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[Practice management has traditionally focused on guiding financial advisors tactically – do this, stop that, create a process here, upgrade your tech and operating systems there – leading to a more organized chaos in operating their business. These are all vital activities geared to critical areas of a business that collectively provide a necessary foundation from which to grow from. The challenge for the financial services industry is that the overall business operating environment has become driven by accelerating rates of change and hyper-competition that can come from anywhere. The role of practice management and business development efforts take on a whole new urgency and purpose. A new imperative has emerged towards a growth mindset and a core reliance on modern business strategy.
Looking at the close adjacency of financial technology firms – especially since tech firms by their nature deal more intimately with the speed and the disruptive nature of change – can provide us with some ideas or direction as to how they have addressed their training and business development needs. Support for their startup and growth-oriented firms has been deliberately thought out and integrated into what they term as “business accelerators” which are solely designed to position their business models and strategies for rapid growth.
To understand these distinctions and better explore the changing dynamic of practice management in an age of compounding change, we reached out to Institute members Eric Sheikowitz and Michael Silver who lead the newly rebranded FLX Networks Business Accelerator – a modern financial services business development program dedicated to accelerating growth through practice management, technology enhancements, value-add programs, and growth strategy development and implementation.]
Hortz: What are your views on Practice Management and why did you recently change your name to the FLX Business Accelerator?
Sheikowitz: We started our company Focus Partners eighteen years ago before we merged with FLX Networks last year. In the beginning, it was all about advisors and what has commonly been termed as their “practices”. Then over time, we saw that the best teams are running “businesses” and it is no longer about running a “practice”. Our advisor clients also made it clear that, bottom line, they wanted to accelerate or scale their businesses which we knew could take many different forms, including leveraging better technology towards a specific purpose or looking for business processes to help them achieve substantial growth goals. We started compiling and curating the necessary resources and approaches which eventually became the foundation for what is now our “business accelerator” approach.
This approach tied together very nicely with FLX’s messaging and positioning as well in supporting advisors, asset managers, and wealth management firms. Together, we decided to rebrand under the FLX Business Accelerator name to really bring everything into clarity as to what our client firms are truly seeking. We see it as the next iteration of practice management – bringing all the different components of that business, whether it be pure practice management, operations, technology, processes, marketing, coaching, and business planning, and have it all aligned under an overarching growth strategy.
We want to move away from that back-in-the-day training where people would go to a workshop and walk away to never execute anything. While we periodically take on short-term or advisor crisis management projects, our typical engagement is one where we are an integrated extension of the advisor or team, partnered on a long-term horizon. We want to position firms under that one umbrella of a growth mindset and curate support resources and approaches into that one singular strategic goal of growth.
So, the way we look at it is, if you want business coaching, there are plenty of options. If you are looking to accelerate your business, we have everything under one roof including proven intellectual capital and experienced growth leaders on our FLX team. Importantly, our comprehensive FLX Solutions business resources are available to shore up all areas needed to get your firm geared up for growth and provide the clarity of purpose on how to align every aspect of your business towards growth.
Silver: The term “accelerate” typically connotes “grow faster.” While we spend lots of time during our engagements working on client acquisition strategies, it is still critical (and an ongoing part of our work) to make sure the proper foundational processes are in place to launch and manage a business growth trajectory. We work with our clients on understanding the importance of benchmarking, digitizing, and analyzing their firms on a go forward basis to maximize their potential to scale their business successfully.
Hortz: Was the name Business Accelerator also inspired from any external trends or personal experiences?
Sheikowitz: The term and concept of a “business accelerator” is prominently used in the FinTech and business startup world. Their value proposition is clear, focused, and right up front in their name. You go to a business accelerator where they compiled the resources, approaches, and training you need when you are ready to kick into a higher gear of business growth.
Also personally, as a huge Formula 1 fan, I am always thinking about acceleration and the science of knowing when and how to go full throttle to win the race. I have always been fascinated by how race car drivers are 62% of the time on full throttle and they know how to manage acceleration to increase the capacity of getting to your goal. So, for me, for multiple reasons, the rebrand perfectly crystallizes our value proposition which is all under one roof to help our clients accelerate their business growth.
By compiling best-of-breed resources and tools, you are getting proven best practices that you are going to need to get your business to the next level. Whereas, if you tried to do it on your own and try to piecemeal it all together, that is going to take a lot of time. In addition to the time drag, it is a mental drag created by tough ongoing individual decisions. It is also more difficult because you have to find, choose, and integrate all these disparate pieces to help you get where you are looking to go. In contrast, with the FLX Business Accelerator, it is all there under one roof. I would even go as far as to say that a FinTech accelerator should have our business accelerator as part of it.
Silver: For me, the industry regularly uses the term “practice management” as an overarching description of what advisors need to focus on to run and grow their practices. Our Business Accelerator rebrand is trying to break the mold and take a “surround sound” approach to go much wider and deeper on helping advisory practices thrive and succeed through company-wide growth alignment.
Hortz: What do you feel advisors should be focusing on in making that commitment to be a growth-oriented firm and go to the next level?
Sheikowitz: First of all, advisors need to get into the mindset that if you are not adapting and changing you are dying. Advisors have to be willing to change and adapt. Advisors that started in the business 30+ years ago were stockbrokers, then they started doing financial plans, offering advanced insurance or alternative investment products, then retirement planning, and now some are offering holistic life management services. What’s next?
Firms, teams, and advisors all need to adapt to today’s changing clients who do not necessarily want the traditional offerings and sales vibe. Advisors really have to look ahead and think about what clients are going to be looking for next and how we are going to deliver that experience. Every firm has to determine how they want to grow and figure out their positioning. That is the first thing any firm or team needs to be doing.
That determination leads to questions like: Do I need more people? Do I need specialized resources? Do I need to market differently? Do I need to redo my website? Do I need to come up with a different business and engagement plan if I am going after different groups of people? We take a diagnostic approach to getting advisors to think about and then answer these questions. These are the questions that our Business Accelerator helps answer and implements solutions for. So, let us talk about what it is you need and then we will figure out how to fill that and make that happen.
Silver: The one thing I will add is the need to focus on creating capacity. This translates to knowing when to delegate where appropriate, maintaining a robust service model, strategically organizing your resources, and then you will have the capacity to focus on continued growth.
Hortz: You provide your Business Accelerator to both your asset manager and wealth management clients. What other services do you offer them for their different needs?
Sheikowitz: There are several things we can do with Wealth Management Firms. We can do webinars or coaching days for their advisors, or we can give them content which can be distributed as “ideas of the month” for ongoing training and engagement on new initiatives for advisors and firm employees. But then we can also work directly with their individual advisors, coaching and working as an outsourced business accelerator department in helping them grow their business.
On the asset management side, we can train wholesalers on how to build stronger relationships with advisors. We can also help asset managers get traction with advisors and wealth management firms. Advisors and the firms they work for want value-added content, and we can provide that. Asset managers can even offer their target firms access to our business accelerator that has all the content, all the intellectual capital that the advisors or firms are going to want to hear about. So basically, the asset manager can leverage us to deliver the value-added business development content that their audience wants to see. We can present to their target firms and advisors on best practices, do a full day of one-on-one coaching engagement where the advisors are able to sign up for an hour time slot each, all being brought in by an asset manager who is providing great value-add to their client firms.
Silver: The bottom line is that whether it be an asset manager or wealth management firm, we try to position our team as an outsourced and virtual partner to drive bottom line growth. Whether its practice management content development for multiple mediums or fractional practice management with tailored programing aligned to client needs, or arranging speaking engagements, there are many tools and strategies we can deliver.
Hortz: What have you heard from your clients on being part of FLX Business Accelerator has meant to their businesses and clients?
Sheikowitz: Our clients have shared with us that they appreciate all the resources of the FLX platform that are readily available to help them further modernize, digitize, and expand their capabilities. They particularly like the FLX Launchpad which is a common source where advisors, managers, and home office professionals can access a breadth and depth of resources, all with a single sign-on, that can make them more engaging with clients and they like FLX AI as a productivity tool which we see them using to draft differentiated and timely communications.
Being part of FLX has allowed them to additionally spend more time on new practice management content development and we have had some fun creating advisor-friendly content across multiple mediums, including written, podcasts, and video, all aimed at meeting their clients where they prefer. They particularly like how FLX Membership is designed as an easy way for advisors and asset managers to cost effectively become part of the FLX platform.
Silver: We see enormous interest in FLX Business Accelerator peer share events, where we facilitate intimate best practice conversations amongst select advisors, typically from a common complex or geography. As well, interest is high in our Fractional Practice Management which is designed for enterprises, asset managers and wealth management firms who want a cost-effective way to develop and maintain a tailored practice management program that reflects their objectives and terminology. Looking ahead, we have a book release on the horizon that will be accompanied by weekly programming accompaniments.
Overall, the strongest client feedback we get is that working with the FLX team has allowed them to simultaneously spend more time with existing clients and develop new offerings to further round out their engagement capabilities.
Hortz: Any other key points you want to be making or we should be touching on? Anything missing?
Sheikowitz: I think it is important to understand that accelerating your growth is a marathon, not a sprint. There is no silver bullet at all and it comes down to execution. There are plenty of resources, articles, and data on growing your firm but unless you distill it down and actually figure out what you want to do and execute on it, it means absolutely nothing. But that is the reality. Ideas are a dime a dozen. That is what separates the best firms from the rest.
The best firms out there execute. That is what people need to understand and execution takes time. It does not happen overnight. When people are looking to really accelerate their business, they have to be willing to be in it for the long haul. They have to be willing to execute. They have to be willing to change and maybe get a little uncomfortable. And that is Okay.
This article was originally published here and is republished on Wealthtender with permission.
About the Author
Bill Hortz
Founder Institute for Innovation Development
To make Wealthtender free for readers, we earn money from advertisers, including financial professionals and firms that pay to be featured. This creates a conflict of interest when we favor their promotion over others. Read our editorial policy and terms of service to learn more. Wealthtender is not a client of these financial services providers.
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