will tell their friends. If you implement slowly over years, the pace of change is so slow that your clients will never notice.
If you are thinking you’ll implement at a slow comfortable pace…stop it… you’ll die or go broke before you reap the rewards. I mean it… 12 months or less for the entire transformation.
What you need to accomplish in the next 12 months is the following:
- Identify your Ideal Client Profile…You should have done this after viewing Part 1, but if not, get it done today.
- Define an offer that clearly differentiates you from your competitors…We believe there is no substitute for delivering real, tangible financial services value that is clearly defined. For more details, read the article/download the video entitled “The Raw Truth About Referrals.”
- Upgrade your current clients to Ideal Clients using your new offer that is only available in a recurring revenue model. In other words, only those clients who meet your Ideal Client Profile and who are willing to enter into a recurring revenue agreement with you are eligible for your extraordinary service model. All other clients will get something else. They will never get your best client experience without meeting both criteria.
- Deliver such an extraordinary experience in the first three meetings with your Ideal Clients that they will enthusiastically introduce you to everyone they know and care about. Again, I’m talking about REAL VALUE, not fluff and nonsense. Refer to “The Raw Truth about Referrals” for an in-depth understanding.
When you get referrals from your Ideal Clients, chose to work with only those clients who meet your Ideal Client Profile and then deliver such an extraordinary experience to them in the first three meetings that they will enthusiastically introduce you to everyone they know and care about. Sounds redundant, right?
A Simple Compelling Unhampered Unlimited Business Vision
I told you this is not complex. But advisors who are hooked on the crack of non-ideal clients won’t do it. They just can’t let go of their addiction.
You may think this system is overly simplistic, but I am here to tell you that it works…it really works…but only if you implement it. It is really quite simple. Lather, rinse, repeat. It is not complex. But it does require work on your part to first commit and then to implement.
I can hear your gears turning right now, trying to figure out why it won’t work, where the loopholes are, how you’ll need to change it or adapt it, or how you really just need one more fix of non-ideal client to get you through the month and then you’ll be ready.
The advisors who have made this work have just put their heads down and made it happen. That really is the easiest way. What you are doing now is the hard way. How do I know? Because if your current method was really working for you, you wouldn’t’ be wasting your time listening to me. You’d be on the beach, skiing in the mountains, on the golf course or spending more time with your kids.
And that’s where I want you to be. I want you to have a steady stream of recurring revenue from Ideal Clients that you look forward to seeing each day. I want you to love your life and for you to stop stressing about your lack of money or lack of time. It is a rare advisor who has both time and money… but you can be one of them. But you’ll have to change your mindset and your business model to get them.
All Available For You In a Beautifully Gift-Wrapped Package With a Big Bow on Top
I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that we have all of this…and much more… put together in a turnkey program that you can implement in 12 months or less…and you won’t have to reinvent the wheel.
We’ve been there and done that. It is all packaged up and ready to go. All you have to do is commit and implement our system in your practice. Lather, rinse, repeat! If you think you can do that and you want to learn more, call or email me for a free consultation and we’ll talk about your specific situation and what it will take to get you where you want to go.
We don’t mind at all, by the way, if you would rather design and build all this on your own. Feel free to take all of our free content and build it yourself. We built The Trusted Advisor Toolkit to help our fellow advisors.
But, if you are the kind of person who likes learning from others mistakes and experiences…the kind of person who wants the shortest path and doesn’t need to invent everything for yourself, we’ve got the whole enchilada built and ready to go. Just let us know you are interested.
