Marketing
Marketing isn't something to turn on and off like a faucet; it needs to be done consistently to be effective. Furthermore, defining a specific niche to target often yields better marketing results.

Identify your niche. Advisors often want to keep the door open to all potential clients. But more successful marketing efforts are discriminating and identify a particular client niche instead. A brochure or Web site designed to appeal to anyone and everyone typically appeals to no one. With the niche approach, you instead identify your target audience's hot buttons and define what makes you uniquely qualified to deal with them. The result is a better ROI for your marketing efforts.

Build a marketing calendar. A marketing calendar lays out the specific tactics you plan to deploy to reach your target audience. After determining what your niche is, identifying your marketing strategy and tactics and drafting your annual plan, you can delegate implementation of the marketing calendar to a staff member. This helps you be more consistent. You can then meet weekly or monthly with that staff member to review progress.

Production
Whether you run a solo practice or supervise other advisors, staying focused on revenue-generating activities is a big component of production growth.

Hold yourself accountable. A CEO must keep herself and her advisors on track by managing the sales pipeline. One great way to do this is to use a 20-point system: Identify the actions that lead to appointments with prospects (asking for referrals, networking, meeting with strategic alliances) and then assign points to each of those activities. Set a goal for the number of points you need to earn each week (for established advisors with a book) or per day (for new advisors without one). For offices with several advisors, a 20-point system spurs production and inspires positive competition.

Consider your attitude and aptitude. In addition to activity, be aware of how your attitude and aptitude affects, or limits, your production growth. "Enough is enough" is a mind-set for some advisors. For others, enough is never enough.

Risk Management
Different business structures face different risks, depending on the stage and maturity of the practice and existing state laws, not to mention their tax structures. Risk comes in many forms, so advisors must evaluate where their practice stands and be sure they're carrying the appropriate insurance, be it for disability, business interruption or the loss of key personnel.

Make a succession plan. One of the greatest business risks independent advisors take is operating without a succession plan. Luckily, it's a risk that is avoided relatively easily. As the industry has grown up, so have the advisors who built it, and far too many of them haven't planned for the future of their firms. Since getting hit by a bus is an equal opportunity experience, every advisor needs a continuity plan. If you already have a plan in place, remember: Like any other business document, succession agreements should be reviewed annually so you can ensure they continue to meet your needs.

Getting Started
The first step in implementing a system of proactive practice management is to assemble the documents you need to operate like a business. Here are the foundational pieces that most advisors should have:
  A business plan;
Key HR documents (job descriptions, performance review templates and an employee handbook);
Documented core processes and checklists for carrying them out;
A marketing calendar detailing the tactics you'll deploy over the next year;
Tools to help you focus on revenue-generating activities; and
A succession plan and insurance policies geared toward the risks your practice faces.
Second, and equally important, you must use and maintain those documents as integral parts of your management infrastructure.

Making business management a habit. We're all creatures of habit. Advisors are in the habit of managing their clients' financial lives, but not necessarily in the habit of running a business. To make business management part of your daily routine, you may want to use a tool like the chart at left.