John Napolitano, CEO of U.S. Wealth Management, has often described advisors as being the head coach for their clients, and after attending several seminars he became convinced that coaching was the key to growing an RIA practice.

So in 2014 he brought on two business development executives, Christopher Zelesnick and Matt Schulman, as managing director and director, respectively, at his LPL Financial-affiliated national advisor network based in Braintree, Mass. Zelesnick and Schulman not only recruit new advisors to U.S. Wealth’s network, but also oversee an extensive advisor coaching program.

“We have formal one-on-ones and small meetings throughout the month,” Schulman says. “We also run a monthly national call that everyone is invited to. Ideas are shared in a round table fashion. It creates a collaborative culture.”

“Culture is what sets us apart,” Zelesnick says. “If you go independent, it’s easy to feel a little alienated, but our coaching involves a huge amount of peer-to-peer communication.”

U.S. Wealth Management’s online marketing focus also shifted from investors to advisors, with coaching at center stage. That shift may be responsible for the firm’s recent growth: Its revenue grew more than 30% during 2014. So far this year, revenue has grown another 21% and AUM by 16%, Zelesnick says, bringing the firm’s total assets to $850 million.

Zelesnick and Schulman’s work begins with transitioning advisors to U.S. Wealth Management through the New Advisor Transition Excellence Program, or NATE. The pair sit with recruits and help them develop an independent business model.

A transition plan is then developed where advisors select which of U.S. Wealth Management’s resources they want to use. Advisors are free to choose their services à la carte, including asset management, coaching, marketing services and back-office support.

As part of the transition, Zelesnick and Schulman help advisors form a communications and PR plan for their new business, and then assist them in on-boarding clients, with goals of ensuring a smooth transition and maximizing client retention.

Strategies are crafted to the individual advisor, Zelesnick says, and are never imposed either by the firm or LPL.

“A lot depends on the advisors themselves,” Zelesnick says. “Every advisor has a unique business model and they are at different stages of their careers, and a lot of that dictates the type of client or level of income that they are giving advice to.”

The program is built on a four-part curriculum: developing niche markets; developing centers of influence; obtaining referrals and harnessing social media. “We analyze their practice and see where they’ve made inroads,” Schulman says. “It could be a particular doctor field, or golfers or people in the wine and restaurant business.”

Once a niche is found, the coaches help advisors develop a brand identity and access clients through centers of influence.

“When you realize that you’re already giving advice that’s unique to that type of practice, there’s an opportunity to expand that practice,” Schulman says. “We find the trade organizations and help them make the connections.”

The pair also help advisors prospect for clients through referrals.

“The common theme is getting advisors more ‘A’ clients, the clients who bring in assets that can really build a business,” Schulman says. U.S. Wealth Management then focuses on getting affiliates on the web and on social media with targeted messaging.

If advisors continue the coaching, U.S. Wealth Management takes a larger percentage of their annual revenue. Thus far, all of the firm’s affiliates have enrolled in the coaching program.