Continuing Education And Development
But it's not just in the early years when growth and outreach are important. Even established practices should be careful not to rest on their laurels. "We are all works in process," observes Kay, "and therefore, if we're not growing, we are moving backwards."
To avoid regression, or stagnation, many veteran advisors advocate growth through ongoing learning. "Advisors need to keep up with what issues are plaguing clients today," says Cooper.
For instance, such timely issues nowadays might be unemployment or properties that are under water. "You need to take the time to educate yourself so you can help clients and other professionals with what's on their minds right now," he stresses. "Look at what's going on with the economy and find out where the pain is. Become an expert at cleaning up today's messes. And you have to keep up, because chances are they won't be the same messes tomorrow."
It's crucial to follow the news flow-and to try to anticipate future problems. Equally important: stay abreast of tax laws and other technical changes.
And if changing times require you to adjust the direction of your business, so be it. "If advisors stay too narrowly focused and provide just one type of advice, that could be a liability," says Cooper. "They need to make sure they have a sufficiently broad scope of knowledge because what's specifically needed most now might not always be needed."
Not that it's easy for busy advisors to find the time to read the news, let alone educate themselves about the latest investment strategies or tax laws. Some use online clipping services to send relevant items to their e-mail inboxes.
Others create a formal program of continuing education for themselves and their entire office staff. "Advisors ought to spend 40 or 50 hours per year in actual classes, seminars, symposiums or other professional-development activities," says Hubbard.
Indeed, you never know where your continuing education may lead you. "Clients will call for every conceivable situation, and you need to keep up so you can give good guidance even if there's no commission," Hubbard says. "If you can do that, clients will stay with you and refer you to others. And in time you might even find you're advising their kids about how college graduates should manage their affairs."