We as financial advisers guide and make a roadmap for our clients so that their non-negotiable and negotiable financial goals are achieved. However, being an entrepreneur, I feel that the most important goal is to improve our practiced profitability year on year for us to achieve our negotiable and non-negotiable goals. I am glad to share a few points which have helped me tremendously in scaling up my practice quantitatively and qualitatively, both along with genuinely making difference to people’s lives.
1) Make your vision statement
Every large organization has a vision statement, written! For me, I am the organization as a whole as I’m responsible to drive and scale up my practice. I see that most of us don’t have a vision and if at all we have its not written. What’s your personal vision statement for scaling up your practice? Mine is “Discipline of an employee and vision of an entrepreneur” Most importantly, align your family, team and clients with that vision statement. It will help them understand you are here for long term bets!
2) Have your organization elevator pitch in place
Do you market yourself like a Rockstar? Are you and your team in total sync? Elevator pitch is a one-minute pitch which is common for your team. Let your whole organization speak one organizational language. It should be short, not more than a minute and must cover introduction of your employee, yourself and your organization’s niche!
3) Have your business plan on paper
We have our client’s financial goals on paper. Why don’t we have a business plan on paper? That’s a goal as well - right? Having a business plan and tracking plan on paper/excel motivates and can be achieved soon and it keeps you going. This year, we have changed our business plan tracking process from output tracking to input tracking, because regular inputs ensures desired output.
4) Communicate your business plan to team
Encourage discussion and debate within teams by encouraging the idea of jointly making a business plan so that everyone is a part of it! Communicate clearly to each team member as to what’s the growth plan for them on achievement of this plan. Post the plan, put them on task to do the back working and plan the inputs required to achieve the business plan.
5) Empower your team
Give everyone a chance to contribute, even those on a lower level in the company. Have a contest for the team that encourages them to come up with new ideas -- such as the best new sales technique, client retention, encouraging clients to save more, ways of effective communication etc. Team building can improve communication between employees and improve ability to work together. Better communication among employees can increase your efficiency and productivity. By building a strong team, your employees will also feel a sense of belonging and loyalty towards the business.
6) Incentivize, not just financially!
Let them take a few decisions and be the owner. Be a proactive ethical leader, championing high ethical conduct and emphasizing prevention. This year over and above the incentives, I have added a holiday with family as a special incentive on 100% plan achievement as I understood that they aren’t taking yearly family holidays. I also understand that they are my asset and hence it’s important for me to groom them. So I have also added a complete image consulting course for them, subject to them continuing to be the part of organization for two years. I am sure this will add in some way not just to my practice but to their life in a big way and that’s also a way I give back to society by truly empowering them!
7) Appreciation & Gratitude
I don’t leave a single opportunity to appreciate and express my gratitude to my team and everyone that I generally meet. It has changed my life completely. Genuinely recognize their efforts and intentions to complete a particular task given by you. Take time to celebrate with them and consider rewarding employees who are brave enough to admit and learn from their mistakes.
Being good at sales is so essential to getting your employees to make a genuine commitment to your company’s mission that if you don’t like to sell you should think long and hard about being a leader. A leader is always selling, even if he or she doesn’t wish to call it that. Ideas, proposals, recruiting top talent and the company’s mission are all supported by your ability to persuade others in a forthright and transparent way. And great leaders understand that when you’re selling to your employees you can’t just make the pitch; you also need to close the deal!
Khyati Mashru is founder & chief financial coach of Plantrich Consultancy LLP.
