4. Think of your services in the form of a value chain. There’s an opportunity now for advisors to build and fill up other “buckets,” creating a value chain that’s unique to each client’s needs. Wealthier clients preparing an estate plan might find value in your estate tax bucket. You might create a bucket targeting young, first-time home buyers that helps them factor mortgage options into their financial plan. You could offer soon-to-be retirees a bucket that helps them create the best strategy for making withdrawals from their retirement assets. AdvicePeriod arranges its buckets for each client, and calculates a flat, fixed fee that increases every year with inflation. But, said Larry, “that fee is reflective of the value we think we can add for that family. Combining investments, advice with planning, just being that general advisor to families.”

This way of reevaluating your services doesn’t just provide what’s best for the client, it provides you with fair compensation for the highest uses of your time and expertise. “If there's less to do and less value to add and less ways to help a client, then we should get paid less; and likewise, if there are more ways to help a family and more things that we can do that are more valuable, then we should get paid more,” Larry said.

5. Be bold and clear in communicating your value to clients and prospective clients. Revamping your practice to compete in the new marketplace isn’t just a matter of getting your “buckets” in order. You have to be able to communicate this new value proposition effectively to your clients and prospects. At AdvicePeriod, “We're big believers in telling the world what we believe in, said Larry. “By speaking about it, by writing about it, we were able to help a lot of clients find us who believed what we were talking about.” Larry said that AdvicePeriod has tested every technology available to find the best ways to communicate with its clients, but if your marketing needs a revamp, start simple. Move your weekly client eblast away from reporting on the markets, and talk to your clients about the things that matter to them. Podcasting and blogging are also excellent tools for starting the new conversations with your clients as well.

6. Fill your team with people who continuously pursue excellence. Structure your business so that from the moment clients walk in the door, they know they’re talking with professionals who understand their needs as people, and care about helping them succeed. “We’ve been very, very fortunate over the years to surround ourselves with just really great people who pursue excellence,” said Larry. “They are very humble in their pursuit of excellence, always questioning what we’re doing. ‘How can we do better? How can we deliver a better client experience for all of our clients?’”