Create Structure and Become Irrelevant
Recently, we had a discussion about the client onboarding process. When a client first comes to you, they have a problem that needs to be solved. There’s a cornucopia of things to review with them that ultimately turn into a financial plan: previous tax returns, statements, insurance policies, estate planning, risk tolerance, etc.
Rather than spend too much time thinking about it all, write it down and turn it into a process. The goal of that process is to always know where the client is. For example, in the first three months of working together, you want to determine they have the right portfolio for what they want to achieve and one that considers their risk tolerance. Next you want to ensure their estate plan is in order. You’ll have a meeting or phone call that addresses these topics. Once these things are in place, the next phase may be a maintenance mode for each quarter or year with scheduled check-ins for portfolio review.
However, in your leadership role, you must remember that clients are not coming to you for advice. They’re coming to you to be told what to do. They want direction, so you need to provide that direction. You provide education and value, and you need structure to do that.
Don’t make it complicated, but be consistent. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what the process may be, it only matters that it exists and that there is structure behind it. Any process, whether it’s client onboarding or anything else in your business, reflects structure, and of course, you’ll remember that structure sets you free. There’s no right or wrong onboarding process. It simply has to work for you, but the process must exist. If you’re winging it, and trying to remember the steps to take and when to take them, you are inviting chaos and failing to operate from a design.
So let’s dive a little deeper and review how to create a structure. First ask and answer: “What do I want this to look like?” Thinking is where the value lies, but you must direct and document that thinking, or you get busy and it’s pushed to the back burner where it languishes rather than serving you.
Once you answer the question, the next step is not to ask how you’re going to do it. Instead, I strongly suggest you ask who is going to do it. Who’s going to be responsible? Initially it may have to be you, but ideally, you’ll move it off your plate and delegate it. Let’s face it, if it stays on your to-do list, you’ll probably screw it up. Your forte is in the thinking, not in the executing. That’s why you have a team. Additionally, if it’s up to you and you are only accountable to you, you’re going to let yourself off the hook. We all do.
Next, the biggest bottleneck to your business is… you. This may seem counterintuitive but the goal is to make you irrelevant in every aspect of your business. The irony of trying to become irrelevant is that you, in fact, actually become more relevant. Here’s what I mean by that: Your business will continue to run effectively and be profitable without you having to be there. I don’t mean that you’ve sold it; you’re simply not there. You’re off playing golf, flying airplanes, traveling, or doing whatever it is you want to do.
How is this good for the business? It gives you time to think, and again, your value is in the thinking. The more time and space you have to think, the more you will think. The more you think, the better for your business, your community, and society as a whole.
Think back 150 years. Most of what people did or the job they had was farming or something agriculturally based. Over the years, it has become more efficient and effective and far fewer people do it. Today we have fewer farmers but more food. Why? Because as agricultural efficiency increased, those farmers had more time to think and made themselves irrelevant, moving on to other occupations… or at least, subsequent generations did. Consider the understanding and application of fertilizer. It changed everything. Add to that powered equipment for planting and harvesting – the result of someone having more time to think… from making themselves more irrelevant. All good comes from surplus, and all evil comes from scarcity. When you have an abundance of time (i.e., from making yourself irrelevant), you’ll find more ways to become productive and impactful.
Whenever you can make yourself irrelevant, you create more time and space for your purpose. When you have more time and space for your purpose, it gains momentum. You have more time to open doors and meet people, the effect of which flows back into the business. It becomes an upward spiral. Strive to become more irrelevant to achieve more and make more progress.
Progress is never a straight line. It’s always a spiral. The more you can do, the more you can do. Energy begets energy, and way leads onto way. The more you produce, the more you can produce. By the way we can help you with that: www.gettingresultsinc.com
