There are key activities that any adviser will undertake over the course of a year: from your licensee’s PD days and industry conferences, through to training courses and (hopefully) your holidays, for example. However, there are some ‘must do’ activities that any adviser should also undertake to help drive business value as we move into the new financial year.
1. Set aside time to objectively review your cost structure. When you combine the standard rise in general expenses with the costs to deliver FoFA it’s a pretty fair bet that your cost base has gone up. So, set aside time to consider the implications of this increase to your current fee structure. And don’t forget to include allowances for overhead and profit. Nothing costs nothing – ensure you’re charging properly for all of your services, all of the time.
2. Do something with your Cs and Ds. With FoFA coming in, it’s not unreasonable to assume that regulatory change will impact both your client offer and the business model you choose to deliver it. Why not ask your PDM to facilitate a working session with your practice, so you can formulate your approach without the regulatory pressure of having to do it?
3. If you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know if you’re heading in the right direction? Unless you want to be known as the plumber with a leaking tap, there’s simply no excuse for not reviewing your ‘progress to business plan’ on a regular basis. Diarise for the end of each quarter.
4. Find out what your best clients aren’t telling you. How about paying your clients the courtesy of seeking their feedback? But you have to be prepared to accept what they say and act upon their feedback if necessary.
5. Show your staff that you really appreciate their efforts. ‘Thank you’ is nice, but perhaps a ‘thank you’ dinner with their spouses/partners would carry more impact? And what better time to do this than when it’s not expected.
6. Leverage your compliance audit results into positive marketing. We are certainly in an environment when qualifications and accreditations carry significant weight with consumers. After you next audit is completed, why not include the overall rating in your marketing material?
7. Review your own life cover. Refer previous plumber comment – but we’d strongly suggest doing this sooner rather than later.
8. Proactively work your network. If your practice is looking to acquire more A quality clients, set aside time to meet personally with every accountant of your A clients. After all, they’ll no doubt be working with similarly profiled clients.
9. Analyse where your revenue is coming from. As you prepare for your 2013 business planning session, you will need to be certain about your revenue sources. Have you been satisfied with their level of support during the year? Yes or no? And what are you going to do as a result?
10. What are you doing differently over the next financial year? A great question to ask yourself any time!
