To handle his upturn, Dinverno added two new people earlier this year and is looking at adding more staff in the fourth quarter of 2009. "On the technology side of things, we're good; we have the systems to handle the new traffic." But it's been an evolution learning how and when to staff up, he says. Dinverno echoes Joyce's sentiment: "We're probably never hiring as fast as we should. It takes longer to onboard new employees because our systems are complicated, so we're trying to get better at forecasting our need for new employees."
The greatest challenge of the markets we've seen in the new millennium, says Dinverno, is going from the daily "firefight"-client hand-holding, that is-to having the market rebound and dealing with new client opportunities. "In August, we called clients and let them know they should start opening their investment statement again," he says.
The lesson from these three advisory firms is: Get your systems in order, don't stop marketing, and look at future recessions as opportunities to offset falling revenues with revenues from new clients. They're there for the picking if you're prepared for them.
An independent financial advisor since 1981, David J. Drucker, MBA, CFP, has been an industry influential for many years. Learn about his upcoming Technology Tools for Today Conference-the industry's premier technology conference for financial advisors-at www.TechnologyToolsForToday.com.