Did you know that if your firm is more operationally efficient it can experience over two times its current growth? That is what Travis Brewer, a business consultant at TD Ameritrade Institutional, told advisors at the National LINC conference in San Diego, California, during his presentation entitled, Foster a Culture of Continuous Improvement.
Ask the Right Questions
People are critical. “If you don’t have the right people in the right roles, all the processes are not going to get carried out,” Brewer cautioned Firms need to ask themselves, “How are my people going to execute on this?”
They also need to ask “Why?” over and over again until they get to the heart of the problem. Brewer said his three-year-old daughter, Rebecca, is a master of asking why, which got some laughs from the attendees. When building a plan and processes, it is also important to ask “Where? Who? When? How?”
Organizations should put metrics in place to measure their operational efficiencyand goals need to be aligned, Brewer advised. First break them down by team and then even further by individual so each person knows how to contribute to the goals.
For example, if clients give a satisfaction score of 90 percent or greater on an annual satisfaction survey, then the associate should know what type of bonus to expect.
Document the Process
Brewer pointed out that half of major processes are not even documented by most advisory firms. But if they were, it would create more consistency, which can lead to better training, increased performance by employees and a better, more consistent client experience.
To document a process, TD Ameritrade recommends the following steps: Identify, analyze, draft, validate, pilot, record and share.
To start drafting a process you can use the Post-It method. Assign a different color for each person in the firm and detail each step with a Post-It note. Eventually you want to move the process into the CRM to manage workflows, said Brewer.
The swim lane method is another option to use. Brewer detailed that a lane (or row) is mapped out for the different roles in the organization. A task is documented in the lane of the person who owns it. Then it is connected to the next task, showing who gets it next.
The litmus test for a new process is if someone not familiar with the steps can do it.