In the dynamic landscape of today’s business environment, the pursuit of sustainable growth is a constant challenge that financial businesses face. Whether you are a seasoned business owner or a budding entrepreneur, the need to expand and thrive is a universal aspiration. In this article, Savant Wealth CEO, Brent Brodeski, shares key strategies and actionable insights on how to sustainably grow your financial business as an Australian financial advisor.
Brent co-founded Savant in 1992 in Rockford, Illinois while he was working on his MBA. Three decades later, Savant has done 23 partnerships, reached $21,000,000 worth and currently has 460 team members employed.
In 31 years, Brent has learned a lot from the company’s successes through closed deals and negotiations, as well as from their missed opportunities and shortcomings. He believes that to grow and sustain a business, you have to focus on the following key areas: growth, people, value proposition, strategy and innovation, and path forward.
Growth
“If you’re not growing, then you’re dying.”
Brent believes that growth is crucial to the long-term survival of a business as it helps to acquire assets, attract new talents and fund investments.
Growth is important and brings good outcomes to the business but it can also be toxic if done poorly. To achieve sustainability in your financial business, you have to find the intersection and balance between growth and excellence.
“If you’re not growing, you cannot attract and retain the next top generation talent, invest in technology, and build a brand.” Brent shares.
Balance growth and excellence, align interests, and recognise at what speed you are growing. The key to winning is effectively leveraging your people, processes and systems.
People
Any financial business comprises a diverse set of people working together.
Brent further categorises the workforce into three groups: flag carriers, swamp monsters, and silly putty.
As per Brent, Flag Carriers are those people who are willing to go into battle for you, who share the same vision
and passion for helping clients, and who will do whatever it takes for the general good of the business. Flag
carriers are considered to be the most important type of people in a company.
Others belong to the Swamp Monsters category. They’re the type of people who love to complain about their jobs and
personal lives and most of the time tell you how things can be better.
Some of them are talented and good performers, bringing in good numbers to the team and business, but they suck the
life and energy of others, most especially the Silly Putty.
The Silly Putty are the people in the middle curve. They comprise the biggest part of a company or business employee
base.
Generally speaking, they’re good performers. They show up and do their jobs; however, they’re easily influenced and
they need to be led. That’s why they are the most susceptible to influences from the Flag Carriers and the Swamp
Monsters.
To grow your financial business, you have to constantly assess if you have more swamp monsters than flag carriers in
the organisation. If you do, then you have to work with the right people and reassess your workforce as this will
hurt your business in the long run.
In summary, hire only nice people who are smart and loyal, and train them to become better team members in their
respective fields and future leaders in the industry. And learn to let go of those who continuously bring the
collective energy of the company down.
Value Proposition
Most people in the financial services industry went to school, got degrees, and earned accolades, but the defining
factor of a great financial advisor is the ability to build rapport and relationships with clients.
In reality, people don’t care about investments, return dates, and deviations that much, rather
they care more about how they can use investments and financial planning to create the best life for them.
Regardless of your achievements in
life, what makes you a great advisor is your ability to help others realise their ideal future.
“The best life or ideal future is the destination that your client wants to go to. Sometimes, they don’t know
how to get
there or they don’t know what the destination looks like as they don’t have ample experience. But that’s where
you come
in, helping them define the ideal future.”
, says Brent.
Strategy and Innovation
For someone who has been in the industry for three decades, Brent learns that to run a successful business,
sometimes
you have to step back and let your people handle the job for you.
Micromanaging is one of the toxic traits that most top management of any business struggles with.
As a recovering
micromanager himself, Brent believes that this trait can be very destructive as people in the business don’t get the
right opportunities to showcase their expertise and talents and develop them because micromanagers tend to hinder
them
from doing so.
The key things to do to combat micromanaging are to:
- OPEN CULTURE. Create and instil a culture where people, from interns to operations team members, have the opportunity to express and relay their ideas. Regardless if they seem nonsensical and crazy at first. Remember great ideas oftentimes start from somewhere you least expect it.
- TRUST PEOPLE. The second is to trust your people. Since they’re the ones who get to experience their jobs daily, they’re also the best ones to ask for ideas and handle a particular situation. For example, those in the frontline know how to deal with and manage client queries about the company’s services than those who belong to top management because they’re the ones who get to transact and communicate with clients daily.
To innovate your business, you have to create a strategy and instil a culture wherein people are excited to throw ideas out there as this creates a lot more engagement and a lot more likelihood of success.
Path Forward
Lastly, to make progress as a financial business, you must have sound decision-making.
Success comes down to making good decisions.
You don’t have to be the most intelligent in the room but you have to be smart about your decisions.
Success is all a product of hard work and the right time at the right place.
“The gift that we get aside from compensation is the ability to learn from our clients, and being able then to
convey that wisdom and experience to other clients before it’s too late.
Take this wisdom and experience that you’ve gained, apply it to your own lives, apply it to your own family’s
lives.”, says Brent.
By keeping in mind these five key aspects you, your people, and your business will thrive and flourish together
through the test of time.
Want to grow your financial business? We have the right people and strategy to help you with it.
