As for marketing, half of survey respondents said they don’t have a marketing plan, and among those that do only 13 percent said their marketing plan has been effective.

Inveen notes the majority of new clients at the typical firm come from referrals from existing clients. “In most cases, that’s just a passive way to go about business development,” he says. “One of the clear distinctions in this year’s study is that the better firms are less reliant on passive client referrals for growth. They’re more apt to focus on centers of influence, for example."

But that's only part of the equation. “You need a plan in terms of who you’re going to contact and establish relationships with regarding centers of influence," Inveen says. "And you need to have someone overseeing the nurturing and developing of those relationships so they’ll bear fruit.”

FA Insight found that marketing and business development efforts rise in importance for both the smallest and the largest standout advisor firms, while operational efficiency is a more important factor for driving growth at mid-sized firms.

FA Insight’s survey was conducted earlier this year among more than 1,000 advisory firms, of which 342 met the standards for a complete submission, including being in business for at least a year and earning a minimum of $100,000 in annual gross revenue.

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