It doesn't really matter whether you are a small practice with a single advisor and a small support team, or whether you are a large practice with multiple advisors and multiple support teams. The key to the quickest growth is in maximizing the time of the lead advisor. And the lead advisor, for lack of a better word, we'll call the rainmaker. What I want to do is identify the rainmaker(s) in my business. Maybe it's just me if I'm a small practice, maybe there's multiple of us in a larger practice, but we want to know who those rainmakers are. And then we're going to build a team around them, so that they're able to hyper focus on the things that make it rain. I don't want my rainmakers spending time on administrative functions, or various diligence functions, or compliance functions, or other things that are not going to help drive revenue. Now, there are certain things that are required that would fall into kind of a buffer zone where "yeah, I have to do these in order to keep the business afloat". But beyond that, I don't want to take jobs away from other people who should be focused on the administrative side of the business, for example, and have the rainmaker spilling over into that category. Now, if they do need to spill over in that category because there's managerial responsibilities, do that on a weekly meeting basis so you can keep it condensed to a particular period of time. You don't want to have a revolving door taking place in your office, where people are interrupting the rainmaking and/or the appointments with clients (which is the rainmaking in many instances).
So, again, I want to find the rainmaker. And then this is key - I want to build a support staff specifically around that rainmaker so that they are a team/pod/unit, if you will. It's kind of like the doctor-nurse relationship. There are things that the nurse does and things that the doctor does, and while there are some overlapping areas between the two, you should be running the same kind of general philosophy in a rainmaking pod inside of your practice. And, if you want to grow your business rapidly, the first thing you need to do is maximize the time of the rainmaker. That's a known commodity. I know when that individual is doing what they're supposed to do, this is the revenue that gets generated. If I'm hiring someone from the outside to come in new, and let's say I want to bring in a sub-producer, I have no idea what they're capable of yet, so I'm going to bet on my known quantity. I'm going to build around my rainmaker. When that's maxed out and capped out, now I can go bring in the next producer. And then once they get their legs under them, I'm going to create a rainmaker pod around them as well, because that's how I want to keep this developing over time. That's the quickest way to growth, it's the most successful way to growth. It keeps everybody in their lanes, it keeps them doing the functions they're supposed to do, and it will grow your practice faster than just about any other organizational structure you can come up with.
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The RARE Advisor is a business model supercharged by Recurring And Repeatable Events. With more than thirty years of working with and coaching successful advisors, host Mike Walters (along with other leaders in the industry), discusses what it takes to grow a successful practice. With the aim of helping financial professionals and financial advisors take their business to the next level, Mike Walters shares insights and success stories that make a real impact. Regardless of the stage of your practice, The RARE Advisor will provide thoughtful guidance, suggestions for developing systems and processes that work, and ideas for creating an authentic experience for your clients.
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