He offered seven key tips:

  1. Understand your market value.
  2. Plan for integration before a deal is final.
  3. Take one step at a time when integrating. Transactions are very large if you are merging teams, which will include technology, investments and people.
  4. Gain an intimate knowledge of who you are dealing with. This often gets overlooked.
  5. Be upfront about non-negotiable issues. Create a list of things like investment philosophy, technology preferences, management style or whatever is the most important. These topics are talked about at a superficial level early on, but instead they should be put the table with more detail from the beginning.
  6. Be sure of your level of commitment
  7. Closely align culture, values and philosophy.

Things as simple as a high level of client service can mean two different things, shared Verchinski.

If advisors want to grow inorganically, they should look to realize economies of scale, access a new market (geographic or a niche), bring in new skills and experience, or enable a succession in ownership.

Mike Byrnes is a national speaker and owner of Byrnes Consulting, LLC. His firm provides consulting services to help advisors become even more successful. Need help with business planning, marketing strategy, business development, client service and management effectiveness? Read more at ByrnesConsulting.com and follow @ByrnesConsultin.

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