Block out time in your schedule for growth     

Did you resolve to add more clients in 2024, and if so, have you stuck to your plan?

Why do most financial advisors have client rosters that seem to stagnate, while a small minority of advisors build businesses that serve thousands?

The difference is that successful advisors never lose their focus on growth. They view business development as a key indicator of success and are consistent in their approach to finding new people to serve.

To be fair, one of the reasons it's so difficult to land new clients is because advisors are so busy serving their existing base. What makes it so hard to free up time to build new relationships is that client service is reactionary, whereas business development is proactive. However, if you want to build, increase revenue, and strengthen your overall practice, it is crucial that you schedule adequate time for marketing and prospecting.

Last week I had breakfast with a friend of mine who recently started an accounting firm that focuses on being a part-time CFO to small and midsize companies. He asked that we meet so he could brainstorm ideas aimed at how he could market his business to find more clients. I provided him with several ideas, but from my point of view, the most important thing he needed to do was to block his schedule to provide time to focus on business development.

When I was building up my financial advice practice, I would set aside two hours every day for marketing and business development purposes. Plus, I set aside one entire afternoon and an evening each week for prospecting and marketing.

During those blocks of time, I was unavailable for anything that had to do with existing business. If a client called or emailed, I counterintuitively would not drop what I was doing to talk with that client. Before I had the staff to help, I simply waited to return the call. Once I grew to the point where I could afford to hire someone, I had a client service person handle whatever issue was urgent. I simply refused to be interrupted from my business development time to deal with any other matter.

The set-aside time focused on finding new clients would include such things as making phone calls to prospective clients and centers of influence, perhaps having lunch with an accountant, attorney, or business owner who may have been able to provide referrals, having small client events with well-connected clients, and so on.

Any advisor who has built his or her practice from scratch has tried a variety of business development strategies and knows what has worked for them. However, far too many advisors stop growing because they no longer prioritize growth. Most of their time is spent being reactive to client and business needs rather than being proactive about growth activities.

If you want 2024 to be better than 2023, one way is to block off time each week so that you can get back to what made you successful in the first place – finding new clients.

Scott Hanson is co-founder of Allworth Financial, formerly Hanson McClain Advisors, a fee-based RIA with more than $19 billion in AUM.