2. Build the next generation of investors into the practice:

•  Build relationships in communities where the Gen-X and -Y demographics thrive; share my expertise.

•  Audit and update digital and physical marketing materials that speak to the benefits and values of this audience.

•  Launch a digital advertising campaign that targets these demographics in the online spaces they frequent most—connect it to value-add education.

3. Enhance efficiencies through streamlined workflows and technology:

• Create workflows that are fueled by tools and technology, and integrate systems wherever possible to improve processes.

• Enhance the onboarding experience, create new avenues for sharing information, and introduce more efficient reporting for new clients that emphasizes convenience and value; develop a promotion that allows current clients to opt into the new processes

Whew! That’s a lot of stuff—and stuff is good. But whether or not that stuff works is what makes or breaks your plan for 2020. Let’s get back to defining success: What might success look like for this advisor? How will she know that all of her efforts are working for her clients and practice as a whole?

It Only Matters If You Measure It

This is the trap we all fall into—we spend so much time dreaming up big goals and plans for the coming year, only to come up short when we’re asked to prove how it all works. This is what a data-driven goals strategy looks like (fill in the blanks yourself):

1. Increase the value I bring to my client relationships:

a. End result: New client relationships and attrition certainty:

i. X% of clients between the ages of 70-80 will be opted into a legacy planning process

ii. X% of the next-generation family members who participate in this process will engage me as an advisor (this likely will be a lower number than above)

b. End result: Marketing activities will increase client engagement:

i. X% of the clients who participate in the legacy planning process will include their children in our family meetings and invite them to attend at least two family-legacy events.

ii. Open rates for educational and marketing emails will increase by X% and click-through rates will increase by X%.

iii. The number of current clients who are subscribed to our communications will increase by X, growing by X% year over.

2. Build the next generation of investors into the practice:

a. X% of my new clients will fall into the Gen-X and Gen-Y categories with minimum investable assets of $1 million:

i. Of these clients, X% will be referred by COIs and existing clients.

3. Enhance efficiencies through streamlined workflows and technology

a. Increase profitability by X%.

b. Decrease meeting prep and onboarding time by X%.

c. Onboard at least X% of new and existing clients onto technology platforms and tools.