Join Duncan as he discusses how important the mentor, Protégé dynamic can be to help overcome obstacles and get you to the next level.

Say up front that you understand the prospective client is vetting you, and be clear that you are also vetting them to make sure that you are a good fit and there is an alignment of interest. It is about engagement, and the client empowering the team.

Create capacity for future growth.

In this episode Duncan speaks to viewing the current downtime as a mixed blessing and an opportunity to refine and optimize your processes by taking your Strategy and Tactical Meetings online.

Most professional advisors say they have no idea. Here is a vital piece of actionable advice: Make your clients the voice you listen to. I’ll say it again and again throughout this book: Listen to your clients. They are on the receiving end of your value and your service. Who better to articulate that value to somebody else?

Ambition gets a bad rap at times, and it shouldn’t. The foundation of pure ambition is rooted in absolute gratitude. Putting some proportion to your existing success and the concept of your vision for the future must be balanced by humility and appreciation for your accomplishments, both in your nature and in what you’ve nurtured.

In this episode Duncan suggests that anxiety is born in the place between expectation and reality. Losing yourself in your work can help you find your purpose and your calling and that honoring your nature and nurturing your qualities will lead to the best of your possible ability.

How do you welcome new clients? How do you say thank you for client referrals? How do you respond to client service issues? Do you recognize milestones? As a business owner, branding is everything to your business, and everything you do is part of your branding. Everything you do matters. Scrutinize the entire client experience, and make a list of how you will respond to moments of truth. This is the first step in creating velocity, building confidence and ensuring that you are continually refining and optimizing your systems and procedures. Everything has to be rooted in process and habits.

Don't just make your clients the voice you listened to, make your team the voice as well. Understanding how you're perceived and how your value is articulated by everybody on your team can help you raise the client experience and increase your rate of referrals.

"Knowledge is learning something every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day."  - Zen

My team and I at Pareto Systems speak with literally hundreds of financial professionals each week and we hear firsthand what they’re hoping to achieve in the future. Some goals are quite common, while others are counter-intuitive. On any given day we will speak to an advisor who aspires to more and wants to grow their business, and then on the very next call we will speak to another advisor who strives for contentment and wants to simplify their life.

At the 30,000 feet perspective, on virtually every call we can categorize each advisor into one or more of these three areas:

• Explore - meaning the advisor wants to conduct a strategic analysis to identify untapped opportunities and overlooked vulnerabilities
• Evolve - meaning the advisor wants to break out of the status quo and make the refinements necessary to get to the next level of efficiency and profitability
• Expand - meaning the advisor wants to develop personally and professionally to achieve greater fulfillment and predictability on a daily basis.

When we drill down on our calls and uncover the core motivators, these are the most common goals advisors share with us:

1. Right-size their business to restore liberation and order to their lives as they focus on their best clients
2. Transition to a fee-based model in a professional manner so that clients focus on what the advisor is worth rather than what he or she costs
3. Align with another advisor to create scale, efficiency and a 1+1=3 environment that is more profitable and fulfilling
4. Be better prepared for market volatility to ensure they thrive rather than just survive in any market conditions
5. Buy a business from a retiring advisor and predictably integrate it into their existing business 
6. Switch to a different firm where the culture and core philosophy are complementary to the advisor’s
7. Sell their business for maximum profit by amplifying the proprietary assets beyond just ‘Trailing 12’
8. Create Organization and Structure to unlock efficiency and profitability
9. High Level Client Acquisition by attracting like a consultant, rather than chasing like a salesperson
10. Developing Outstanding Branding so that the advisor is perceived and described as a professional with a process.

Two Rules Top Achievers Never Break

1. They don't wing it.
2. They don't wait for conditions to be perfect.

The most enlightened advisors understand the harmony between planning and taking action with a sense of urgency. Substantial goals after all, are achieved by design not by chance.

 “Dig Your Well Before You are Thirsty” – Confucius

When an advisor comes to us with a vision for how they want their business and life to look in the near future, the key mindset we want to support is to get out in front of the issue and proactively drive it with a methodical and sequential plan. Of course that's a lot easier to talk about than it is to actually do, but time and time again we see firsthand how success is achieved by letting disciplines compound over time. We all know the rule of 72, but it's not just money that compounds, disciplines compound as well. So too does neglect. If you have a vision for how you would like your life and business to look in the next 12 months, it is essential that you break down the necessary actions and chip away at it over time. This puts you on a trajectory that enables you to make mid-course corrections quickly so that you don't drift off track.

Successful advisors with serious mileage and experience will tell you that meaningful change takes longer, requires more resources, and is more difficult to execute than expected. To that end they understand that there can be a very positive power that comes from negative thinking. Just as a savvy investor knows that it's dangerous to think "It's different this time", the advisor who aspires for bigger and better things has to temper their optimism and know that external dependencies may not always cooperate. And overcoming that adversity makes the achievement that much more meaningful.

 If it is to be it is up to me!

Those are quite possibly the 10 most powerful two-letter words ever put together in one sentence. And that is what separates the best advisors from the rest. They take action, and they take responsibility for their outcome. They don’t blame conditions or wish things were better. They strive to become better.

 Continued Success!

Contributed by Duncan MacPherson

There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don’t allow yourself to become one of them - Ralph Marsten

Pareto Systems' Total Client Engagement Process will help you overcome obstacles and achieve a breakthrough in your business. Click here to learn more: https://www.paretosystems.com/total-client-engagement.html