Is The Grass Always Greener?
It is impossible to argue that our business is constantly evolving. It is important that, as Advisors, you stay ahead of the curve when it comes to prospecting and selling. In fact, many of my top producers would tell you that a lot of their success can be attributed to new ideas and trying new things.
BUT, if implemented incorrectly, trying new and exciting ideas can be a very dangerous and costly strategy.
Last year I sat down for dinner with one of my fastest growing producers. This was someone who I looked up to in this business and who I felt had all the necessary skills to really become the best of the best. We were discussing his production for the year and his plan for the next few months. As we were talking he looked at me and said, “Trent, I still don’t love the idea of feeding a room full of strangers. I can’t get past the idea that they are all just using me for the free meal and I want to try something new”. Interested in where he was headed I continued to listen and ask for details. He finally came clean and let me know that he wanted to start to market to Federal Employees. I had reservations about this but he was so sure that it was for the best that he went off and started that process. The rest is really history…
When we re-connected at the end of the year, he was left scratching his head wondering why his production had dropped so significantly. See, he wanted to grow his business but abandoned what had been working for a new idea. The truth is, if you really want to scale your business you need to EXPAND rather than TRANSITION. Needless to say, we helped get him back to what worked and now he is back to being one of my top producers again.
So what lesson did I take from all of this?… In order to grow your business, you need to consider scaling what is already working BEFORE you decide to add new ideas into that mix. See, you already have a formula that helps you win. Now we need to create a plan to win 50 more times, 500 more times, etc…
In my experience advisors suffer from 2 major internal issues.
They never really get started and never find that first real win! So inevitably they cannot scale or grow.
Once they get those 500 wins they start to say, “I’m tired of this game, I want to try something new”. They become bored like the producer we just discussed.
It makes perfect sense… Of course, they’re bored and tired of that, they get that way because they absolutely have more potential and can grow even larger if they wanted to. Unfortunately, they pull back and start over with a new idea and are left looking for that first win all over again.
Too many advisors suffer from the age-old adage, “The grass is always greener”. It might be greener, until you get over there and realize you have to mow it, water it, fertilize it, edge it, and clean up all those leaves! There will always be the glitz and the flash of the next new idea in this business. But I would advise you to add those to your practice responsibly. Build upon what is working and add new ideas that have been TESTED first. Much like what you do for your clients, by keeping those wins intact, you are protecting your business from the going backwards and picking up the pieces at the end of the year.
-Trent Martin